This is the our annual celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, an event so important that we also celebrate it weekly. This is the day that the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
We do not just rejoice at the life that Christ entered into. We rejoice because He is an Adam, and He brings all His people with Him into that life.
Only of the means that He has assigned to us to declare by faith that we are partaking of that life offered to us is baptism in water, administered in the triune name. Because this is Easter Sunday, we are worshipping as two sister churches together. This morning, in this first service, we are privileged to have a baptism performed in the course of the service, which is the custom that Trinity has, but which Christ Church does not yet have. This is not because we have any theological objections to baptisms within the service, but rather is just a logistical matter. Because Christ Church has a baptismal cooperation agreement, we perform baptisms by both sprinkling and immersion, and we are not physically set up to perform baptisms by immersion within the service. As soon as we have a sanctuary of our own, both kinds of baptisms will be performed within the service. But Trinity is not in this same position, and so we rejoice together with them today.
From ancient times, the Christian Church has considered Easter a day most fitting to perform baptisms. We serve the risen Christ, the Lord of life. We preach the gospel of life, and we administer the sacraments of life. We are gathered together here, alive, because of the kindness of God our Savior. Let us rejoice in that life so freely offered to us.