Why Christ Came

Aug 23, 2026 • Rory Mosley

064 Why Christ Came

Mark 10:45

August 23, 2026

As we have noted numerous times,

Mark’s gospel is easily divided into two main points.

Chapters 1-8 address the question – “WHO IS HE?”

That question is answered:

Mark 8:27-29 “Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”

As soon as that point was definitively made

Mark immediately moved to the second main point of the book.

Chapters 9-16 address the question – “WHY DID HE COME?”

Mark 8:31 “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

· He came to suffer and die.

Mark 9:31 “For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.”

· There we learned that Jesus would be delivered over by God into the hands of men to be killed. And again that He would be raised from the dead.

Mark 10:32b-34 “And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. “They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.”

· There we learned that He would be betrayed, tried, condemned, handed over to Gentiles, mocked, scorned, killed, and again that He would be raised from the dead.

He is the Christ, and He has come to die.

But there is STILL ONE QUESTION that has eluded us this entire time.

It is the piece of information that the disciples are missing.

They certainly don’t like all this talk about suffering and death

Even if it does end in resurrection.

WHY DOES HE HAVE TO DIE?

And for the first time in Mark’s gospel Jesus spells it out.

(45) “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

All of a sudden the picture pops into enormous clarity.

· Jesus is on a mission to deliver slaves from their slavery.

· Jesus is on a mission to deliver prisoners from their prison cell.

· Jesus is on a mission to deliver captives from their kidnappers.

· Jesus has come to pay the price of ransom.

This is the new and amazing piece of information

That Jesus reveals to us this morning.

You know where we’ve been the last few weeks.

Jesus is again discipling the disciples.

1. They had Fearful Amazement

2. They had Misguided Focus

3. They had Presumptuous Outlook

4. They had Lingering Selfishness

All of this manifested as Jesus started heading toward Jerusalem.

· They didn’t want to go, they wanted glory not death.

· James and John asked to sit on His right and left.

· The other disciples got angry.

Jesus corrected their faulty thinking

And ultimately gave Himself as the contrasting example.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

· You don’t find ambition in Him, you find humility.

· You don’t find a desire to dominate, you find a desire to serve.

· You don’t find a desire for comfort, you find a determination to suffer.

· You don’t find selfishness, you find sacrifice.

Jesus is the chief example of the righteousness God requires.

The disciples are still a long way from that, but Christ is at work.

AND THE IMMEDIATE APPLICATION TO US IS OBVIOUS.

· To all those who think too highly of themselves.

· To all those who think others should be in subjection to them.

· To all those who only want to be in charge.

We look at Jesus and ask: If God in human flesh came to serve, then who am I to reject service of others?

THAT IS OBVIOUS.

If you want to be like Jesus then be a servant.

And with that Jesus totally corrects the faulty thinking of the 12.

AND YET…

In this verse we find more than just a contrast to the disciples.

We find a place to sit and ponder for a while.

· There is no “immediately” here in the book of Mark where he would be rapidly pushing us on to the next amazing story.

· No, we are allowed by Mark to sit here a while and just soak in what we see.

So THIS MORNING let’s swim a little in this great statement.

We note first of all that Jesus here identifies Himself as a servant.

That is more than an occupation, it is a prophetic title.

Isaiah 52:13 “Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.”

That verse is the beginning of the most famous suffering servant passage in the Old Testament, running through the end of Isaiah 53.

He is God’s servant who will prosper in saving sinners.

Here in Mark 10 Jesus identifies Himself as that very servant,

First revealed through the prophet Isaiah.

I want us to see 5 things here.

#1 HE SERVED VOLUNTARILY

Mark 10:45

“For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve…”

Here I simply point out the fact that He clearly came.

There are certainly times in Scripture where we read about

Christ being sent by God or even being given by God.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

John 20:21 “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Certainly passages such as those cause us to stop and ponder the great love of God by which He would send His only Son into the world.

But here we don’t read that the Son of man was sent to serve.

We read that he came to serve.

It was certainly the love of God that caused Him to send His Son,

But equally important is the love of Christ that caused Him to come

Christ was a willing servant of salvation.

Philippians 2:6-7 “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

· It cannot be overlooked that “He existed in the form of God”

· He is God.

And yet here He refers to Himself as the “Son of Man”,

Which is a title that simply means “HUMAN”.

I hope you understand why He chooses that title instead of “Son of God”.

If you take any child and give them a costume, of a super hero or a princess or some other character, and they put that costume on, and then you ask them who they are, what will they say?

They will identify themselves by the identity they have assumed.

That is what Christ is doing.

He is God, He became human, and that reality is so magnificent

That Jesus identifies Himself as “the human”.

He doesn’t go around minimizing His humanity, He embraces it.

He has fully embraced the role of becoming a human servant.

· He was not a reluctant servant.

· He was glad to come.

· He was glad to leave the glory of Heaven.

· He was glad to empty Himself of such praises.

· He was glad to take on human form.

· He was glad to take “the form of a bond-servant”

Again, the contrast to James and John

Who were pushing for seats of glory could not be more obvious.

THE DISCIPLES WANTED GLORY, JESUS EMBRACED HUMILIATION.

He Served Voluntarily

#2 HE SERVED OBEDIENTLY

Mark 10:45

“did not come to be served, but to serve”

His life was NOT simply about ONE BIG EVENT.

His life was about a lifetime of events all to the same purpose.

His entire life is a testimony of service.

When you read the gospel narratives,

Tell me what one thing He did for Himself.

Certainly there are a few times when Jesus is the recipient of someone else’s kindness, and even in those times He is typically rebuked for it.

Do you remember when the woman wet His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair?

Luke 7:39 “Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”

Later when Mary anointed His head with the very costly vile of perfume in order to prepare Him for burial, He was rebuked again.

Matthew 26:6-8 “Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste?”

Jesus was very rarely served and even when He was, He was rebuked.

His life was characterized by service of others.

· How many did He feed?

· How many did He heal?

· How many did He deliver?

He came and was the living epitome

Of the two greatest commandments in the Old Testament.

Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength,

And Love your neighbor as yourself.

No one did it better than Jesus.

In fact, He did it perfectly.

This will tie directly in a moment to Him giving His life as a ransom.

If His life is the price He would pay for our redemption

Then it had to be a life of value to God.

AND THE LIFE OF CHRIST WAS PERFECT!

This is again where we discuss the importance of the obedience of Christ.

Christ’s obedience can be divided into two categories.

1. Active Obedience

2. Passive Obedience

HIS ACTIVE OBEDIENCE refers to do with those things which He actively accomplished through intentional obedience to the Law.

· Christ perfectly obeyed every command.

· He actively upheld God’s perfect Law.

· And thus He earned a righteous standing before God.

His life was a righteous life.

We typically quote:

Hebrews 10:5-7 “Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body You have prepared for Me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) To do Your will, O God.’”

HIS PASSIVE OBEDIENCE refers to those things which He endured in obedience to God.

· Things like suffering and humiliation, scorn and death.

· Christ endured the cross.

· Christ endured the wrath of God.

He obeyed all the way to the end.

For that we typically quote:

1 Peter 2:22-23 “who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”

Jesus was the perfect servant.

He was perfectly obedient in all things.

His life was a righteous life; A VALUABLE LIFE

Hold on to that for in a moment.

He Served Voluntarily He Served Obediently

#3 HE SERVED SACRIFICIALLY

Mark 10:45

“to give His life…”

Some give their money.

Some give their time.

Some give their freedom.

Some give their reputation.

Some give their knowledge.

Some give their skill.

Some give their comfort.

CHRIST GAVE IT ALL.

He gave His life.

John 13:1 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”

· Literally, “He loved them to the max”

Jesus was on a mission to go and lay down His life.

There was not a thing that man could do to Him or threaten Him with

That would cause Him to abandon His mission.

No matter the scorn.

No matter the brutality.

JESUS NEVER QUIT.

Even when facing the terrible wrath of God on sinners, Jesus endured.

AND HE ENDURED ALL THE WAY TO DEATH.

He went as absolutely far as any human can go in their sacrifice.

He fulfilled the greatest form of love that can ever be given.

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

THAT IS WHAT JESUS DID.

· He laid aside His glory in order to become human.

· He laid aside His privilege to perfectly obey the Law.

· He then laid aside His life in order to complete His mission.

And we also take special notice of the word “give”.

He did not “sell” His life.

He did not “trade” His life.

There was no bargain struck.

There was no deal made.

Paul refers to the sacrifice of Christ as “the free gift”.

Romans 5:15 “But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.”

That is why Isaiah could prophetically call to us:

Isaiah 55:1-2 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.”

THE SACRIFICE WAS ALL ON CHRIST.

He is the giver, we receive what He gave.

He was a servant who served out of love and generosity

Even though it cost Him His life to do so.

He Served Voluntarily He Served Obediently He Served Sacrificially

#4 HE SERVED VICARIOUSLY

Mark 10:45

“give His life a ransom…”

THIS IS THE ONE we want to especially stop and focus on

For a moment this morning.

That Christ gave His life as “a ransom”.

IT IS AN IMPORTANT WORD.

“ransom” translates (LOO-tron)

It is defined as “the price for redeeming”; or “the price of release”.

It was the price that had to be paid to free a slave or a captive.

Let me show you a unique picture of it in the Old Testament.

Exodus 21:28-32 “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished. “If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. “If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him. “Whether it gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule. “If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.”

· We have a man who is sentenced to death because he has an ox that is known

to be violent and yet the man did not contain it.

· The ox killed a man and thus the man is culpable and must be killed as a

just punishment.

· However, the man does have a chance to save his life by paying the price

of redemption or ransom.

· It is not a set price, but is whatever is asked or required of him to save his

life.

· Later, if the one killed is a slave, the price is set at 30 shekels of silver, which

you already recognize as the price Judas was paid to betray Jesus.

But there you better understand the purpose of the word.

IT IS THE PRICE OF A LIFE

It is the price required to save a life.

It is the price required to buy back a life.

Here in Mark 10:45 Jesus reveals that this is what He used His life for.

· His life was used as a “ransom” payment.

· His life was used to buy back a life that was condemned or enslaved or incarcerated.

Now, we already knew that Jesus’ mission was a rescue mission.

He said of Himself very early on in His ministry:

Luke 4:17-18 “And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed,”

· He clearly declared that His mission was in fact a mission to release those who

were in captivity.

But now we learn that His plan

Was to pay the price of their ransom.

TODAY WE THINK OF A SCENARIO

Where someone has been kidnapped

After a few hours the kidnapper calls the family of the victim

And demands a ransom payment to set them free.

Jesus came to pay the ransom.

And we see that the price which He would pay

Was not silver or gold, but was in fact His life.

1 Peter 1:17-19 “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

· The price required was not money, it was a perfect life.

· The payment demanded was not gold, it was an unblemished life.

This was the required payment Jesus came to give.

This was the price of the ransom Jesus came to pay.

And incidentally, it is at this moment that theologians throughout history

Have debated and even frankly come up with some bizarre ideas.

The question was asked: TO WHOM DID CHRIST PAY RANSOM?

For example we can read:

2 Timothy 2:24-26 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

There we read that sinners have been held captive by Satan.

Perhaps we remember the story of the woman who was bent over double.

Luke 13:16 “And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?”

· There Jesus said that Satan had bound her.

So it wasn’t long before some in the early church

Began to wonder if Jesus came and paid the ransom to Satan.

That He came and offered up His life to Satan as a payment to release his captives?

· Is this why He went to Jerusalem?

· Is this why He submitted to the arrest, the trial, the crucifixion?

· Was He giving His life to the enemy as a trade?

And we answer with a resounding “NO!” to this assumption.

For we have seen Christ over and over casting out demons

NOT ONCE DOES HE BARGAIN WITH THEM.

Not once is money or payment offered to set a captive free.

Jesus came in full authority

To force Satan to release those he had bound

There was not a thing Satan could do to resist Him.

Paul wrote to us:

Colossians 2:15 “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

Christ came and defeated the enemy.

Christ came and TOOK his captives.

Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

THE MANNER OF SATAN’S CAPTIVITY IS DECEPTION.

He lies to men, he tempts men, he enslaves men through their lusts and pleasures.

· Jesus came with the truth and set men free from His deception.

· Jesus came with power and delivered men from Satan’s stronghold.

· Jesus disarmed the enemy with the truth of the gospel.

Satan has no power over those who know the truth.

Jesus delivered Satan’s captives by the sheer power of His name.

IT WAS NOT SATAN TO WHOM JESUS PAID RANSOM.

THERE WAS A DIFFERENT CAPTIVITY WE FACED.

It was a slavery to sin and the just penalty demanded by God.

THE ANSWER IS THAT JESUS PAID RANSOM TO GOD.

Hebrews 9:11-14 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

· There we read that it was “through His own blood”

· That “He entered the holy place once for all” and “obtained eternal redemption”

· We see that He “offered Himself without blemish to God”.

That’s about as clear as it can get.

SO WAS GOD OUR CAPTOR?

· Did God kidnap us?

· Did God have us enslaved?

NO, THAT’S NOT IT EITHER.

Our master was not God, it was sin.

Titus 2:14 “[Jesus] gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

Sin was our master.

And through that sin that we had offended our Holy Creator.

· We had sinned.

· And we kept on sinning.

And just like the man whose ox was goring people,

The consequence of our sin was death.

And we, like that man, were left asking, “What is the price of my redemption? What is the ransom price?”

AND GOD MADE IT CLEAR.

THE PRICE IS AN UNBLEMISHED LIFE.

In the Old Testament we read that price over and over

As God requires unblemished lambs and unblemished goats and unblemished bulls.

Bring a ransom payment that is Holy.

God requires a holy life.

BUT AS YOU KNOW, this ransom price proved higher than any man could ever pay.

In fact the Psalmist wrote a song about it:

Psalms 49:7-9 “No man can by any means redeem his brother Or give to God a ransom for him— For the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever— That he should live on eternally, That he should not undergo decay.”

Micah asked:

Micah 6:6-7 “With what shall I come to the Lord And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

YOU SEE THE PROBLEM

I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

The wages of sin is death.

I am guilty and condemned.

I am like the man whose ox gored another man to death.

I am left here begging: What will God accept as ransom to spare my life?

And the answer is that I don’t have anything.

Man is trapped in sin and without a payment.

AND NOW WE KNOW WHY CHRIST CAME.

HE CAME TO BE THE PAYMENT.

· He came to live a righteous obedient life that God would accept

· He came to offer that life to God as a ransom for sinners.

It was a vicarious work.

It was a substitutionary work.

In fact, that is what the word “for” there means.

It translates (on-TEE) in the Greek and it means “instead of”,

NOT “on behalf of”.

Christ didn’t just make a payment on our behalf,

He came and offered the payment we were required to make.

THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH.

Christ came to die.

He took His own righteous life and His own life blood

And presented it to God as a ransom for us.

Hebrews 9:12b “…through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”

Hebrews 10:10 “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

That is what Christ came to do.

He came to die and give His life a ransom.

Voluntarily Obediently Sacrificially Vicariously

#5 HE SERVED SUCCESSFULLY

Mark 10:45

Here we come to the last point of focus

“a ransom for many.”

In one sense the word “many” is simply used

Over and against the fact that Christ gave one sacrifice.

His ransom payment wasn’t a one to one ratio.

One payment on Christ’s part ransomed many.

Romans 5:16 “The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.”

Christ’s one life was of such value

That He could ransom every sinner who comes to Him.

His atoning value is never “used up”.

His sufficiency does not run out.

Every single sinner who comes to Christ in faith

Will find in Christ a ransom for his sins.

Romans 10:11-13 “For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Every sinner who cries out to Christ will absolutely be saved.

AND YET, AT THE SAME TIME,

We do not overlook that it would have been easier to communicate that

Had Jesus simply used the word “all”.

But He did not. He said “many”

Just as Isaiah said:

Isaiah 53:11-12 “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

And Jesus will say it again in the upper room:

Matthew 26:26-28 “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

There are many who like to sort of flippantly say,

“Jesus died for all! Jesus died for everyone!”

If that is true, then why does anyone go to hell?

· If you really believe that Jesus died for everyone,

· And you really believe that His death was effective

Then you’d have to be a universalist.

Those who like to throw that statement out aren’t thinking it through.

We know the atonement is limited.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

· Clearly not everyone is being saved.

· The atonement is limited to those who believe.

The ransom is for the “many” who believe,

Not for every human indiscriminately.

AND I’LL TELL YOU WHY THAT IS IMPORTANT.

If you believe that Jesus paid the ransom for all

Then His payment must not be sufficient

Since many of those He paid a ransom for actually end up in hell.

No, the reality is that when Christ pays the ransom

It is FULLY PAID and it is TOTALLY EFFECTIVE!

He obtains what He purchased,

And He has said, He loses none!

John 6:39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”

There is much more that can be said to that end,

BUT THE POINT you must grasp is that

When Jesus paid the ransom God accepted it

And ALL those He ransomed were absolutely set free.

He purchased His own and they are free.

· Free from the guilt and shame and condemnation of their sin.

· Free to access the Father.

· Free to call themselves sons and daughters of God.

The owner of the ox was ransomed, he would not be killed.

WHAT A GLORIOUS MISSION!

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

And it’s because of the success of that payment

That the writer of Hebrews said:

Hebrews 10:19-22 “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

AND THAT IS WHAT I ASK YOU TO DO THIS MORNING.

· Some of you have never confessed Jesus as Lord.

· Some of you have never submitted to baptism in His name.

· Some of you still resist and reject.

In that condition remain a slave to sin and an enemy of God.

This morning I am asking you to run to Christ.

· I am asking you to call on His name.

· I am asking you to confess Him as Lord.

· I am asking you to come forward and submit to be baptized.

Ordinarily a message like this would conclude with the Lord’s Supper,

But this morning I opted rather to conclude it with an invitation.

This is your time.