Roll Down Like Water: Christ's Representatives. March 8, 2026

Lent and baptism go hand in hand. In the early church, Lent was a time of preparation for baptism. Today, we can use the season of Lent to remember our baptismal promises and discover our place in the story of salvation.

In baptism, water symbolizes washing away sin and we make four promises, naming the kind of life we will have in Christ. First, we renounce wickedness and repent our sins. This is the moment of letting go and relaxing into God, much like water flows over a waterfall. Then we accept God’s power for resisting evil, injustice, and oppression. Next, we confess that Jesus Christ is our Savior and put our whole trust into God’s grace. And finally, we promise to remain faithful members of Christ’s church.

Baptism is about taking on the identity of a Christ-follower—distinguishing ourselves as Christians. When we make our baptismal promises, we take on the role of being Christ’s representatives in the world. This is important, because people will make judgements about Jesus based on our actions. Here are a few questions to ask yourselves. Do we take care of others? Do we forgive and ask for forgiveness? Are we kind when it’s difficult? Do we stand up for people who are attacked?

When we don’t do these things, we give Jesus a bad name. Each of us called in baptism has been handed work called ministry. We’re all empowered for work in the church and work on behalf of the church. The life of following Christ and nurturing others is something we get to do together—we call it church.