Pastor Rob served a tiny church in North Carolina that had a big problem with Tiny. “Tiny” was the nickname of a very large man who had harassed his Christian neighbor for years, but through the quiet testimony of this neighbor, Tiny had been converted to faith in Christ, and wanted to be baptized. The little country church building did not have a baptismal pool, so a deacon had dug a hole in his backyard, and lined it in concrete. He told the preacher they could use his backyard baptistery, so they took a garden hose and filled it with water. Pastor Rob told Tiny that when they got into the water, that he would need to bend his legs, and then the pastor could lean him back and bring him back up. However, the little hole in the yard was only about four feet wide, and Pastor Rob was a big man himself, so when big Tiny got in the water with him, the water rose almost to the level of the grass in the yard. Pastor Rob leaned him back, and Tiny's heavy weight pulled Pastor Rob down with him, sinking underwater until their large frames got wedged together between the concrete! Pastor Rob held his fingers above the water’s surface to signal for help, and his deacon grabbed a water hose, cut off an end, and lowered it into the water so they could breathe. Then they got a pump and pumped the water out. Finally, Pastor Rob and Tiny got themselves loose from the tight space in the backyard baptistery, and climbed out, exhausted. Tiny looked at Pastor Rob and asked, “Well, am I baptized?” Pastor Rob said, “You sure are!”
Tiny and Pastor Rob almost drowned in that baptistery. But God doesn’t want dead sacrifices. God is looking for living sacrifices. Romans 12:1 says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice-- holy and pleasing to God..." (Romans 12:1, NIV) Since Jesus died for us, let's live for Him. Let's rise from the waters of baptism and offer ourselves in service to God.
