We all know how much Trevin loves the game of baseball and I know the Richie family has baseball players in their family too. So today I would like to explain baptism in terms that Trevin would best understand. Baseball terms.
Our Heavenly Father gave us a beautiful plan, a plan to make us very happy while we are on Earth. Itʼs kind of like a baseball game. He sent us to live with our family-our family is our team. With parents to guide us the way-they are known as our coaches. We also have the rule book which are our scriptures. We have so much to help us be successful. Our Heavenly Father is like our umpire, he wants us to have a successful game here on Earth. Our goal in this life is to return to “home” to live with our families with our Heavenly Father. Just like in baseball our goal is to touch all the bases and return to home base.
Later in your life you will go to the temple and receive ordinances and be sealed to your wife. That would be second and third bases but that is not what we are learning about today.
Today is all about reaching first base. Baptism is our first base. The baptism covenant is the first gospel-ordinance covenant you make with Heavenly Father. When you make this sacred covenant, you show your love for Him. You also promise, or covenant, to take the name of Jesus Christ upon you, to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments. You should also be willing to bear testimony of Him, and to love and serve Him by loving and serving others.
Our Savior Jesus Christ was our perfect example of how the game should be played. You can think of him as an all-star. Jesus has given us guidelines to help us follow Him. He expects us to love each other, to bear one another’s burdens, to mourn with those who are sad, and to comfort those who need comfort. That’s what He did when He was on the earth. If we want to be called by His name, we will try to do these things, too.
What do you think it means to take His name upon us? Most of us already have two names. Itʼs like our team name. We have a given name, like Trevin, or Jessica; and we have a family name, like Dawe, or Ritchie. When we take the name of Jesus Christ upon ourselves, it means we are part of His family. We are ready to be known as Christians. We are willing to “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places”. We want to act like Christ and follow Him.
Each week in sacrament meeting we take the sacrament and that renews our baptismal covenant. You’ve been taking the sacrament ever since you were babies, but up until now that was practice. You’ve been learning to think about Jesus and all that he has given us through his atonement. From now on each time you take the bread and water you are renewing your promise to do as the Savior did, to be obedient to the Father and always keep His commandments. The blessing we receive in return is to always have His Spirit to be with us.This beautiful plan our Heavenly Father has provided for us is so that we can be happy. When we get baptized we are showing our love for him and keeping his commandments. We have many fans waiting on the other side to shout hooray when we return home. If we keep the commandments or the rules of the game, we will be forever with our family, our eternal team.
