Authentic Faith& Ancient Waters

Sunday Round Up – 12.04.26

Pastor John Powell

This Sunday was unlike anything Church on the Move has ever experienced.

It’s easy to become familiar with growth, breakthrough, and revelation when they happen week after week — but this Sunday demanded that we pause and acknowledge what God is doing here in Neath. This wasn’t just another service. It was a moment in history.

We dedicated three children from two families, marking a whole new generation covered by the blood of Christ and held under the prayers of an entire community. Then seventeen people stepped into the waters of baptism — most of them saved within the last twelve months. A long line of people stood at the front while the congregation sang a blessing over them, moments before they laid down their old lives in the water.

And in true Church on the Move fashion, none of it was done the “normal” way. We’ve never owned a professional baptism pool. Over the years we’ve used paddling pools, and now an aluminium water trough. It’s who we are — authentic, unpolished, and always ready to move when God moves, without being weighed down by unnecessary “stuff.” The atmosphere was that of a diverse, joyful family. We celebrate together, we lift each other up, and today we even welcomed a couple who travelled all the way from Glasgow just to be baptised with us. What an honour.

Three Celebrations on Death

John opened with something unexpected — the three celebrations he hopes will be spoken over his life when he dies:

• “Fair play, he had a go.”

• “Wow, I made it.”

• And in hell: “At last he’s gone.”

He said he wants to be a nuisance to the enemy — someone who harasses darkness simply by being a citizen of Heaven. We may make a footprint on the earth, but our authority comes from a kingdom beyond this world. “When I worship,” John said, “the Devil trembles.”

He reminded us that worship is not dependent on feelings or circumstances. He spoke of the mother of a Columbine victim who once visited us, and a survivor of the 9/11 attacks — people who endured unimaginable horror yet still worship. Life is not sugar‑coated. It is often hard. But God is worthy of praise in every season. He is a good Father. And the Bible is worth every page and worth reading every day.

“Jesus Wants to Make an Appointment with You”

Turning to Matthew 28:16, John said plainly: Jesus wants to make an appointment with you. You’ll either be there to meet Him — or you won’t.

Then came the call: “Be authentic in who you are.”

He spoke about how this becomes easier as you get older — when you stop caring so much about what people think of you.

Why spend years stressing over being a false version of yourself when God already knows the real you?

• God has seen the best and worst of us

• God knows every flaw, every failure, every fear

• And still — He wants a relationship with you

  
  

Verse 17 says some doubted — even after everything they had seen and heard. John said that if they doubted, there is hope for us too. Breakthrough comes when we stop pretending and become authentic before the Lord. Paul spoke of a “veil of flesh” — self‑consciousness, doubt, reluctance — and John urged us to push beyond it.

When Jesus Breaks the Silence

John spoke about the “30 minutes of silence in Heaven” and asked us to consider the silences in our own lives:

• What have you not declared?

• What truth have you avoided speaking over yourself?

• What secrets, lies, or areas of lack have you allowed to remain unspoken?

Jesus approaches and breaks the silence. He gives us His name so we can speak with authority.

“All authority in Heaven and on Earth belongs to Me.” There is not a place you can go that Jesus does not own — including Hell/Sheol.

Why Baptism Matters

John then led us into a powerful and detailed explanation of baptism — not as a ritual, but as a divine transfer of identity and authority.

Baptism represents:

• Dedicating our lives to God

• Drawing a line in the sand — the old is gone, the new is walked out with Him

• Jesus washing our feet so we are prepared to walk

  
  

There is a powerful connected between baptism to the story of God’s people:

• Jewish cleansing rituals

• The Israelites passing through the Red Sea

• Slavery to freedom

• Burial to new life

John the Baptist’s Priestly Role

John the Baptist wasn’t the official High Priest in Jerusalem, but he was a direct descendant of Aaron through his mother Elizabeth, from the tribe of Levi. That made him a legitimate priest — fully qualified under the Law to perform priestly functions.

So, when Jesus came to him at the Jordan, John stood with real priestly authority.

Jesus’ baptism was more than symbolic.

It was a transfer of authority:

• From the old Aaronic priesthood

• To the new, eternal priesthood Jesus would establish

When John baptised Jesus:

• Jesus was being initiated into His public ministry

• Jesus was being anointed into priesthood, not kingship in that moment

• John stood as the final priest of the old order and Jesus stepped into the new order — after the order of Melchizedek

  
  

This moment took place years before the High Priest Caiaphas tore his garments during Jesus’ trial (Matthew 26:65). Tearing the High Priest’s robe was forbidden by the Law (Leviticus 21:10). This was the moment the High Priest unknowingly declaring the end of the old priesthood — the very system Jesus was about to fulfil.

So, the timeline looks like this:

• Beginning of Jesus’ ministry: Jesus is baptised by John in the Jordan (Matthew 3:13–17). Priestly authority is transferred.

• End of Jesus’ ministry: Caiaphas tears his priestly garments during the trial (Matthew 26:65). The old priesthood symbolically collapses.

Between these two events, Jesus walks as both High Priest and sacrifice, fulfilling the entire system.

A Priesthood Passed to Us

John reminded us that:

• Every believer is both king and priest

• High Priests would baptise their sons into the priesthood

• Jesus now baptises us into His priesthood

• Baptism is the mantle being passed on

• The anointing prepares us to walk out our citizenship of Heaven

  
  

This isn’t ritual for ritual’s sake. It is identity. It is commissioning. It is authority.

And today, as seventeen people stepped into the water, we witnessed that same ancient, holy pattern continuing — generation after generation being brought into the fold.

A Day to Remember

This Sunday was more than a service. It was a declaration. A commissioning. A reminder of who we are and what God is building in Neath.

For those who missed it, may this bring clarity.

For those who were there, may it deepen what you experienced.

For those who read this in years to come, know this:

God was moving in Neath — and we were eyewitnesses.