1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:06,880 How y'all doing? It's wonderful to have you with 2 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:10,120 us to be in the city and praise God for this place. 3 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:14,960 To just be able to come into a conference room and turn it into 4 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,720 a House of worship. How cool is that? 5 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,760 I mean, it feels a little strange at first, but once the 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:26,760 people of God show up like this place transforms and that that's 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,560 true of the church. The church isn't a building. 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,080 It's wherever the people of God gather, and we can gather 9 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,120 anywhere. I'd read this morning in Psalm 10 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,840 118 that the tabernacles of God would be full of joy. 11 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,480 And I hope that's true of our church as we sing That rugged 12 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:46,240 cross, My salvation, man, that that would be the song of the 13 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,320 redeemed, that we'd be a people that would rejoice in what God 14 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:54,000 has done for us. I'm sorry I Can't Sing and play 15 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,040 very well at the same time. So like, I'm trying to get all 16 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,720 of my stuff out right now, you know, but it's also sweet when 17 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:03,040 we don't have APA system. Obviously we'd like those 18 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,080 things, but we can hear each other singing. 19 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,440 And that's so refreshing. It's so encouraging. 20 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,280 Even if our voices, you know, maybe we're not all professional 21 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,160 singers, we all get together in harmony. 22 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:15,280 And it's really cool, man. Praise the Lord for that. 23 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,040 My name is Thomas. I'm the pastor here at Portland 24 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:19,760 Gospel. We're going to get into our 25 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:21,600 Bible study time. So we're going to dismiss the 26 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:23,760 kids. So kids, we love you. 27 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,160 Pray for Amber and Lauren. They're going to be out with the 28 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:32,960 the kiddos this morning. We have some notes for you as 29 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:34,920 well. We're going to get in to a time 30 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:36,400 of study. I don't know if there's any left 31 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:38,200 or if you need one, but make sure you get that. 32 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:45,080 And as David said, we exist to help you believe, live and share 33 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:46,880 the gospel. He mentioned baptism today. 34 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:49,560 That'll be a part of our subject matter that we're in. 35 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,040 We're kind of hitting it multiple times on purpose 36 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:56,480 because repetition is the price of learning. 37 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,800 And we are in the foundational things in Christianity 101 that 38 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:04,680 what what are the basics? What are the fundamentals? 39 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:06,920 What do Christians do? What does the Bible say? 40 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:11,360 And that one is a huge issue and we see it getting distorted in 41 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,120 our world or whatever that might mean. 42 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,960 But in this series in Christianity 101, we've looked 43 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:22,760 at several important topics. We started with theism. 44 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,640 That's kind of a heady 1. And you know, 44% of Portland 45 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:30,480 has no religious affiliation, so they don't believe that there is 46 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,240 a God. And we have to come to the place 47 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,280 at least that there is a creator to be able to get to the 48 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,000 Christian faith. So being a theist doesn't make 49 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,000 you a Christian, but you can't be a Christian without being a 50 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:42,400 theist. You have to believe that there 51 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,200 is a God. And so that we we looked at that 52 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:46,480 the first week that's on YouTube. 53 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,200 If you have any skeptics or atheists in your life, hopefully 54 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,360 that will be a benefit to them. We saw who Jesus is. 55 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,600 That's, that is premier stuff in Christianity. 56 00:02:56,040 --> 00:03:00,200 We, we rest all of our faith and our hope on who Jesus is. 57 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,480 We looked at the Bible and how we can trust the Bible is the 58 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,520 word of God. Perhaps our most important time 59 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:10,760 as we looked at salvation, how are we made right with God? 60 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,680 How can we go to heaven? How can our sins be forgiven? 61 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,640 That is just the the most critical issue for us. 62 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,480 And then we saw after that, the people that are saved join 63 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,000 together in fellowship and worship in a place called a 64 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,240 church. We gather together, we're a 65 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,400 body, we're a family, we're a flock, We're all kinds of those 66 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:29,920 things that the Bible teaches us. 67 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,360 And today we're going to see what the church does. 68 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,240 We saw briefly last week who the church is. 69 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,560 We're a gathering, we're safe people, that sort of thing. 70 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,680 But today we'll see that we have a mission. 71 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:46,640 We're not just going to be a social club. 72 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,280 We have in some ways, we have work to do. 73 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,560 We can gather and be encouraged and be strengthened in the word 74 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,160 of God. But we, we are the only people 75 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,320 on the planet that will reach the World with the songs that we 76 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:02,640 just sang. So we need to take that 77 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:04,720 seriously. And that's what we'll look at. 78 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,720 But let me, before we get any further, let me pray for us, and 79 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:09,280 then we'll hop into a time of Bible study. 80 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:17,519 Let's pray. God, we come and we thank you 81 00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:21,399 for your grace. It is by the cross that we have 82 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:24,560 any access to your throne. So we come boldly in the name of 83 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:28,920 Jesus, as you said we could. We thank you for loving us while 84 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,120 we were yet sinners. And we know that you've called 85 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,880 us to share that same good news that we've received with others. 86 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:40,360 I pray today you'd envision our church and envision individuals 87 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:44,400 for what it means for them to participate with you in reaching 88 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:45,960 others. Would you use our time? 89 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,240 Humble us, enlighten us, encourage us? 90 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,960 I pray in Jesus name, Amen. All right, well, you can turn 91 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,320 your Bible to Matthew chapter 28. 92 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:03,480 Matthew chapter 28, Matthew's the first Gospel in the New 93 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,720 Testament. If you need help finding that, 94 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:08,800 there's like a concordance in the beginning of your Bible. 95 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:10,320 Usually it'll tell you where things are. 96 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:18,560 Matthew 28, we're going to look at today the the last words. 97 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,000 If you just look at the very end of the chapter, the last words 98 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,640 of Jesus and how this book concludes. 99 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,280 Notice if you have a Bible that has read print, there's some 100 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,840 words there, so let me read those for us. 101 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:35,600 Matthew chapter 28, starting in verse 18. 102 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,520 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given 103 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:44,920 unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all 104 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,800 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the 105 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,680 Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all 106 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,400 things whatsoever I've commanded you. 107 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,760 I am and I am with and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the 108 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:00,680 end of the world. Amen. 109 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,960 So this book we see essentially the gospel in this chapter in 110 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,440 chapter 28. If you look at verse 5, we see 111 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,280 that Jesus was crucified. It says at the end of verse 5, 112 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:15,960 which was crucified. That's an important part of 113 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:20,600 Christianity, the crucifixion. And if you look at verse 7, we 114 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,680 see the resurrection and go quickly and tell his disciples 115 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,920 that he is risen from the dead. You cannot be saved unless you 116 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:29,560 believe that Jesus rose from the dead. 117 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,760 That is absolutely critical. We're about to start celebrating 118 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,200 this, this Easter season coming up. 119 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:37,040 That is, that is a huge deal for us. 120 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,480 And today we'll see that as these disciples gathered in 121 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:43,760 verse 10 in a certain place, Jesus told him, hey, go, go and 122 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:44,720 meet. I'll meet you. 123 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:47,600 He had some parting words for them. 124 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,680 And if you're familiar with the story, eventually Jesus would 125 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:53,880 ascend to heaven after his resurrection. 126 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:57,400 He's first spent some time with his disciples, 40 days or more, 127 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,160 and he invested some things into them and said, this is what I 128 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:05,040 want you to do. I'm taking off these, your 129 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,960 marching orders. So that's where we find 130 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,440 ourselves today. And these marching orders have 131 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:14,760 been carried out by the church for the last 2000 years. 132 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,440 I mean, from the time of the ascension to now is 2000 years 133 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:26,120 of Christians passing the faith down from one generation to the 134 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:28,520 next. And it is because of these 135 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,200 words. This is the command that we were 136 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:32,760 given. And the only way there will be a 137 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:37,320 generation after us is if we take seriously these words like 138 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,760 we were the last generation and we share it with the world. 139 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,280 So that's where we are. Matthew 28, we're going to look 140 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:47,400 at verses 19 and 20 today, and if you're taking notes, we'll 141 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:54,000 start with point #1 which is to reach the World today. 142 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,400 Again, this is going to be basic, but we need to know this. 143 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:02,840 We need the fundamentals. Jesus says in verse 19, Go ye 144 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:09,280 therefore and teach all nations. So go is a do word, right? 145 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,160 There's something we need to do. This isn't what saves us. 146 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:15,120 This is because we're saved. We go. 147 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,120 Only Christians can do this part. 148 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:19,880 And what we do when we go is really simple. 149 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,920 It's evangelize. That word means to convert, to 150 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:28,400 proselytize, to help someone come to the faith. 151 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:31,960 Jesus uses the word teach in verse 19. 152 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:37,200 So teach isn't just to instruct people, make them aware of 153 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,919 Christianity. It is to help them understand 154 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,120 what we believe and how they can be saved there. 155 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,240 There are multiple accounts of the Great Commission. 156 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:51,400 If you're familiar with the gospels, the gospel authors have 157 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:53,960 a very similar story of Jesus but with a different 158 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,720 perspective. Mark at the end of his gospel 159 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:02,400 and Mark chapter 16 says, and he said unto them, go ye into all 160 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,040 the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 161 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:11,120 So if we put these Great Commission accounts together, we 162 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:14,040 get a better understanding of what it means to teach all 163 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:17,600 nations it is to preach the gospel. 164 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:20,360 And the word gospel means good news. 165 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,440 We're Lord willing going to start a series next week on what 166 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:27,320 the gospel is and it's defined for us in the Bible. 167 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:29,400 We don't have to make up what the good news is. 168 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,000 Is it that you have good music at your church? 169 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,480 Is it a style of music? Is it a what it what is the good 170 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,320 news? Well, the Bible says in first 171 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:45,200 Corinthians 15, you need to know this verses one through 4I 172 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:49,800 declare unto you the gospel. So I'm I'm making you know what 173 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:52,320 it is. In verse three, he says how that 174 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:57,000 Christ died for our sins and that he was buried and then he 175 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,600 rose again the third day. Now we'll spend several weeks in 176 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:06,320 the future hopefully talking about why that's good news, but 177 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:10,000 as I think the songs that we sang really already preached 178 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,880 that for us today. But if you wanted to summarize 179 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,040 what, what is the message really? 180 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,040 What am I supposed to tell other people? 181 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:20,680 It's something simple like this, that we are sinners. 182 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:23,920 We've all done moral things that we know are wrong. 183 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:27,520 We've violated our conscience. We have guilt and shame. 184 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:30,960 Jesus died for us while we were sinners. 185 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:33,600 He rose from the dead. That part's important. 186 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:37,880 He's not just some dead guy and faith in Jesus fixes that sin 187 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,360 problem that we have that takes away all of that. 188 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,280 I'm forgiven. I'm not guilty anymore. 189 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:48,120 This is good news and that is the best news on the planet 190 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:50,280 there. There are no amount of meals 191 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,400 that you can feed a homeless person that will fix a sin 192 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,680 problem there. There are no amount of things, 193 00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:59,400 counselling and other things that we can do for people that 194 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,840 will help their soul. If we're talking about eternity 195 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,800 and rightness with God, this is the superior issue. 196 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:10,800 This is man's greatest need is to be saved. 197 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,800 That's the message and we ought to be excited about that. 198 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,320 If we believe that that is true for us, we we ought to be 199 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:20,080 stoked. We ought to be able to sing. 200 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:25,280 We ought to be a people of joy. But that message isn't just for 201 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:27,920 the your friends, the people that you really like. 202 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:29,560 Hey, I like you. I want you to go to heaven. 203 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,200 That would be good. You should you should want that 204 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,120 for all for everybody. As Jesus says, you should want 205 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:43,720 that for the nation's in verse 19, he says all nations. 206 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:49,840 And if you will get a biblical worldview, that means that I 207 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,880 filter all of my thinking through what is true in the word 208 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:55,000 of God. And you look at the world 209 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,800 through the lens of this book, you're going to say, oh, wait a 210 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:02,720 minute, not everybody's saved, not everybody's going to heaven. 211 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:07,960 What does that mean for Portland, for America, for 212 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:14,240 Canada, if you want to get real, for Saudi Arabia, for North 213 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:20,440 Africa, for China, North Korea? What about places where they 214 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:22,480 don't have access to this message? 215 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:28,960 Hence the word go. It will only get there if we 216 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,160 take it. We can begin with people in our 217 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:34,880 life that we love. And I'm begging you, you need to 218 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:39,400 know the Lord. But it really needs to go to all 219 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:41,160 nations. The word nations comes from the 220 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,440 word, the Greek word ethnos or ethnicity. 221 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,880 It is all people groups, not even just political boundaries. 222 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:52,480 It is peoples. And I showed you this last week, 223 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,280 there's an organization called The Joshua Project. 224 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,560 They keep track, I don't know how, but they keep track of 225 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:02,360 people groups in the world that are reached with the gospel. 226 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:07,280 And there are varying levels of unreached, superficially 227 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,200 significantly, the green is North America. 228 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,640 OK, we have access. You can turn on the radio. 229 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:14,840 You can accidentally find someone preaching. 230 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:17,520 You can turn on TV. And it might not all be right, 231 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,000 but you can find somebody talking about God, Jesus and 232 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:21,560 Bible in some way or another, right? 233 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,000 But there are places in the world where that's not possible. 234 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:30,040 To convert away from other religions brings a significant 235 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:32,800 consequence. There is not freedom of speech 236 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,200 in every place. And according to this number, 237 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:48,200 3.5 billion Reds in appropriate color, if we believe John 316, 238 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,920 they will perish and spend all of eternity and damnation 239 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,600 separated from God, not because God hates them, but because 240 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:58,840 they're sinners. And there's only one way, the 241 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:00,880 way, the truth and the life. You have to believe with your 242 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:02,080 heart and confess with your mouth. 243 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:08,880 In Luke's gospel, it says, and that repentance and remission of 244 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:14,280 sins should be preached in His name among all nations. 245 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:19,920 That's what we the church, the people of God, are called to you 246 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:22,560 to do. So I have this question for you 247 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:26,080 in your notes. What would it look like for you 248 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:34,360 to share the gospel with others? Just think about that for 249 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:36,000 yourself. It's a question on purpose. 250 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,400 You might think that's my job and I do my fair share. 251 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:42,360 I'm trying. I'll never do enough you. 252 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:44,000 We could never reach the whole world. 253 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,360 We can only do what we're responsible for our part. 254 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:54,480 Who's in my life? My Co workers, my family, people 255 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:56,680 on the street, people in the office. 256 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,640 What about you? Would you open your mouth and 257 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:07,760 say there's a way to be saved? So we start with the great. 258 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,240 This is what we call the Great Commission, what Jesus has told 259 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:15,080 us to do, go and tell the world. But then after that, when people 260 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:18,640 respond, we're called to help them respond in faith. 261 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:23,880 It may seem like if you've ever shared the gospel, it may seem 262 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,520 impossible, like no one likes this. 263 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:30,480 People seem to be against this exclusive Christian thing. 264 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:35,880 It feels difficult, but if you will share it enough, people 265 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,440 will be saved. I don't know what the number is. 266 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:41,480 I don't know. Only God can know how people's 267 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:46,480 hearts are all happening, right? But the people that saved are 268 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:50,120 saved are called to respond in faith, as Jesus says, baptizing 269 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:54,400 them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. 270 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:56,840 So I know David already hit this, but I just want to show 271 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,000 you a few things while we're here on the subject. 272 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:04,240 First is that baptism comes after salvation. 273 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:09,200 This is basic, but even in Christian circles people don't 274 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:14,160 believe this. There is no ritual washing that 275 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:18,120 will cleanse sin. The shed blood of Jesus Christ 276 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,800 is the only thing that washes us from our sin. 277 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:25,120 We see some examples of that as David pointed out with the 278 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:28,920 eunuch in Acts 8 when they believed or I'm sorry, this is 279 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,200 the people in Samaria in Acts 8 when they believed Philip 280 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,000 preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God in the name 281 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:38,920 of Jesus Christ. They were baptized, both men and 282 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:41,880 women, so they believed, and then they were baptized. 283 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,680 And then I have in your notes also Acts 18. 284 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,080 But I feel like we've kind of made that point for us already 285 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,080 today. So if you've been saved and not 286 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,440 been baptized, this is the next step for you. 287 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,880 Secondly, we see the baptism is by immersion. 288 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,840 And again, even within Christian circles, not everyone agrees. 289 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,800 I think the Bible is clear. The word here used, the Greek 290 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:11,319 word is baptizo. Now I'm not a Greek theologian, 291 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:16,119 but that word, it's, it has a meaning, right? 292 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:18,240 And you can read books and people that know Greek tell you 293 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,240 what it means. It it is to immerse. 294 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:25,400 It is never baptism is never a sprinkling in the Bible. 295 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:27,920 There is not one instance in the New Testament of anyone being 296 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,120 sprinkled. There's no instances in the New 297 00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:32,240 Testament of any infants being baptized. 298 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:37,400 But the word, the Greek word, is used of something pretty 299 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:42,400 familiar to us, that when you look at what classics and people 300 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,520 write in Greek, they use that word in this kind of context, 301 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:51,080 something that is submerged. It's all the way in the juice. 302 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:52,440 That's how it becomes a pickle, right? 303 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:55,400 It's not sprinkle. You don't sprinkle a pickle. 304 00:17:55,400 --> 00:18:00,000 That sounds weird, but it's got to be immersed. 305 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:04,680 I know it's weird man, but you'll never forget it now, 306 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:07,640 right? You'll always know baptism and 307 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,080 immersion and baptizo. It means to be underwater like a 308 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:15,000 pickle. So we see this in Acts 8 with 309 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,480 the eunuch. And as they went on their way, 310 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,760 they came under certain water and the eunuch said, see here is 311 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:23,440 water. What doth hinder me to be 312 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,320 baptized. It's clear that he was at a body 313 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:30,480 of water Jesus when he was baptized in Matthew chapter 3, 314 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,240 he went up straightway out of the water. 315 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:36,920 So there was a down and an up out of the water. 316 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:40,440 So if you've been baptized before, but it hasn't been by 317 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,480 immersion, this you can be baptized again. 318 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,320 It's totally OK. That's where we have a Baptist 319 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:51,760 doctrine and where Baptists get the name from is that they were 320 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:55,120 second baptizers. The Catholic Church said you're 321 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:57,440 sprinkled, you're good, you're in from an infant. 322 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:00,920 And Baptists came and said you need to be saved and then 323 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:03,080 baptized. And as people were being 324 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:07,280 baptized again, they got this name for essentially being 325 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:11,760 apostate from Catholicism to say that wasn't good enough. 326 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:15,760 Baptism comes after salvation. But just to give you a picture 327 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,640 of what that looks like, here's a couple baptisms that we've had 328 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:21,760 last year. We had for man, Praise God, how 329 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:24,560 exciting. This is such a sweet day for us. 330 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:29,040 It is not a sombre thing, man. It is for us, like I might cry, 331 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:31,840 we'll get excited, we'll get wet, we'll sing songs. 332 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:35,040 You know, we were helping people take steps of faith to follow 333 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,960 Jesus. So my son Watson and what a what 334 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:39,760 a privilege. There's Jonathan's in the room 335 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:41,920 to Leah's in the room and praise the Lord for that. 336 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,960 So if you need help with that, we'll we'll have my goal is 337 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,640 about every two months or so to have a baptism opportunity and 338 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,640 we'll just trust God to help people take steps of faith. 339 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:57,680 The third thing for baptism is it identifies you with Christ, 340 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:08,840 as it says in verse 19, in the name of the Father, the Son, the 341 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:13,240 Holy Ghost. Baptism isn't in my name or our 342 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:17,920 church's name. It is you taking on the name to 343 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,640 say I'm identifying myself with Jesus. 344 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,640 Obviously essentially the Trinity as well. 345 00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:27,160 But in the name of this is a familiar phrase to us if we just 346 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,680 compare Scripture with Scripture in the book of Colossians, 347 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,880 whatsoever you do in Word or deed, do all in the name of the 348 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,320 Lord Jesus. Our life as Christians should be 349 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:41,880 honoring to Jesus, but baptism is the first real opportunity 350 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:46,680 you have to say I'm associating myself in his name. 351 00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:49,960 I'm, I'm willing to tell the world, even people that disagree 352 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:53,760 with me, even if my family comes to attend, I'm following Jesus, 353 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,480 I'm with him. And really what we see with this 354 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:02,160 identity is that baptism is a picture of the spiritual reality 355 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,080 that happens at the moment of salvation. 356 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,840 If you read Romans chapter 6, I gave this to Modesto for 357 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:11,560 homework this week or last week. This week we're we've been 358 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,200 talking about baptism. We meet every week and just talk 359 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:18,000 about Bible stuff. The picture is in Romans 6. 360 00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:21,920 We are buried with him by baptism into death. 361 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,840 That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of 362 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,440 the Father, Even so should we walk in newness of life. 363 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,800 So the baptism in Romans 6 is a spiritual baptism. 364 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:33,320 This is what happens when you're saved. 365 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,680 You are immersed into Christ, you are in Him. 366 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:39,800 If you read the book of Ephesians, you'll just see 367 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:44,200 that's a big theme. You're in Christ and baptism is 368 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:50,560 just identifying when you go down, man. 369 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:54,680 Christ was buried, my old man was buried, and I'm raised, as 370 00:21:54,680 --> 00:22:00,160 Romans 6 says, to walk in newness of life. 371 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:05,960 I'm leaving a life behind and I'm living my life in the name 372 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:08,400 of Jesus. I'm following him. 373 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:14,760 So I've said it before like this, baptism is one of the 374 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:16,920 easiest things you'll ever do to follow Christ. 375 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:24,080 It's get wet. I mean, literally that's it. 376 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,920 You don't have to say much. We, we hope that you'll share a 377 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,400 testimony or we'll compile one and I'll share it for you. 378 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:35,080 But you don't have to do much. You don't, let's not even go 379 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:37,960 preach. It's not go die. 380 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:43,240 It's not like get up real early. Our church is at night most of 381 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:47,240 the time. All you do is get wet. 382 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:51,200 Your Christian life honestly will get more difficult after 383 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:56,040 that. As you grow and mature, you will 384 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:57,960 take even more difficult steps than that. 385 00:22:57,960 --> 00:22:59,800 So it is you. You get it. 386 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,000 We're beating it to death. Baptism is the first. 387 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:03,640 We call it the first step of obedience. 388 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:08,200 But after people are baptized and they say I'm in, now it's 389 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:17,120 time to grow as a disciple. So we see preaching the gospel 390 00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:22,840 and salvation, baptism and now discipleship, verse 20, teaching 391 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:27,200 them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. 392 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:33,240 So baptism is not the end of your Christian life for many. 393 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,240 They're like, OK, I got salvation. 394 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,360 I've been dunked. I'm just going to ride the Pew, 395 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:39,640 man. I'm good or I don't need to go 396 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:41,360 back to church. They did all the things for me 397 00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:44,480 already, and that's not the case. 398 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,680 Jesus says there's a third thing, and we take that very 399 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:51,280 seriously in our church, teaching them to observe all 400 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,120 things. Whatsoever I've commanded you, 401 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:58,760 it means you need to grow and learn about your new life in 402 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,880 Christ. So they're essentially two ways 403 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,960 to grow that we see here. First is that we grow through 404 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:15,000 information. You need to learn some things if 405 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,720 you're going to be a Christian. You've got to figure out what do 406 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:19,680 I do with my life? OK, I'm in. 407 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,920 I don't know what to do. Tell me what to do there. 408 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,840 That means that there is an element of teaching and 409 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:30,480 learning. Hopefully that happens in the 410 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,000 church setting up. Man, I try every week to try to 411 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:37,320 prepare for thinking about and praying for you to help you 412 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:40,520 understand what God's Word says. You'll never be swayed and you 413 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:45,120 can grow strong. But we also have a personal 414 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:48,520 sense in this. Jesus said to the disciples in 415 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:52,880 Matthew 28. Here you teach them to observe 416 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,240 all things. And so it's not just, well, God 417 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,160 teaches me and we have our own little relationship, and you 418 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:00,480 certainly should. I'm not your priest. 419 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,560 But really the only way that you're going to learn is by 420 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:12,880 following somebody else. The Bible says that the church 421 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:17,040 is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. 422 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,680 They laid the foundation. They taught us what Scripture 423 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,360 is. And we need people in our life 424 00:25:22,360 --> 00:25:24,880 that are able to teach us as well. 425 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:28,320 So we have a ministry we call personal discipleship. 426 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:31,080 And the word disciple is a Bible word. 427 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:35,840 It means a student, a learner, A pupil, a taught one. 428 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:38,600 I'm willing to show up and learn. 429 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:42,680 I don't have it all figured out. And in that we will pair you up 430 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:44,720 with somebody that you can follow. 431 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:50,000 Be ye followers of me as I also am of Christ. 432 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:52,960 It's not wrong to follow another person. 433 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,960 We want you to grow and get on your own 2 feet and not need to 434 00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:00,360 always have your hand held. But in the beginning, man, we're 435 00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:01,800 not upset that you don't know things. 436 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:05,640 We want to help you grow and stand up and eventually make a 437 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,880 disciple for yourself. Paul says in Second 438 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:13,440 Thessalonians. Hold the traditions which you 439 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:17,520 have been taught. So again, there is the element 440 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,640 of you need to learn. What do I believe? 441 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,560 Please don't start with Google or YouTube. 442 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,560 Just come to church. We'll pair you up with a mentor. 443 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:31,520 If you want things on the Internet, we'll show you safe 444 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,440 resources. But there's a lot of craziness 445 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,880 on the Internet. So start with play people that 446 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:40,600 you know and trust. Like I see them, I see their 447 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:44,720 marriage, I see their parenting, I see them faithful playing 448 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,360 guitar or whatever, Whatever you see that you want in your 449 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:50,600 Christian life when you need to have a person that you can 450 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:54,600 identify with and help me grow. All right, next is you need 451 00:26:55,600 --> 00:27:00,880 application. So your your Christian life 452 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:10,000 isn't just about information. At some point, you probably know 453 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:14,160 more than you're doing, especially if you've read the 454 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:17,280 whole book. You're like, OK, I'm officially 455 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:18,560 not doing everything all at once. 456 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:22,360 I'm trying, right? You should probably read your 457 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:25,400 Bible more. You should probably pray more. 458 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,280 You should probably make more time in your schedule for 459 00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:31,200 spiritual things, should probably stop doing some bad 460 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,200 stuff, should probably start doing some better things to 461 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:36,240 serve. Look like we all know there's 462 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,000 more that I should be doing. So information isn't actually 463 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:44,520 helping you if you're not able to apply it to your life. 464 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:49,680 We don't want to just make you a heady, brainy, separated, 465 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:53,000 intellectual Christian. You need real and practical 466 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,440 application. As Jesus says in verse 20. 467 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:00,960 We don't just teach them a data set, teaching them to observe 468 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,320 all things whatsoever I have commanded you. 469 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:07,880 So our discipleship ministry is to help people apply the word of 470 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:11,080 God to their Life. OK, I understand what it says. 471 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:12,600 Thank you for sharing that with me. 472 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,360 How do I do that? What what? 473 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,840 How do I don't understand? Like what are some examples? 474 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:20,880 Could you help me? Could you text me this week and 475 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:23,800 remind me? Can we pray about it together? 476 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:29,400 So the word here in verse 20 to observe all things. 477 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,680 The word observe isn't just a spectacle. 478 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:39,280 It is to attend to carefully or to take care of. 479 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:42,520 So there is a sense in which it is protective. 480 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:46,000 Like, OK, I learned some stuff. I need to steward this in my 481 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,960 life, but to attend to is like, man, I've got to figure out how 482 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:55,440 do I actually do that. A couple of other uses of that 483 00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:00,280 word we see in the Bible in the book of Deuteronomy, and you 484 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,400 shall observe to do therefore, as the Lord your God hath 485 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,360 commanded you. What does observe to do look 486 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,400 like? Check this out you shall not 487 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,080 turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 488 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,120 I see what it says and I'm not stepping out of the way. 489 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:25,040 I'm stepping into it. I don't know how by faith Jesus 490 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:28,480 name with accountability the prayer and fasting Maybe I'm 491 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:30,200 going to do what God told me to do. 492 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:35,840 I will obey the book of Joshua if you obey. 493 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:39,040 This is a famous verse for many Christians. 494 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,040 There's a blessing for obedience. 495 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,280 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but 496 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,360 thou shall meditate therein day and night that thou mayest 497 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:51,400 observe to do according to all that is written therein. 498 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,640 If you're going to observe to do it means it needs to be at top 499 00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:00,760 of mind. Meditate day and night and 500 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:03,240 you're not going to do anything that's not in your brain, right? 501 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,320 That's why we have devices that tell us, Ding, Ding, hey, 502 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:08,600 remember to do this today, right? 503 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,960 I just, I got an iPhone recently and I'm trying to figure out my 504 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,160 reminder life. It's totally different than 505 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:18,520 Android life. So we have to remind our brains 506 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:21,400 so that we can do things. And this is where meditation 507 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:26,160 comes in, reading, journaling, talking about it with others. 508 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:30,280 And if you'll do this, the Bible says thou shalt make thy way 509 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:35,000 prosperous, then thou shalt have good success. 510 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,920 And the only time the word success is used in the Bible in 511 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:42,400 the King James Bible is in this verse. 512 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:45,520 Go Fact Check me on it. Go check it out. 513 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:47,240 You can get out your Bible lap and check it out. 514 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:53,320 You'll find success when you meditate and observe to do what 515 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:58,440 God says because his ways are higher than our ways. 516 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:01,360 That's what he said in the book of Isaiah. 517 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:05,400 And if you will just align your steps, you will live out a 518 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:11,160 higher life than if you just did whatever you felt like or 519 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:15,240 thought was right. So I have this question for you. 520 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,520 Do you have help applying God's Word to your life? 521 00:31:23,870 --> 00:31:26,710 We want to help you with that. Sign up for discipleship, talk 522 00:31:26,710 --> 00:31:28,910 to whoever you know in church, or talk to me. 523 00:31:29,590 --> 00:31:32,670 We'll tell you more about it. But lastly, let's look at our 524 00:31:32,670 --> 00:31:37,120 final point, which is to fulfill the mission together. 525 00:31:42,550 --> 00:31:47,590 In Matthew 28 and verse 20, Jesus has this wonderful phrase 526 00:31:47,590 --> 00:31:49,790 at the end. And lo, I am with you always, 527 00:31:49,790 --> 00:31:52,670 even unto the end of the world. Amen. 528 00:31:54,910 --> 00:31:59,030 What an encouragement. Remember, I'm going to send you 529 00:31:59,030 --> 00:32:02,950 to all nations. And if you're going to leave 530 00:32:02,950 --> 00:32:06,760 your home, you're going to go to a place to share the gospel with 531 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:10,080 people that have never heard it, you're going to end up 532 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:12,920 discouraged. You're going to feel like, am I 533 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:16,120 going to get stoned to death? Is anyone going to get saved? 534 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,080 Why did I leave the comfort of wherever? 535 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:24,080 Is this really worth it? And Jesus says I am with you, 536 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:30,160 Alway, and Alway there, it's not an accident that there's no S 537 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:36,560 Alway is perpetual, always is, every instance, every time. 538 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:41,000 Alway is indefinitely, continually, all the time. 539 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:46,120 But we see here Jesus's help. They're essentially 2 things in 540 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:50,400 our final point, a help and a hindrance to the mission. 541 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:55,120 First is that Jesus will help us accomplish this. 542 00:32:56,440 --> 00:33:00,160 Remember, he's not dead, He's arisen from the dead. 543 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,120 It's a part of the gospel. He is alive. 544 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,600 He gave us his Holy Spirit. The Bible says if you're in 545 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:10,040 Bible study in Colossians, that Christ in you is it's our hope. 546 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:15,560 He lives with us. And this whole thing was his 547 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:18,680 idea to begin with. Isn't it like I didn't, I didn't 548 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:22,800 come up with this, this book or this scheme. 549 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:25,920 This isn't my idea. There's probably an easier way 550 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:32,560 to live your life. But he said he will never leave 551 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:36,760 or forsake you, and you're eventually going to find 552 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:38,800 yourself in spots to where you're going to need that kind 553 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,680 of encouragement when you're rejected, when you're feeling 554 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:46,440 low, when you need to keep moving forward. 555 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:53,960 He said in John 14, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give 556 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:56,600 unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. 557 00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:02,640 Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid that 558 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:06,560 peace would be the Holy Spirit that He would send to be with 559 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:08,920 us. He says in verse 20, he'll be 560 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:13,320 with you the same thing that he said in John 14. 561 00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:16,760 And that's encouraging because the work that He's called us to 562 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,880 do is greater than what we can do in the natural man. 563 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:26,639 If the work is go force convert people, we could develop some 564 00:34:26,639 --> 00:34:30,560 manipulation tactics, some really good advertisements, 565 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:32,960 perhaps some enticing bribes come on in. 566 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:37,199 But that's really not it. We can't force convert anybody. 567 00:34:37,199 --> 00:34:39,159 Salvation is by grace through faith. 568 00:34:39,159 --> 00:34:41,600 People have to make a decision with their will to trust the 569 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,920 gospel. So we're going to go preach and 570 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:49,800 hope that others respond. But if we will preach, the word 571 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:54,719 of God does not come back void. It's God's will that none would 572 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,680 perish. He is drawing all men to 573 00:34:57,680 --> 00:34:59,960 salvation. Jesus died for the sins of the 574 00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:05,760 whole world, and this work is possible only through 575 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:07,640 supernatural means. John 15. 576 00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:12,480 As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the 577 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:15,000 vine, no more can ye except ye abide in Me. 578 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:20,240 The only way that we can be fruitful and accomplish the 579 00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:24,480 mission that He's given us to do is by walking closely with Him, 580 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:28,760 knowing that he's with us. But I put it to you this way, 581 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:33,680 the help that Jesus provides is in the context of reaching 582 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:42,150 others. Many times we just want to feel 583 00:35:42,150 --> 00:35:46,390 good and sing songs and Jesus help me and God be with me and 584 00:35:46,790 --> 00:35:48,390 praise the Lord. He certainly is. 585 00:35:49,310 --> 00:35:54,070 Be here, lo, I am with you always is in the same sentence 586 00:35:54,070 --> 00:35:57,430 as go and reach the World with the gospel. 587 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:03,760 So if you want to grow close and know Jesus, be on mission with 588 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,360 him. You will only find this kind of 589 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:12,360 intimacy as you obey and walk with him and listen to his 590 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:14,160 Spirit. Then you will find this 591 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:17,000 incredible, incredible closeness. 592 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:19,520 But lastly, there is a hindrance. 593 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:21,640 Everything's been positive so far. 594 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,440 I think go share the best message in the world. 595 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:26,520 Help people follow Jesus and walk with him. 596 00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:29,000 But there's something else mentioned here. 597 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:35,320 The world will hinder you from accomplishing this mission if 598 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:41,040 you Just because we are told to go and do it doesn't mean that 599 00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:44,880 it's going to happen. And Jesus uses the world, he 600 00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:48,200 says unto the end of the world as a point of encouragement. 601 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:52,880 Hey, I'm with you alway until it's all done, I won't leave you 602 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:56,600 or forsake you. But since the world is in view, 603 00:36:56,600 --> 00:37:01,800 I think it's a good reminder for us to say that actually will 604 00:37:02,240 --> 00:37:06,600 keep us from being fruitful. You see, Christians are told 605 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:15,890 love not the world, and you can't love two things at once. 606 00:37:16,890 --> 00:37:19,170 Nathan and Savannah, praise God, just got married. 607 00:37:19,170 --> 00:37:21,960 So stoked for you guys. I saw Nathan yesterday. 608 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:23,920 He just had the biggest smile and I'm sorry I'm embarrassing 609 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:25,760 you. His biggest smile on his face 610 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:27,640 all day. Like I'm so stoked, man. 611 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,240 I'm so excited for both you guys. 612 00:37:29,240 --> 00:37:32,560 But if you try to love somebody else, it's just really that 613 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:34,600 ain't not Nathan's face already changed. 614 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:36,640 Like I will kill them. Who are they? 615 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:41,280 They will die, right? That's that's a natural response 616 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:44,600 that we have in a relationship and God feels the same way. 617 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:47,000 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and 618 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:48,920 strength, right? There's no other place in my 619 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:52,680 heart, Jesus, you're it, man. But when we get distracted and 620 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:56,320 we love the world and we look at all the shiny, wonderful, 621 00:37:56,320 --> 00:38:00,680 sensual, whatever things that we get distracted with, we are 622 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:05,640 derailed from helping other peoples come into a spirit 623 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:10,320 spiritual Kingdom. Jesus says in John 17, you are 624 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:14,480 sent into the world, You're not just a consumer. 625 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:19,920 Buy, swipe, vote, three stars, 5 stars, you know, next I need 626 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:23,640 another one, Replace it. You're not just a consumer, 627 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:28,240 you're on mission. You live your life differently. 628 00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:32,960 You're essentially swimming upstream from the world, sent 629 00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:36,680 into the world, which means you can't be like the world. 630 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:40,120 And honestly, even if you try, if you are born again with the 631 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:45,640 Spirit of God, you identify with Jesus, the world doesn't really 632 00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:50,640 know you. The world knoweth us not because 633 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:54,120 it knew him not. You take his name. 634 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:56,480 And This is why baptism can be a big deal for people. 635 00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:01,920 You take his name and you're essentially taking all the the 636 00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:04,880 things that people don't like about Jesus on yourself. 637 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:08,800 I mean, they crucified him. They didn't like it. 638 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:13,480 They crucified some of his followers meant all. 639 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:17,280 Pretty much all the disciples were martyred in some way. 640 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:21,000 We have a blood stained lineage in the church. 641 00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:24,720 The world will not really know you. 642 00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:29,920 You can't go back. All you can do is move ahead. 643 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:33,480 And if you don't get strong in your faith, the discipleship 644 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:35,480 part, man, you won't know what to share. 645 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:38,080 You won't know how to do that. So let us help you. 646 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:44,920 But today, if I could just ask you, have you been distracted 647 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:51,840 from the mission? Sometimes it's just walking past 648 00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:55,600 people, not even having what I would call a sole awareness of 649 00:39:56,120 --> 00:40:01,200 there are people around me. Are you trying to reach the 650 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:02,360 World? Maybe you just don't know. 651 00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:03,160 What? What? 652 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:04,480 I don't. I don't know where to start. 653 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,000 Well, that's OK, man. We'll love you. 654 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:11,800 You a couple. Ways for you to stay. 655 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:14,240 On mission and for us as a church to stay on mission. 656 00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:19,200 I'm planning. Hopefully in the month of April 657 00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:23,520 to have an evangelism training. We did this last year where we 658 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:27,400 will take one of our tracks. What is the gospel? 659 00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:29,360 The death, burial and resurrection. 660 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:30,800 Do you want to be saved? Right. 661 00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:33,120 We will help you walk through this tract. 662 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:35,920 We'll give you some scenarios. It's a workshop, not a lecture. 663 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:39,440 We want to help, you know, at very least how to share like a 664 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:42,560 handful of verses with somebody so that they can be saved. 665 00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:45,040 So hopefully in April we'll have one of those. 666 00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:48,240 I'll let you know when I get the dates in May. 667 00:40:48,240 --> 00:40:51,080 We, I have a missionary to Scotland coming. 668 00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:52,360 We're going to spend the weekend with them. 669 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:54,720 We're going to do some evangelism on the street. 670 00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:59,160 So April will prepare you to come out with us on the street. 671 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:00,560 And if you're nervous, just watch. 672 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:03,760 We'll do it. You can be a follower, just see 673 00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:06,400 what's happening. And then this summer we're going 674 00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:09,280 to do a lot of evangelism. So even if you're distracted in 675 00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:13,120 your life, I'll be reminding you and we'll be scheduling times to 676 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:17,640 go out together. So we have ways as a church that 677 00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:21,160 we're planning to do that, but for you as individuals. 678 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:22,960 Typically. We end with the time of 679 00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:27,360 introspection. I want to give you just a. 680 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:29,200 Moment to do that have. You been saved. 681 00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:32,440 Are you sure that? You've called on the Lord. 682 00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:35,320 To save you? If so, have you been? 683 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:36,320 Baptized. It's not. 684 00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:38,960 Too late to get scheduled for next week. 685 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:42,120 We want to get with you on your testimony. 686 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:45,320 If that's the case, have you been discipled? 687 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:47,840 As someone helping you. Apply God's Word to your life. 688 00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:52,480 Or is there something hindering you today that? 689 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:57,640 You need to say I've been distracted by this and I need to 690 00:41:57,640 --> 00:42:00,640 focus on souls, man. I need to, I need to confess 691 00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:04,880 that to the Lord. Ask him to help you or if you 692 00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:09,160 feel like, man, I'm doing good, I'm on mission, maybe there's 693 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:10,240 some. People in your life? 694 00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:13,400 That. Don't know Jesus and they're in 695 00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:16,360 the red line. Maybe right now. 696 00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:19,440 You just want to pray. And ask the Lord, save them, 697 00:42:20,680 --> 00:42:22,440 give me an opportunity. With them I'll be. 698 00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:24,480 Faithful. I'm terrified, but I'll open my 699 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:26,720 mouth. Just help me, be with me all 700 00:42:26,720 --> 00:42:30,280 way, then I'll do it. So let's take a moment. 701 00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:31,280 I'll give. Us about a minute of. 702 00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:33,800 Silence. I'll pray and then we'll have a 703 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:35,360 a song at the end. Let's pray.