1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:09,320 Oh, crossing family, I love you and I cannot thank you enough 2 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,040 for being part of our Super Bowl weekend. 3 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:16,600 And if you know someone who missed it, I want to encourage 4 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:17,840 you. You can watch all three 5 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,200 services. We posted all three services 6 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:22,560 online. You can go to wherever these 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,160 places are. We got something for you back 8 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,760 here. Tells you all the places we do 9 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,360 right there. If you go to YouTube, go to one 10 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:32,439 crossing. We got all three of them. 11 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:35,920 We got Patrick the horse on Thursday. 12 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:41,000 We had Samson the horse first service on Sunday and then I 13 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,160 think it was buggy bug or something for was the third 14 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:45,600 horse. We just called her the Palomino. 15 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:47,880 She was too pretty for me to mess up her name. 16 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:52,040 I've heard story after story about how people were impacted 17 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,200 this past weekend through Riding High Ministries and I am so 18 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,880 proud of you guys because I got reports that you actually 19 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:02,880 listened to what we were saying. I heard check this out that you 20 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,640 guys came early. Keep it up. 21 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,880 That's a great habit. I heard that lots of you parked 22 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,960 far away. Keep it up. 23 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:17,560 I heard a bunch of you invited people keep it up. 24 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,840 You never know what God can do with a small step of faith. 25 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,120 And if we're really arguing to make this region the hardest 26 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,600 place on planet earth to get the hell from, those are ways that 27 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,080 we can consistently love the people in our region. 28 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:31,280 Showing up early, parking far away, and inviting to those of 29 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:34,560 you who support this church financially, we could not have 30 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,200 done this weekend without you. And it is. 31 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:40,760 I'm just very, very thankful to those of you who support our 32 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:42,920 church because for our partnership with Riding High 33 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:44,760 Ministry did exactly what we thought it was going to do, 34 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:46,720 created one of the most memorable weekends in the 35 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,520 history of our church. I want to say a special thank 36 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:54,600 you to the 950 Club, to those of you who prayed at 9:50 in the 37 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:59,760 morning or 9:50 at night, or you prayed both for 9500 people to 38 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,240 show up at our church this weekend, I want you to know God 39 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,320 answers prayers because that's exactly what happened. 40 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:07,880 Actually, that's not true. That's not true. 41 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:10,560 We did not have 9500 people show up. 42 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:18,920 We had 11,150 three, that is butts in seats all across this 43 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:20,920 region. And so if you're part of the 950 44 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:24,480 club, I just want to tell you don't stop praying every single 45 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,880 week and you can join me. I have a three o'clock club and 46 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:29,520 we just do 3:00 in the afternoon. 47 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,960 We don't do 3:00 in the morning because then we would never 48 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:33,720 experience a R.E.M. Cycle in our sleep. 49 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,600 But if you want to join me in praying at 3:00 PM every 50 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,160 afternoon for our Weaver location to minister to 300 51 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,720 people 4 weekends in a row, I would love to have you join us. 52 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:47,640 I got tons of messages about last weekend, as you can 53 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:51,880 imagine, but my favorite was a mother texted me about her 54 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,280 daughter's prayer as she was going to bed after the Thursday 55 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,560 service. Here is her prayer. 56 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,000 This is what she had to say. She goes love last night. 57 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,840 So I was praying with my daughter before bed last night. 58 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,160 She's 8, and she prays. Thank you, Jesus, for a fun 59 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:09,920 night and that we could learn and thank you that the horse 60 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:14,240 decided to become a Christian. Isn't that I love it? 61 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,320 I mean, yeah. Only at the crossing do even the 62 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:18,880 horses get saved. OK. 63 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,800 I also want you to know we just opened up crossing camp 64 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,920 registration this past weekend. And for the last four years, we 65 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:28,880 have set all time attendance records for the amount of kids 66 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,560 that are going to our camp and using our camp every single 67 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,840 year. And I want to encourage you guys 68 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,000 to go ahead and sign your kids up for camp. 69 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,360 One of the ways we're able to keep our costs down, there's 70 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:41,840 very little price influx this year. 71 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,440 I think in most of our campuses is 0 price increase. 72 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,600 And one of the ways we're able to keep our prices down is when 73 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,160 we're able to prepare in advance for the kids that are coming. 74 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,720 And so we would love to have you sign up early, make those dates 75 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,080 holy unto the Lord and plan your vacation around camp. 76 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:03,320 And to those of you who are like Jennifer and I and you not only 77 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,400 want to send your kids to camp, but you want to make sure that 78 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,280 every kid who wants to go to camp can go to camp. 79 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:13,280 You can join us in giving to camp scholarships. 80 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,160 This year Jennifer and I made a commitment that we are going to 81 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:20,079 pay for one kid to go to every single week of camp. 82 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:24,560 And we have 8 camps. And I did the math and that to 83 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:30,840 send one kid to each of our camps to all 8 camps is $1695. 84 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:33,560 Which means I've I've got some saving to do. 85 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:35,720 I've done my first check, but I'm going to have to make 86 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:41,520 payments on my anyhow. I would just love, and there's a 87 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,640 bunch of people all across this region who call the crossing 88 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,800 home. But I would love for 50 couples 89 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:50,360 to join Jennifer and I and do the exact same thing. 90 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:53,960 And if we all do that, if fifty of us say, yeah, we're going to 91 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,560 make a way for one kid to go to each of our camps, it will 92 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,280 actually make it possible for 400 kids to go to camp. 93 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,840 And I would love that to happen. I know some of you, you're 94 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:06,560 golfers, you love to golf and you like to make fun of me when 95 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:07,840 I golf. And I've God bless you. 96 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:11,400 And if you want to leverage your love for golf, making fun of me 97 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:13,800 and helping kids go to camp, we're going to have we're going 98 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,440 to release our golf outings here in a couple of weeks. 99 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,480 And we do that when you sign up to go to one of our golf outings 100 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,280 and have fun with people. It is coming alongside all of 101 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:25,880 our camp scholarship efforts. So be on the lookout for that 102 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:28,080 now. I am so glad that you are here 103 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,280 today because today we are going to be answering one of the top 104 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:34,240 ten questions that I get about our church. 105 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:36,720 But before I do that, I want to welcome those of you joining at 106 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:40,280 all of our different locations, those of you joining online and 107 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:42,640 those of you who are part of the crossing inside. 108 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:45,680 And to those of you who are a part of the crossing inside in 109 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:50,360 Pike County, I am headed your way to spend a week, a Wednesday 110 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,360 evening with you in March and I can't wait to see you. 111 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,840 And I need to say this, I know some of you are going to get out 112 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,440 before I get there. Don't stick around for me to 113 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:03,480 come visit you. I'd rather you be out. 114 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:05,000 OK? But for those of you who are 115 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,880 going to be in there till past March, I cannot wait to get to 116 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,640 meet you and hear your story. With today we are launching a 117 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:16,000 brand new sermon series called Some Assembly Required. 118 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:21,400 This sermon series is Part what we believe as a Church, why we 119 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:25,800 do what we do as a church, and How to Build Meaningful 120 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,160 Encounters with God. Part what we believe as a 121 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:33,160 church, why we do what we do as a church, and how to cultivate 122 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:38,280 meaningful encounters with God. And these messages are going to 123 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:43,640 feel a little bit educational. So I'm not going to preach as 124 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:47,200 much as I'm going to teach. So if you're going, man, 125 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,920 Clayton's a boring preacher. Imagine how boring I am when I 126 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,360 put on my professor hat. So if you if you're if someone 127 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,280 next to you is falling asleep, I'm giving you permission to hit 128 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:00,960 them as hard as you possibly can in love. 129 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:04,880 OK, now I'm going to do as best job as I can. 130 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,480 The reason why I'm making these more educational is because I 131 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:09,960 want you to understand why we do as a church. 132 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:11,960 And if you're the kind of person who you learn best when you take 133 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,040 notes, this whole sermon series for the next six weeks will be 134 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,400 very great sermons for you to take notes for you to remember. 135 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,240 Today we're going to talk about baptism. 136 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,720 Now we make a big deal about baptism at our church. 137 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,120 We show them every single week during one of the songs during 138 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,640 our worship set. We cheer when they happen at the 139 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,720 service. I can only speak for 40 8th St. 140 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,520 We cheer the loudest when we see the number from the crossing 141 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:40,520 inside because like I said, those of you who are part of the 142 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:42,600 crossing inside, we see you as family. 143 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,920 We invite every single week people at our church to get 144 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,240 baptized. I pray six days a week for all 145 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:51,280 the people that have been baptized at our church and all 146 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:53,840 the people that will be baptized at our church. 147 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,520 In fact, I have a counter in my office that keeps track of all 148 00:07:57,520 --> 00:07:59,520 the baptisms that happen in the calendar year. 149 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:01,720 Now here's why I have that counter in office. 150 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,160 It is a constant reminder to me that God is still moving and God 151 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,360 is still changing lives. It's a reminder for me that when 152 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,120 I'm working on a sermon to keep an eye on the left side of the 153 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:14,800 spiritual spectrum. If you guys remember the 154 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,760 spiritual spectrum, those who don't know Jesus yet, It's also 155 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,840 a reminder to me that every single week at the crossing, 156 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:27,000 there is an opportunity for one more person to say yes to Jesus. 157 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,960 And my hope is that at the end of this message, you will have a 158 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:35,320 better understanding of why baptism is so important to us 159 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,520 here at the crossing. But I got to give you some 160 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:42,240 cautionary notes. One, there is no way for me to 161 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,440 cover absolutely everything there is to cover about a topic 162 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:47,240 this big. But I'm going to try to address 163 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,520 some of the biggest questions that people who attend this 164 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,640 church have asked, people who have visited our church have 165 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:58,040 asked, or people who have really strong opinions about our church 166 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:00,920 have asked. So if you share this message, 167 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,440 please share it in love. I'm also going to be gone all 168 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:08,800 next week, so if you e-mail me, it will be redirected to your 169 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,040 campus pastor so that way you can get a prompt reply. 170 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,040 So let's take this apart bit by bit. 171 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:18,960 Here at the Crossing, we practice immersion. 172 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:21,040 We baptize people all the way under the water. 173 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,880 So you might be asking why do we put people all the way under the 174 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:27,840 water instead of sprinkling? Let me answer that. 175 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:32,360 The reason we do it is because the Greek word for baptism is 176 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:38,160 baptizo. It means to immerse or to dip. 177 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:43,520 If I were to say let's all hop in the car and go get some ice 178 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:49,040 cream and then we walked outside and I got on my bicycle, you 179 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,360 guys would go. I think we have a different 180 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:56,120 understanding of the word car. Does that make sense? 181 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,760 So when the Bible talks about baptism, it is using a word that 182 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:06,000 means to dip or to immerse. Now this will help you read the 183 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,920 Bible in a whole new way because what you're going to see is is 184 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:11,480 that when the Bible talks about immersion, the way it actually 185 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:15,480 uses it in context in the scriptures makes this abundantly 186 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:17,640 clear. It re emphasizes the message. 187 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:19,720 You ready to go to school? Here we go. 188 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,240 Here are some descriptions of baptism in the New Testament. 189 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:28,320 OK, now what I did is if I'm going to walk you through 190 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:30,960 actually all of these scriptures and we're going to kind of fill 191 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:33,360 in the XS, but I didn't want the house to fill in the XS as we 192 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:34,600 go. It's just already marked out. 193 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:39,720 So Acts chapter 10, verse 47. Then Peter said, surely no one 194 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:44,480 can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. 195 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,640 So he's talking about baptism and then he uses the word water. 196 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,520 Now let's go back to the chart. So could does sprinkling require 197 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:52,760 water? It sure does. 198 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,360 Does if you were poured on? Or does pouring require water? 199 00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,320 Sure does. Does immersion require water, 200 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:00,880 putting somebody all the way under the water? 201 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,080 Of course it does. OK, so at least from Acts 202 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,880 chapter 10, verse 47, we know that water is important for 203 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:09,440 baptism. But let's keep reading. 204 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:10,920 Let's see what the other verses say. 205 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:13,560 This is John chapter 3, verse 23. 206 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:18,240 Now John was also baptizing at Anon near Salim because there 207 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:24,280 was plenty of water and people were coming and being baptized. 208 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:29,640 So John 323 actually says we need plenty of water for a 209 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:32,640 baptism to take place. Do you need plenty of water for 210 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:34,280 a sprinkling? The answer to that question is 211 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:36,560 no. Do you need plenty of water for 212 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,560 pouring? Maybe that's why I put a little 213 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,320 question mark. But does immersion, putting 214 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:45,200 somebody all the way under to dip or to immerse, require there 215 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,160 to be plenty of water? The answer to that question is 216 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:49,840 yes. Matthew 313. 217 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:53,560 This is Jesus's baptism. Then Jesus came from Galilee to 218 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:56,600 the Jordan to be baptized by John. 219 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:58,480 Why? Or now the Jordan is a river. 220 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:00,160 It'd be like saying the Mississippi. 221 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,880 Why does Jesus travel multiple miles to go to this river? 222 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:09,440 I think it was 35 or 70 miles. Jesus travels to go to this area 223 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:17,360 to be baptized in the river. If a jar of water would work, a 224 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:21,200 cup of water would work. A, you know, a flask of water. 225 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,200 For those of you who are, you know, risky crossing people, a 226 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:27,920 flask of water, right? Unless there was a need for 227 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:32,320 there to be a body of water large enough for a person to be 228 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:37,000 fully immersed or to be, as the Bible calls it, baptized. 229 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:39,960 Let's keep reading. Mark chapter one, verse 9. 230 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,160 At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was 231 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:45,480 baptized by John in the Jordan. Same thing again. 232 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:52,120 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven 233 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:56,680 being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 234 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:00,120 Can you come up out of the amount of water that you would 235 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,240 need to be sprinkled in? Can you come up out of the water 236 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:04,480 that you would need to be poured on? 237 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,240 Or does it only make sense that the word baptized means immerse 238 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,480 because you were coming up out of enough water that you had 239 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:16,240 have been all the way under? So I would say you don't Oh, go 240 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:17,440 back one slide. I apologize. 241 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,240 That was my fault. So in Matthew 313, sprinkling 242 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:22,920 doesn't make sense. Pouring doesn't make sense and 243 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:24,800 neither does or but immersion does. 244 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:28,640 Now let's look at Acts chapter 8 verse 36 through 39. 245 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:32,840 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the 246 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:34,720 eunuch said, look, here is water. 247 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:39,680 What can stand in the way of my being baptized? 248 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:44,800 Let's keep going. And he gave orders to stop the 249 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:47,400 chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch 250 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:51,040 went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 251 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,800 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord 252 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:58,880 suddenly took Philip away. So we've got the Ethiopian 253 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:00,800 eunuch, he's travelling in an entourage. 254 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,160 He's and Philip comes and interacts with them. 255 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,400 They're in this entourage. There have been plenty of water. 256 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:08,720 There have been water in cups, there have been water in jars, 257 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:11,960 There have been water in big in big bags for them to be able to 258 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:13,080 take care of the entire entourage. 259 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,720 If there was enough water in the entourage for the sprinkling and 260 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,720 there was enough water in the entourage for the pouring, why 261 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:22,440 does he see a body of water and go look, there's enough water 262 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,200 for me to be baptized. The only thing that makes sense 263 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:29,520 is if baptism means what the word baptism means, which is to 264 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:31,040 immerse. Look what it says in Matthew 265 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,760 chapter 3 verse 16. As soon as Jesus was baptized, 266 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:38,560 he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened 267 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,080 and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and a 268 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,240 lighting on him. Well, how much water do you have 269 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,320 to have for someone to come up out of the water? 270 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,520 You need a lot, which would make sense because when you baptize 271 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,680 somebody it is an immersion. You are going under the water 272 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:58,440 and coming back up. Look what it says in Romans 273 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:02,120 chapter 6. We were therefore buried with 274 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:06,400 him through baptism unto death, in order that just as Christ was 275 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:09,760 raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may 276 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:14,000 live a new life. Paul says that when you are 277 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,520 baptized, you are preaching a gospel message. 278 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:25,000 Watch this just as Jesus died on the cross, was laid in the tomb, 279 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,560 and three days later was raised to new life. 280 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:33,280 When we are baptized, we all go down into the water. 281 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:37,440 The old is gone, and then through the new birth we are 282 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:40,880 brought back to life, a new creation in Christ Jesus. 283 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:45,920 Our baptism into Christ demonstrates what saves us, 284 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,240 Jesus's death on the cross and the resurrection. 285 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:53,000 And because Jesus died for us, we died to ourselves. 286 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,240 And because Jesus was raised, we too have the hope of a 287 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,640 resurrection one day. This is reiterated in Colossians 288 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:05,440 chapter 2, Having been buried with him in baptism, in which 289 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,440 you were also raised with him through your faith in the 290 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,120 working of God, who raised him from the dead. 291 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:15,440 Does any of this being buried and raised, does any of that 292 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:17,920 imagery preach the same gospel message? 293 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,880 If we're talking about sprinkling or we're talking 294 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:25,680 about pouring, the answer is no. The word baptism means to 295 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,920 immerse and every time they talk about baptism they talk about a 296 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:34,320 body of water big enough to get your whole body in. 297 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,080 And when they talk about how it preaches a gospel message, they 298 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,920 reference the going down and the coming up. 299 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:46,360 Next question, Why or is baptism important? 300 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:49,080 The answer to that question is yes. 301 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:51,920 And I'm going to give you 4 reasons why I say that. 302 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:56,480 There's more, but I'm going to just give you 4 #1 Jesus 303 00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:59,120 demonstrated it. If you want to be a Jesus 304 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,920 person, doing what Jesus does is probably at the top of your 305 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,079 list. And when Jesus was baptized and 306 00:17:04,079 --> 00:17:05,960 he said that, that's a pretty good like, you know what, I'm 307 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:07,200 going to do this stuff that Jesus does. 308 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:08,800 Having your little, what would Jesus do? 309 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:10,800 Guess what Jesus would do? Jesus got baptized. 310 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:14,680 You know what you should do? You should get baptized #2 Jesus 311 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:20,560 commanded his followers to baptize others as a part of the 312 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:22,920 discipleship process. Look what it says in Matthew 313 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,040 chapter 28 verse 19. You guys, you guys have heard me 314 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,079 talk about this over and over and over again. 315 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:29,000 This is what it says. Jesus Kingdom and said all 316 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:30,560 authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. 317 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:35,040 Therefore go and make disciples. How do you make a disciple a 318 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:39,320 follower of Jesus Christ? He tells you baptizing them in 319 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,680 the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teaching 320 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,520 them to obey everything I have commanded you. 321 00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:48,840 Can you make a disciple of Jesus without a person being baptized? 322 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:53,360 No, if we are Jesus people, we should be in the baptizing 323 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:57,040 business. Number three reason why baptism 324 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:00,120 is important. The very first gospel message 325 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:04,720 ever preached ordered people to do it in Acts chapter 2, verse 326 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:07,240 38, which you're going to see that verse about four more times 327 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,480 over the course of this sermon. But here's the deal. 328 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:11,400 Peter gets done preaching the sermon. 329 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:14,240 And when the people get done hearing the sermon, they go, 330 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:20,040 Peter, what should we do? And Peter's answer was repent. 331 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,360 And this is going to catch a lot of you off guard. 332 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:27,040 Be baptized. That's what you should do after 333 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:35,120 you hear the gospel #4 every spiritual transformation after 334 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,800 the resurrection of Jesus included it. 335 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:45,520 Post resurrection, every time somebody said I'm ready to be a 336 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:49,360 Jesus follower, the Bible describes that they were 337 00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:52,480 baptized, which is getting a bunch of you to start going. 338 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:53,880 Is he gone where I think he's going? 339 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:55,920 So let me go ahead and ask. Ask the question that I know 340 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:57,640 that some of you already got going on in your head. 341 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:03,880 Does baptism save you? The answer to this question no 342 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:07,000 doubt could serve as the preeminent answer to the 343 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,920 previous question, Is baptism important? 344 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:14,280 Because if baptism saves you, that makes baptism like the most 345 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,120 important thing. The problem is, is that to 346 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:21,600 answer that question it requires a semantic answers and any time 347 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,360 you try to answer questions semantically, you can answer 348 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:28,000 them semantically correct and end up with an errant theology 349 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:33,440 and an errant practice. So just take a deep breath and 350 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,440 just stay with me for like the next 10 minutes. 351 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:45,240 The Bible clearly states that you and I are saved by the 352 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:51,480 person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus saves. 353 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,160 Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 through 9 says this. 354 00:19:54,520 --> 00:20:01,000 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. 355 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:04,800 Excuse me? And this is not from yourselves. 356 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:11,040 It is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast. 357 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:16,720 Salvation happens because it is a gift from God. 358 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,080 We receive it because it is God's grace to give it to us. 359 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:26,720 We lay hold of it through faith. If we saved ourselves, we would 360 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:30,200 boast in what we had done, but because we did not save 361 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:34,160 ourselves, we boast in what Jesus has done on our behalf. 362 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:39,840 If the Bible clearly teaches that we are saved by Jesus, the 363 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:44,440 better question we should ask is not whether or not baptism saves 364 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:49,400 you, but this how do we take hold of this salvation? 365 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:55,520 Pay attention here. The Bible clearly teaches that 366 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:59,840 when it comes to salvation, we do have a part to play. 367 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,840 Let me unpack this for you. The Bible says that in order for 368 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,040 us to be saved, the first thing we have to do is we have to hear 369 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,800 the gospel message. Look what it says in Romans 370 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,760 chapter 10. Everyone who calls on the name 371 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,040 of the Lord will be saved. How then can they call on the 372 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,240 1:00 they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the 373 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,520 one in whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without 374 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,160 someone preaching to them? In order to come to faith in 375 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:29,000 Christ, you have to hear about Christ. 376 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:30,760 So there's a part that we have to play. 377 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:32,520 We have to hear the gospel message. 378 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:34,680 That's not enough. Does hearing save you? 379 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:38,000 Oh no it doesn't. We have to do something else. 380 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:40,760 We have to believe. Look what it says in John 381 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:44,520 chapter 8 verse 24. I told you that you would die in 382 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:47,760 your sins if you do not believe that I am He. 383 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,120 This is Jesus talking. You will die in your sins unless 384 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:53,440 you believe that I am the Christ, the Son of the living 385 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,480 God. You will indeed die in your 386 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:58,160 sins. If we don't believe. 387 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,480 If we die in our sins, that is the opposite of salvation. 388 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:04,800 Salvation is being saved in spite of our sins. 389 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,600 If you do not believe, you die as a result of your sins. 390 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:10,440 So as Christians, we have a part to play. 391 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,560 We have to hear the gospel message and we have to believe 392 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,320 the gospel message. Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 6 says 393 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,040 this. And without faith it is 394 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,760 impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him 395 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:27,400 salvation must believe that He exists and that He rewards those 396 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:29,800 who earnestly seek Him. How does He reward us with 397 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,920 salvation? Christians, we have a role to 398 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,600 play. We have to hear, we have to 399 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:40,080 believe, but that's not it. The Bible also says we are to 400 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,520 repent. We are to turn from living our 401 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,320 own way and start following in the ways of God. 402 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:48,600 Look what it says in Acts chapter 2, verse 38. 403 00:22:49,120 --> 00:22:53,200 Peter replied, repent and be baptized, everyone of you in the 404 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,440 name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and 405 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:57,720 you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 406 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:00,360 Could somebody be saved if they're saying, listen, I'm 407 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:02,640 going to do my own thing for the rest of my life and I'm never 408 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:06,240 going to follow Jesus? That would not be, that didn't 409 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,200 seem right. Repentance is going, I'm no 410 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:10,680 longer living for me, I'm living for him. 411 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:12,720 In our salvation, we have a part to play. 412 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,360 We have to hear the gospel, we have to believe the gospel, and 413 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:18,040 we have to repent of our ways to bring our lives in alignment 414 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,120 with the gospel. It goes on. 415 00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:22,440 The Bible says we're also supposed to confess. 416 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:24,920 And when it says confess, it's not about confessing our sins to 417 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,640 one another. It is about going on record 418 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,200 being public in our faith. Look what it says in Romans 419 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:31,640 chapter 10 verse nine through 10. 420 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,920 If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in 421 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,360 your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be. 422 00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:42,040 You guys say the word that's interesting. 423 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:44,840 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified is 424 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,560 with your mouth that you profess your faith and are. 425 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:50,000 OK. Hold on a second here. 426 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:52,440 You've heard me say this before. There is no such thing as an 427 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,400 Incognito undercover Christian. If nobody at your work knows 428 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,160 that you're a Christian, it might be because you might not 429 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:03,320 be. The Bible says that if you're 430 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:05,040 ashamed of God, God will be ashamed of you. 431 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:08,280 If you deny God, he'll deny you. We have to go on record. 432 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:11,240 We have to confess, so we have to hear the gospel. 433 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,520 We have to believe the gospel. We have to repent of our ways. 434 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,160 We have to go public with our faith. 435 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:18,400 And guess what? One of the things that we do, 436 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:22,120 part of our part to play, we're supposed to be baptized. 437 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,400 Mark 1616. This is just the Bible. 438 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,000 That's all I'm doing, just teaching the Bible. 439 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,160 Whoever believes and is baptized will be. 440 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:31,400 Interesting that you guys said that. 441 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,120 But whoever does not believe will be condemned. 442 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:37,680 You might be gone, but it doesn't say whoever does not 443 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:39,640 believe and isn't baptized will be condemned. 444 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:41,800 Well if you don't believe in God, you probably wouldn't do 445 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:43,800 the things of God. So why would you be baptized, 446 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:45,840 which is a command of God, if you don't believe that God 447 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,040 exists in the 1st place? But it does say that those who 448 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,680 believe and are baptized will be saved. 449 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,040 So Christians have a responsibility. 450 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:53,880 Acts chapter 238. Remember I told you to see this 451 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,040 a bunch of times, Peter, reply to repent and be baptized, 452 00:24:57,040 --> 00:24:58,880 everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness 453 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,320 of your sins, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 454 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:02,640 Christians have a responsibility. 455 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,080 We have a part to play. We have to hear the gospel. 456 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:07,040 We have to believe the gospel. We have to repent of our ways 457 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,440 and follow the gospel, and we need to be baptized. 458 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,720 I got another one for you. We're supposed to remain 459 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:16,600 faithful. You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, 460 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:18,840 whoa, what? I'm just saying Colossians 461 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:23,520 chapter one verse 22 through 23. But now he has reconciled you by 462 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,400 Christ's physical body through death to present you wholly in 463 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:28,440 his sight without blemish free and accusation. 464 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,200 This is all the stuff that Jesus does on our part, which is why 465 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:32,880 we love him. We're a big fan of Jesus around 466 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:37,920 here. If you continue in your faith 467 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:43,440 established and firm and do not move from the hope held out in 468 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,440 the gospel, this is the gospel that you heard and that has been 469 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,200 proclaimed to every creature under heaven. 470 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,680 Would it make sense to you that a person can call in the name of 471 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,400 the Lord, repent, be baptized, and then they go, You know what? 472 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:56,560 Now I'm going to do whatever I want to do for the entire rest 473 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,800 of my life. Does that sound like a heart 474 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,680 that has been surrendered and has Jesus Christ as their Lord? 475 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:06,280 That doesn't make sense. So in other words, Christians 476 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:10,360 have a part to play. Now hear me, Our part is like 477 00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:14,840 this when it comes to saving you, God did all of the big 478 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:16,880 work. We got this stuff to do. 479 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:22,160 So you might be asking yourself, well Clayton, you just laid out 480 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:26,120 a lot of stuff for us to do. Does this make baptism a work? 481 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,200 Because you just read that passage of scripture that says 482 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:30,520 that this is not a work of our own. 483 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,480 So that way nobody can boast. Let me give you 2 illustrations. 484 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:38,160 If today I was Oprah Winfrey OK, and everybody was getting a 485 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,480 house today, I because I love you so much, I went out and I 486 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:43,520 bought a piece of property for every single one of you. 487 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:47,840 And I dug a foundation and I poured the concrete and I built 488 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,400 you a basement. And then I put I studded it up 489 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,360 and I drywalled and I put a roof over the top and I put 490 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:55,240 insulation in and I ran all the plumbing and all the electrical. 491 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,200 And I put I mudded it and I painted. 492 00:26:57,200 --> 00:26:59,440 I made it look beautiful. I put all the lights in, all the 493 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,200 appliances, all the flooring, all the fixtures, all the 494 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,920 cabinets. I bought all the furniture and I 495 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,880 made this whole place beautiful. I paved the driveway. 496 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:10,440 I did all the hardscaping, all the the softscaping. 497 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:11,840 Your house is absolutely beautiful. 498 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,880 And I come and I bring you the keys and I go, I did this for 499 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:22,040 you, but you got to go down to the county clerk's office and 500 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,160 you got to register this house in your name. 501 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,040 Would you go around town bragging to everybody about how 502 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:28,600 you did all the work to make that house? 503 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,640 You know what I would do to you if I found out that you were 504 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,600 doing it? I'd squish you like a bug, 505 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,360 right? Because I did all the work. 506 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:45,480 You just had to lay hold go on record with what I had done on 507 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,360 your behalf. If we were out in a in the ocean 508 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,360 and I was in a big old boat and you were out in your little 509 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:54,080 dinghy and you, your dinghy got a hole in it. 510 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:56,520 And you, you're in the water and you're not a good swimmer and 511 00:27:56,520 --> 00:28:01,000 the waves are just beating you all over the place, OK. 512 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,640 And I'm up there and I'm such a good person. 513 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,560 I, I got my binoculars out. Ahoy. 514 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,240 Somebody's in peril. And I throttle up and I, it's a 515 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:14,640 big boat. You guys love me. 516 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,120 You got me a bit. And I turn that big boat around 517 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,640 and I bring it in close and I put the engine in neutral. 518 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:23,080 And I go over and I press the little button and it lowers my 519 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:24,520 little dinghy down into the water. 520 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,800 And then I hop in it and I come, I'm coming towards you. 521 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,960 And then I jump out like Fat Hasselhoff into the water, 522 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:37,800 coming after you like the Zohan. And I get close and then I grab 523 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,120 my life jacket and I throw it out at you. 524 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,000 And then you grab a hold of the life jacket and you get back in 525 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,880 the boat and you get on the big boat and you're telling 526 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:48,880 everybody about how you saved yourself. 527 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:53,720 You know what I would do? It's a good thing I'm not God. 528 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:56,240 I'd throw you right back out there. 529 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:04,600 Tread water, brother, tread because everybody watching would 530 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:07,200 see all that I had done on your behalf. 531 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,040 But did you still have to put the own your own life jacket on? 532 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:15,720 That is not a work that you did. It is the normal response to 533 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:17,760 what has been done on your behalf. 534 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:21,560 This is how you lay hold of your salvation. 535 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,240 Now, some of you right now you're wondering, Clayton, I 536 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:27,640 believe in Jesus and I call myself a Christian and I've 537 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,120 never been baptized. Are you saying I'm not saved? 538 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:36,960 I am doing my best not to say too much to you, but to show you 539 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,360 what scripture seems to make clear. 540 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,320 And some of you right now you're processing a whole lot of 541 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:47,400 information and a whole lot of emotions. 542 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,280 And this is one of the tips that I tell people is that it is 543 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,760 important that you do when when you're talking about your 544 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:58,200 personal experience and the scriptures, that you do not put 545 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:02,720 the scriptures into submission to your personal experience, but 546 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:06,360 you put your experiences in submission to the Word of God. 547 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,080 What you might be confusing is the Holy Spirit working on you 548 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:13,480 versus the Holy Spirit working in you. 549 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:16,880 And if you stay with me without getting too mad and pre typing 550 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,400 the e-mail, I've got good news for you here in a second. 551 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:23,240 Here's what I'm saying. The Bible makes it clear that 552 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:29,120 baptism is part of salvation, along with hearing, belief, 553 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:34,640 repentance, confession, and obedience, which has LED a lot 554 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:38,760 of people to ask this question. So at what point does salvation 555 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:43,280 actually take place? When am I actually saved? 556 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:45,840 And here's what I tell people. My answer to that question is 557 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,240 always the same. The point or the moment of 558 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:53,840 salvation has been and is always up to God. 559 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:57,760 But here's the illustration I use. 560 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:01,720 It's a lot like baking a cake track with me here. 561 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:05,080 Food stuff is like, you know how I'm, this is how I do parables. 562 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,280 Todd rides horses. I talk about food. 563 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,800 OK, so when does a cake become a cake? 564 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:13,960 After you mix up all the ingredients, after all the 565 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,920 ingredients are in the bowl, does it become a cake the moment 566 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:21,320 you put it in the oven? At what point in the oven does 567 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:23,360 it actually become a cake? You know what you've never done? 568 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:25,520 You've never asked yourself that question. 569 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:28,600 You want to know why? You just do what you're supposed 570 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:30,840 to do. And when the timer goes off, you 571 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:32,520 pull it out and guess what? You have right in front of you? 572 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,920 A stinking cake, right? Here's what we have never done. 573 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:40,840 We've never sat around with a bunch of cake batter all over 574 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:42,120 our kitchen counter going, I think. 575 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,280 I mean, is it a cake? I don't know, man. 576 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:46,640 Let's put it in the fridge for a while. 577 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:49,240 You know what you're not doing? You're not staining at the oven. 578 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:50,640 Cake no. Cake. 579 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:51,680 No. Cake? 580 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,920 No. What about cake? 581 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,720 No, you know why? You just simply do what you're 582 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:00,880 supposed to do and enjoy it when it's done. 583 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:05,920 When a person hears the gospel, believes it repents of their old 584 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,400 way, decide to be obedient in the area of baptism and live a 585 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:11,400 life that's faithful, You know what you don't spend any time 586 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:15,760 asking? Am I saved because you've just 587 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,080 done exactly what Scripture has told you to do. 588 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,440 Now, if you're here today, my goal is not to cause spiritual 589 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,080 anguish or spiritual confusion, but to give you an opportunity 590 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,440 to be obedient to what the Word of God says. 591 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:33,120 So what would I do if I had never been baptized? 592 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,880 I would get baptized. When would I do it? 593 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:42,320 I would do it today and I wouldn't put it off any longer. 594 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,440 Why would a person? How would you feel if there was 595 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:49,240 a person who was always engaged to your son or daughter but 596 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:52,360 never married? And I love your daughter. 597 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,160 She's the best. And I mean, I, I like holding 598 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:58,600 hands with her and I like come at all your family gatherings. 599 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:00,920 Oh, I love it. And I mean, I think she's 600 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:02,720 smoking hot. I think this is great. 601 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:08,600 I put a ring on her finger. I'm going to provide for her 602 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:09,560 financially. But no, I don't. 603 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:13,520 I just, I'm not a marriage guy. That's just kind of not how I'm 604 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:16,200 wired. You know, I don't really want 605 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:21,640 like the work of a wedding to define our relationship. 606 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:24,840 What would you say to that person? 607 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:30,280 I think that I think that you're not going to be around here much 608 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:34,000 longer, right? Like you go, there's something 609 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:36,480 wrong. Why don't you want to go on 610 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:38,840 record and make a covenant commitment? 611 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:46,280 Let me say it this way. You would admit that there was 612 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:48,160 at least something wrong in that relationship. 613 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:51,360 A Christian desires to be obedient to God. 614 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,400 Hear me. If Jesus did it, commanded his 615 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,200 followers to do it, then our response as Christian should be 616 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:03,760 really, really easy. Which of the things that I 617 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,040 mentioned would you take out of salvation? 618 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:08,960 What would you say to me if I said, you know, you can become a 619 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:11,159 Christian without ever hearing about Jesus? 620 00:34:11,159 --> 00:34:12,960 You'd be like, that didn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. 621 00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:15,960 If I were to say, hey, you can become a Christian without ever 622 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:20,360 believing in God, would you go? That didn't make a whole lot of 623 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:22,360 sense. If I were to say you could 624 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:25,280 become a Christian but never repent, would that make sense to 625 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:29,280 you? How come we only ask this 626 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:33,600 question about baptism? Here's my answer. 627 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,560 I believe because Satan has hijacked something that was 628 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:40,719 supposed to be incredibly special for believers. 629 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,120 I'm going to answer a little bit of that in about 3 minutes. 630 00:34:45,159 --> 00:34:47,920 Clayton, what would you say to those of you who were baptized 631 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:52,639 as infants? Here's what I would say to you. 632 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:57,720 There is no explanation or description of infants being 633 00:34:57,720 --> 00:35:04,280 baptized anywhere in Scripture. It can only be inferred if when 634 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:07,360 the Bible says their whole household was baptized, that 635 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:10,600 there were young kids in the home. 636 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:14,560 I would call what happened to you when you were baptized as an 637 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:19,280 infant a wet baby dedication. Your parents were dedicating you 638 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,400 to the Lord and it was a wet baby dedication. 639 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:26,000 But when you are older and you decide to get baptized on your 640 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:29,960 own, you are cashing the check that your parents wrote all 641 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:33,280 those years ago. I want you to, for some of you 642 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,800 who grew up in a, in a, in a system of belief where you are 643 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:39,920 baptized as an infant, you're going, how do I talk to my 644 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:42,280 parents about this? Here's what I'm saying, Mom and 645 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:49,040 Dad, when I was a baby, your hope and your prayer is that one 646 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:51,640 day I would grow up to love you with all of my heart, mind, 647 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:54,280 soul, and strength. And guess what? 648 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:59,320 I want the same thing for my life that you've wanted for me 649 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:04,920 my whole life. And now I'm choosing to make him 650 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:09,080 the Lord and Savior of my life. Let me ask you this question. 651 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,360 Can an infant hear the word of God? 652 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,120 Yeah. Can they believe? 653 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:16,880 No. Can they repent? 654 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:19,440 No. Can they confess? 655 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:22,200 No. If we were to carry this line of 656 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:26,840 logic out, you're baptizing somebody against their will and 657 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:30,400 calling it salvation. And if that worked, we would 658 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:34,600 have a tackle ministry at our church where we would tackle 659 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:38,000 people and take them to the Mississippi River against their 660 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:40,120 will. There would be like 30 minute 661 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:42,560 kidnappings being reported all over our region. 662 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:46,520 Like you, we just, that doesn't make sense. 663 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,520 There's a part of us that knows that it has to be their 664 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:54,720 decision. Clayton, you've been funny and 665 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:57,800 all this stuff, but there's some baggage here. 666 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,400 What about my dead grandparent who was sprinkled as a baby and 667 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:02,760 lived for Jesus their whole life? 668 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:06,920 What are you saying about them? Here's the story I tell. 669 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:11,920 Imagine there was a guy named Chuck, and Chuck had a meat 670 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:15,360 market called Chuck's Meat Market, and he sold. 671 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:16,440 You're not going to believe this. 672 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:21,240 Chuck burgers, Chuck dogs, Chuck roasts. 673 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:26,080 And everybody loved him for it. And then one day Chuck died and 674 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:30,080 his son took over the butcher shop and he started to run it. 675 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:32,240 And people kept showing up to Chuck's Meat Market. 676 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:34,600 I mean, they loved Chuck. They were thankful for Chuck. 677 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:36,920 And they kept ordering the Chuck dogs and the Chuck burgers and 678 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:39,440 the Chuck roast. And his son would pull that meat 679 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:41,880 out and he'd throw it up on the scale and he'd measure out the 680 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:43,600 amount of, of meat that they wanted. 681 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:46,080 And he'd put a ticket, printed ticket, put it on there, and 682 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:47,680 then they'd take it out to the cash register. 683 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:52,520 But one day an inspector showed up and he went over and he 684 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:57,040 checked the scales and he found out that the scales were 20% 685 00:37:57,040 --> 00:38:02,400 off, which means that when they put 5 lbs of steaks up on the 686 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:05,800 scale, they were actually only selling 4 lbs of meat. 687 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:09,240 And Chuck's son's sitting there and he's trying to try to figure 688 00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:14,240 out, what do I do here? Has my dad been cheating people 689 00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:18,280 all those years? There's no way for Chuck's son 690 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:20,920 to know what was going through Chuck's mind, or if Chuck even 691 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:26,960 knew. But Chuck's son is responsible 692 00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:31,920 for what he knows to be the truth, and he has to make an 693 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:36,840 adjustment. He has to adjust the scales. 694 00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:40,480 If your parents or grandparents were sprinkled and we're not 695 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:44,000 immersed and they're not around anymore, we cannot know their 696 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,680 motives or their intentions. Here's what we have to do. 697 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,400 We have to trust that God is a good God and knows the status of 698 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:56,040 their heart. However, just because God knows 699 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:59,200 the status, status of their heart, we must be held 700 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:02,560 accountable for our understanding of Scripture, and 701 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:06,080 we must be obedient to it. And here's what I tell you in 702 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,080 love. Don't compound the problem in 703 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:11,680 your family. Eliminate it. 704 00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:14,480 Now. I want to leave you with a 705 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:15,760 devotion. I told you to hang on. 706 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:19,840 I got a devotion. When you and I sin, sin gives us 707 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:21,800 two big problems. There's a lot of problems, but 708 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:25,760 there's two big ones. One of them is guilt and one of 709 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:30,760 them is shame. Guilt is I have crossed the line 710 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:33,560 I should not have crossed. You guys have felt that before. 711 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:38,920 You lied and then you feel it. You steal and then you feel it. 712 00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:43,640 You've done something you should not have done and immediately 713 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:47,280 you go, oh, that is not who I wanted to be and there's no way 714 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:50,560 to get back. The other one is shame. 715 00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:55,880 I am separated from people because of my sin. 716 00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:59,840 If the people knew about the line that I had crossed, they 717 00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:01,680 would not be close to me anymore. 718 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:07,280 I have to keep it a secret because if my wife knows, if my 719 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:11,360 husband knows, if my boyfriend knows, if my friends know, if my 720 00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:14,840 parents know. And when we cross a line we 721 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:17,680 should not have crossed, we are relationally separated from 722 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:21,000 people because the last thing we want is anybody to know. 723 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:26,480 And now we are alone to guilt, you know, the solution we need, 724 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:33,520 we need forgiveness. We need to our sins wiped away. 725 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:41,240 The the solution for my shame is I need reconciliation because 726 00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:45,120 I'm alone. I need a community that will 727 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:51,000 receive me. When you experience sin, guilt 728 00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:57,840 and shame wage a war on you. Look at how baptism addresses 729 00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:01,360 this. Baptism is the only thing that 730 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:08,000 addresses both problems. How do I get rid of my guilt is 731 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,120 I have to have my sins wiped away? 732 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:17,320 How are my sins wiped away? Acts chapter 2 verse 38. 733 00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:21,760 Look what it says, Peter replied Repent and be baptized everyone 734 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:26,400 of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of 735 00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:32,920 your sins, that when you get baptized your sins are wiped 736 00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:35,760 away. I no longer have guilt. 737 00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:39,880 How does baptism handle my shame? 738 00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:44,480 Look what it says in Galatians chapter 3 verse 26 through 29. 739 00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:49,760 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 740 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:54,440 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed 741 00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:58,000 yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor 742 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:01,480 Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female. 743 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:06,760 For you are all one in Christ Jesus, and if you belong to 744 00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:12,000 Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the 745 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,440 promise. When you get baptized, you 746 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:20,120 become a part of the family of God and you are no longer in 747 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:23,640 isolation. When I got baptized, my church 748 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:26,320 used to after you got baptized, they would sing you into heaven. 749 00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:28,760 They would sing the song. I'm so glad I'm a part of the 750 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:30,120 family of God. I've been washed in the 751 00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:32,720 fountain, cleansed by his blood. Join hands with Jesus as we 752 00:42:32,720 --> 00:42:33,840 travel. It was the whole thing. 753 00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:36,640 And what they were saying is you are now a part of us. 754 00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:40,400 Your sins have been wiped away. You have no more guilt in your 755 00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:43,560 life. And because you are now part of 756 00:42:43,560 --> 00:42:46,360 his family, you're a part of my family, which means you are no 757 00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:50,240 longer alone. And if you want to know why I 758 00:42:50,240 --> 00:42:54,560 think Satan has attacked baptism so much, it's because he wants 759 00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:58,760 you to remain in guilt. He wants you to remain in shame. 760 00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:04,400 And God is trying to give you a beautiful gift and crossing 761 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:06,160 family. I hope you'll receive it. 762 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:07,760 We're moving to a time of decision. 763 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,400 To those of you who don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, 764 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:15,760 guess what I'm going to talk about? 765 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:19,880 What are you waiting for? I'm telling you today, your sins 766 00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:23,160 can be wiped away and you can begin a new life in Him with a 767 00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:26,520 new family, just like Philip in the Ethiopian eunuch. 768 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:30,520 You can go, look, there's water. Why shouldn't I be baptized? 769 00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:31,720 And you're going, where's the water? 770 00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:34,880 At every single one of our locations there is a big 771 00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:38,520 baptistry, big enough to immerse you, to baptize you. 772 00:43:38,720 --> 00:43:41,160 So there is no excuse for you to put it off. 773 00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:45,720 So don't put it off. If you've been following Jesus 774 00:43:45,720 --> 00:43:50,280 for a long time but you have never been baptized, don't put 775 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:52,520 it off any longer. It is time for you to be 776 00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:56,520 obedient to the person that you call your Lord and your Savior. 777 00:43:56,520 --> 00:43:59,760 And it says something about you that you do not once said about 778 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:03,680 you, that you refuse to do the things that your Lord and Savior 779 00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:07,560 has asked you to do. And if you've been baptized into 780 00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:11,240 Christ, the Bible says that we're supposed to make disciples 781 00:44:11,240 --> 00:44:14,000 of all nations by baptizing them. 782 00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:18,960 And they cannot believe until they have heard. 783 00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:22,920 And so for those of you that are here today that already have a 784 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:25,440 relationship with Jesus Christ, you've already been obedient. 785 00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:27,560 And baptism, I'm just going to level with you. 786 00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:30,560 Who is somebody that you need to talk to? 787 00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:34,800 Who is somebody that you need to call? 788 00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:38,840 Maybe you have your card and you want to come to the steps and 789 00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:42,160 pray over them. Because if we believe what the 790 00:44:42,160 --> 00:44:45,960 Bible says, there is something that you and I must do. 791 00:44:47,520 --> 00:44:49,200 And to those of you that have never been baptized, I'm just 792 00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:54,840 going to level with you today. When everybody else is standing 793 00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:56,720 and singing, some of the people are coming to the steps and 794 00:44:56,720 --> 00:44:58,440 praying. There's going to be people right 795 00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:02,160 over there next to the baptistry who would love to talk to you. 796 00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:07,640 The immediate response in Scripture was there's water. 797 00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:11,640 I want to get baptized. It wasn't. 798 00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:14,440 And I know we do this a lot here and we try to be respectful of 799 00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:16,040 where people are at. Because you want your friends 800 00:45:16,040 --> 00:45:19,440 and you want your family. But I'll just be honest with you 801 00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:22,120 in Scripture, it was, we're doing it right now. 802 00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:25,080 And if there's some people in here who are going, it's been 803 00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:28,880 long overdue. Make it today, make it this 804 00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:32,480 Sunday, make it next week. Don't put off being obedient to 805 00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:33,800 the thing that God clearly teaches. 806 00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:40,880 Would you guys stand with me? God, in so many areas of our 807 00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:43,880 life, we're tempted not to trust you, not to be obedient to you. 808 00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:46,960 And this is just another one of them. 809 00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:50,680 And God, I know that there's a lot of family baggage, There's a 810 00:45:50,680 --> 00:45:53,840 lot of sin baggage, There's a lot of thoughts and hurts and 811 00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:57,320 frustration and confusion. And God, I feel like every 812 00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:00,280 single time we gather, this is the most contested moment of our 813 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:02,160 week. This is where every single 814 00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:05,080 person gets an opportunity to step into what you want them to 815 00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:08,280 do or to step back and keep doing what they've always done. 816 00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:14,920 And man, I'm, I feel it in my own life all the time. 817 00:46:19,120 --> 00:46:23,600 And I'm just asking that today, this weekend, not just here and 818 00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:27,720 not just online, but at all of our locations, that we would let 819 00:46:27,720 --> 00:46:31,520 you win this one. That we would just trust that 820 00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:35,920 you are good and trustworthy and that the things that you have in 821 00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:38,760 store for us are for our good and for your glory. 822 00:46:38,840 --> 00:46:40,680 In your name I pray. Amen.