WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.980 --> 00:00:46.940 Well, good morning. 00:00:47.700 --> 00:00:49.200 Glad that y'all are here with us. 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:52.580 If you've got your Bibles, open up to Romans chapter 5. 00:00:52.940 --> 00:00:56.080 As you turn there, I want to welcome all of our first-time guests. 00:00:56.200 --> 00:00:58.780 We are privileged and honored to have you here with us. 00:00:59.020 --> 00:01:02.820 There on the row that you're sitting on, I believe at either end, you'll see one of these 00:01:02.820 --> 00:01:04.280 Welcome to Willow Ridge cards. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.480 If you're a first-time guest, if you wouldn't mind filling one of those out, and then as 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:12.340 you leave today, you can either drop it off in the basket right here as you leave, or I 00:01:12.340 --> 00:01:14.160 will be standing up here by our welcome table. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:15.520 You can bring this to me. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:18.780 I'll be honest with you, my preference is that you'd hand this to me, because what I'd like 00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:22.980 to have the opportunity to do is to meet you face-to-face, to learn your name, and to have 00:01:22.980 --> 00:01:25.680 the opportunity to thank you for worshiping with us. 00:01:25.780 --> 00:01:29.760 And then if you have any questions about us as a church, who we are, what we do, all those 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:34.580 announcements we just went over, it's a great place to get those questions answered as well. 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:38.640 But on behalf of all of us that call this place home, for our first-time guests, thank 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:40.260 you so much for being here. 00:01:40.440 --> 00:01:45.080 I want to emphasize a couple of our announcements that we have up there on the screen. 00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:51.840 First is our coat drive that we are doing that started this Sunday, and it is for New York 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:52.880 City church planners. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:54.740 Now, it's kind of cool how this has happened. 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:59.220 We've got our Celebrate Recovery ministry that meets on Thursday nights, have taken this on 00:01:59.220 --> 00:02:01.700 as a mission trip and an opportunity for them. 00:02:01.780 --> 00:02:06.380 And so we're going to be collecting the coats for them, along with other churches all across 00:02:06.380 --> 00:02:07.440 the state of South Carolina. 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:11.880 And then there's going to be a team that are going to be leaving from South Carolina to fly 00:02:11.880 --> 00:02:15.140 up to New York to partner alongside these church planners. 00:02:15.140 --> 00:02:20.100 And so you got the long list of items that we're looking for, the heavy winter coats are 00:02:20.100 --> 00:02:21.680 the main ones, the hats and the gloves. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:25.300 And you'll see we have racks set up in the lobbies of both buildings. 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:29.400 And so you can come in on Sunday morning, put them on a coat hanger, set them right there, 00:02:29.420 --> 00:02:32.440 and we'll get them processed and up into New York City. 00:02:32.760 --> 00:02:37.340 And so it's a wonderful reminder about how we as South Carolina Baptist churches can have 00:02:37.340 --> 00:02:41.900 an opportunity to partner not only with each other, as other churches in our state are doing 00:02:41.900 --> 00:02:46.260 this, but that we can be a part of the work that is going on in other states. 00:02:46.640 --> 00:02:50.540 And so I want to really encourage you to do that if you could have the opportunity. 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:52.400 Go ahead, clean out your closets. 00:02:52.860 --> 00:02:55.900 If you haven't worn it in a year, guess what? 00:02:56.500 --> 00:02:57.660 You ain't going to wear it, right? 00:02:57.780 --> 00:03:02.320 And I'm saying that to myself just as much as I'm saying that to anybody else. 00:03:02.600 --> 00:03:08.740 Also, I want to point out on October 31st, this time of year, and you guys know you've been 00:03:08.740 --> 00:03:11.100 a part of this with us for a long time. 00:03:11.440 --> 00:03:17.100 We typically do a fall festival partnered alongside White Knoll Elementary. 00:03:17.460 --> 00:03:21.980 And then over the last three years, it's been a series of events that have happened from 00:03:21.980 --> 00:03:26.280 thunderstorms that have come through to COVID, which hasn't allowed us to be on campus and 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:26.980 do those things. 00:03:26.980 --> 00:03:32.340 And so this year, with the 31st falling on a Sunday, we've decided as a church, let's 00:03:32.340 --> 00:03:35.260 just kind of have an opportunity to get together and to hang out. 00:03:35.420 --> 00:03:39.720 And so maybe for just for this year, we don't know, but we're calling our Harvest Hangout 00:03:39.720 --> 00:03:42.520 on Sunday, October 31st from 4 to 6. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:47.660 And we're going to have games, activities, and food, and hear me, for all ages, all right? 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:49.640 So this isn't just something for the little kids. 00:03:49.880 --> 00:03:51.620 Definitely things for them to do. 00:03:51.900 --> 00:03:55.780 But there's going to be opportunities for all of us to come and to fellowship and to 00:03:55.780 --> 00:03:56.620 have a good time. 00:03:56.680 --> 00:03:58.380 And so we would love for you to be with us. 00:03:58.380 --> 00:03:59.880 We will be outdoors. 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:03.540 And so to have the opportunity to be with us on that evening, and then you've got time 00:04:03.540 --> 00:04:06.900 to get to all your parties, to get back to your neighborhood for everything that's going 00:04:06.900 --> 00:04:08.780 to happen for you that night. 00:04:09.340 --> 00:04:15.720 Also, we took a team up to Black Mountain this past Friday to kind of see everything that 00:04:15.720 --> 00:04:19.040 our men's ministry team is going to be doing in November. 00:04:19.320 --> 00:04:24.800 And so if you signed up to go on the Black Mountain men's missions trip, or if you didn't sign 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:28.080 up and you're one of the guys, and you're like, man, I'd like to be a part of that, right 00:04:28.080 --> 00:04:29.860 after this service is over with, okay? 00:04:30.100 --> 00:04:34.400 Walk down this hallway to the left, and in room 102, we're going to be there. 00:04:34.900 --> 00:04:38.980 Informational meeting, we'll be able to answer all of those questions and go with that. 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:41.440 And then lastly, I know you're like, whew, right? 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:44.980 Lastly, we are wrapping up our series on baptism. 00:04:45.200 --> 00:04:50.580 And so we're going to have a time of celebration and worship next week with baptisms and with 00:04:50.580 --> 00:04:51.220 the Lord's Supper. 00:04:51.540 --> 00:04:55.680 And so if you would like to get baptized, or maybe you're a parent and you've been talking 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:00.100 to your kids about this as we've gone through this series, I want to encourage you to sign 00:05:00.100 --> 00:05:05.440 up on the sign-up sheet, which is out in the lobby, and we can celebrate what God is doing 00:05:05.440 --> 00:05:07.120 in your life in baptism. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.760 So this is the last week of this series. 00:05:10.220 --> 00:05:13.920 Next week, we're going to start a series in the book of Psalms that I'm excited about. 00:05:14.200 --> 00:05:18.120 We're going to do some different creative elements with our band is going to be performing some 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:19.980 of the Psalms that we're going to be studying. 00:05:20.140 --> 00:05:23.920 And so it's going to be an exciting time for us as we go through that. 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:26.900 Well, as we've talked about baptism, this will now be week four. 00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:34.380 I hope one of the themes that comes across about baptism for you is that baptism in its 00:05:34.380 --> 00:05:36.540 intent tells a story. 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:42.700 Baptism tells a story of your life, of what Christ is doing. 00:05:43.180 --> 00:05:49.500 When we look back and we saw from the very beginning in John the Baptist, when he baptized, 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:56.080 we see the story of what is being told as it's before the public ministry of Jesus. 00:05:56.080 --> 00:06:04.160 And John's baptism tells the story of both repentance and the coming Messiah, the future kingdom. 00:06:04.380 --> 00:06:08.060 And so as John's baptizing his converts, it tells that story. 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:12.700 And then the story goes in there with Jesus comes to get baptized. 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:20.560 And the story that it tells of Jesus's baptism is what it looks like in full obedience of God, 00:06:20.640 --> 00:06:20.860 right? 00:06:20.980 --> 00:06:24.400 God the Father sending God the Son. 00:06:24.400 --> 00:06:28.000 And Jesus in his baptism of repentance, right? 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:38.760 Jesus didn't have to seek forgiveness of sin, but part of repentance is also saying that I'm fully in in the obedience plan, right? 00:06:38.840 --> 00:06:40.060 And that's what he's doing. 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:40.840 And we see that. 00:06:41.700 --> 00:06:44.460 Full obedience that led to his death on the cross. 00:06:45.460 --> 00:06:51.300 Last week we looked at the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, and it tells a wonderful story. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:58.320 Not of what it looks like of a pastor, not what it looks like of a church leader at a depth at that time, 00:06:58.580 --> 00:07:03.040 but Philip as the deacon that's there being noticed by the fruit that's in his life. 00:07:03.100 --> 00:07:08.400 And the eunuch who was coming to a place of worship, who was searching, who had questions, 00:07:08.400 --> 00:07:14.520 but who displayed, put his faith in Christ, and simply obeyed what God called him to do. 00:07:15.340 --> 00:07:18.200 It's the beautiful picture of what baptism tells us. 00:07:18.660 --> 00:07:27.060 I was thinking about this this morning, and that God in his word and God in our lives gives us so many wonderful opportunities 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:32.640 to tell other people our story, and to tell the story by the things that we do. 00:07:32.880 --> 00:07:40.200 We don't just gather in this building to sing songs, and to read words, and to hear words, 00:07:40.320 --> 00:07:46.280 but instead as we do what we do, we are telling the story of what God has done in our life. 00:07:46.860 --> 00:07:51.200 And we see that all throughout Scripture, especially in areas what God calls us to. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:58.360 I think what's important for us to know and understand that in the Christian context of marriage, it tells a story. 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:00.780 It's what Paul's pointing us to in Ephesians. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:07.220 That in the Christian context of marriage, what we see is that it tells the story of Christ and the church. 00:08:08.140 --> 00:08:12.520 Christ's burden for the church, and the church's response to him. 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:17.680 Next week, as we partake in the Lord's Supper together, it tells a story. 00:08:17.880 --> 00:08:20.480 It tells a story of what God's done for us. 00:08:20.520 --> 00:08:25.020 So as we all gather in here and take those little plastic cups and peel it back, 00:08:25.080 --> 00:08:29.500 and take that little stale, hard-to-eat, hard-to-chew cracker, y'all know what I'm talking about, right? 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:38.720 It's the story of the bread, but it's the story of the body, the body of Christ that was punished for your sins and mine. 00:08:39.540 --> 00:08:44.420 And that you and I, we don't have to be hung on a cross because Jesus did that for us. 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:45.160 It tells a story. 00:08:46.160 --> 00:08:50.680 And as we drink the juice that's in the cup, it's a story. 00:08:50.680 --> 00:08:56.560 It's a story of the cup, just as Jesus did at the Passover when he said there's a new covenant. 00:08:57.580 --> 00:08:59.060 And it's going to be found in my blood. 00:09:00.040 --> 00:09:03.700 Not the blood of a lamb that's brought off of your land. 00:09:04.660 --> 00:09:09.460 Not the sacrifice that you bring or that I bring, but the sacrifice that Jesus brought. 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:15.040 And through his blood and his blood alone is the atonement, the payment of our sins. 00:09:15.180 --> 00:09:18.140 It tells a wonderful and beautiful story. 00:09:19.160 --> 00:09:22.080 And the story that baptism tells is the story of the gospel. 00:09:22.920 --> 00:09:23.940 That's why I love baptism. 00:09:24.660 --> 00:09:25.740 It tells the full story. 00:09:26.520 --> 00:09:31.300 The story of baptism starts in Genesis and ends in Revelation. 00:09:32.280 --> 00:09:36.160 It's the theological unlaying of everything that we come in to do. 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:45.340 Of a person who's dead and lost in their trespasses and sins, but who finds life through Christ and who's raised to new life eternally. 00:09:46.340 --> 00:09:48.180 And so baptism tells the story of the gospel. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:55.460 And so this morning, I just want to kind of wrap up everything that we've been talking about over the last several weeks. 00:09:55.460 --> 00:09:58.260 And so let's look at Romans 5, starting in verse 18. 00:10:00.180 --> 00:10:01.740 The apostle Paul writes and says, 00:10:01.740 --> 00:10:12.040 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness led to justification in life for all men. 00:10:12.980 --> 00:10:21.320 For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. 00:10:22.140 --> 00:10:29.880 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. 00:10:29.880 --> 00:10:30.500 Praise God. 00:10:31.020 --> 00:10:40.800 So that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness, leading to eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:41.660 Chapter 6. 00:10:42.780 --> 00:10:44.060 What shall we say then? 00:10:44.060 --> 00:10:47.840 Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:48.820 By no means. 00:10:49.820 --> 00:10:52.800 How can we who die to sin still live in it? 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:59.920 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:16.820 We were buried, therefore, with him, with him, by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 00:11:17.640 --> 00:11:18.900 Baptism tells a story. 00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:21.220 Baptism shows something. 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:28.780 And the first thing that we see that we're reminded of here is that baptism shows that we got a problem. 00:11:29.780 --> 00:11:35.160 Baptism shows our problem, the problem of man, the problem of all of mankind. 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:41.020 Now, if we were to take a moment and go around the room and say, how many of us got problems, right? 00:11:41.140 --> 00:11:42.580 We could all raise our hands, right? 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:44.100 We all got problems. 00:11:44.800 --> 00:11:49.520 My problems might be different than yours, and your problems might be different than mine. 00:11:49.580 --> 00:11:52.200 But the reality is, we've all got problems. 00:11:52.440 --> 00:11:57.720 We've got problems that we brought on ourselves, which is usually where most of my problems come from. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.940 And then we've got problems that we inherit from those around us, right? 00:12:01.400 --> 00:12:03.480 Usually, those that we love the most, right? 00:12:03.580 --> 00:12:07.040 Like, we're just walking around a just dysfunctional group. 00:12:07.260 --> 00:12:11.260 Let's all admit, amen, praise the Lord, we all got problems. 00:12:12.020 --> 00:12:25.020 But Scripture teaches us, while we all have problems, plural, we, mankind, everyone, has the same problem. 00:12:25.820 --> 00:12:27.160 Has the same problem. 00:12:28.040 --> 00:12:29.480 Look back at verse 18. 00:12:29.620 --> 00:12:31.600 We're going to kind of read and stop a little bit as we go. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:40.640 Paul says, therefore, as one trespass, one, one, led to condemnation for all men, right? 00:12:40.640 --> 00:12:41.720 What's Paul talking about? 00:12:42.020 --> 00:12:44.460 This is the sin of Adam in the garden, right? 00:12:44.900 --> 00:12:48.500 And in this one act of rebellion against God, 00:12:48.740 --> 00:12:54.620 created an avalanche of sin that you and I, we cannot escape from. 00:12:55.380 --> 00:13:02.460 It started a process that would continue on in the lives of his kids in every generation since, 00:13:02.580 --> 00:13:03.800 other than Christ. 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:08.020 That you and I, we have a problem, and the problem is sin. 00:13:08.800 --> 00:13:11.300 Psalm 51, because you're like, well, maybe I can escape it. 00:13:11.300 --> 00:13:12.520 Maybe I can avoid it. 00:13:12.660 --> 00:13:12.920 I don't know. 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:18.100 Maybe we can take, like, the Tom Hanks approach and grab a volleyball and go live on an island, right? 00:13:18.180 --> 00:13:19.020 Like, we can do that. 00:13:19.420 --> 00:13:20.080 Then we're good. 00:13:20.180 --> 00:13:20.420 Nope. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:21.360 Nope, we're not. 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:27.200 Psalm 51 tells us that we were born and conceived in sin, right? 00:13:28.400 --> 00:13:30.060 And that this is the life that we found. 00:13:30.920 --> 00:13:33.540 And that from this sin, it brings something. 00:13:33.540 --> 00:13:35.580 It brings something to all of us. 00:13:35.920 --> 00:13:37.560 It brings spiritual death. 00:13:37.640 --> 00:13:43.640 Ephesians 2 tells us that we were dead in our trespasses and sin, right? 00:13:44.180 --> 00:13:46.840 We weren't alive and struggling with them, it tells us. 00:13:47.400 --> 00:13:52.740 But Scripture teaches us that spiritually speaking, the life that we're going to talk about for you and I, 00:13:52.920 --> 00:13:56.740 that we are found our condition before Christ, we're dead. 00:13:57.460 --> 00:14:02.320 We're dead in our trespasses and sins, and so we need someone. 00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:05.140 I'm going to ask a really simple question. 00:14:05.540 --> 00:14:06.800 What can a dead person do? 00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:07.980 Nothing. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:10.040 Nothing. 00:14:11.460 --> 00:14:18.380 A dead person cannot save themselves, and so they need someone to save them. 00:14:19.260 --> 00:14:25.320 And so if Paul wrote, therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, period, end of the story, we're done, 00:14:25.520 --> 00:14:29.920 then you and I are people of no hope, no solution to the problem. 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:39.500 But he continues on, and he says, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men, 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:41.280 for all of mankind. 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:50.720 So through Adam's act, we get death, and so now through Christ, through the one act, we gain life. 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:54.260 Now, interesting question, which act of Christ gave that to us? 00:14:55.100 --> 00:14:55.540 Which one? 00:14:57.080 --> 00:14:57.820 All of them. 00:14:59.020 --> 00:14:59.780 All of it. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:05.100 You see, you and I, we have the ability to look in our life and say, I had good days and bad days. 00:15:05.160 --> 00:15:05.940 Can you say that with me? 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:06.380 Like, yep. 00:15:06.820 --> 00:15:09.840 Like, some days we walk closer to the Lord, and other days we don't, right? 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:16.420 So we have acts of faith, but we also have acts of disobedience. 00:15:17.260 --> 00:15:21.820 We have acts of obedience, but we also have acts of rebellion. 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:25.320 And that's the journey that you and I live in. 00:15:25.540 --> 00:15:34.820 But for Jesus, his life was not defined by different acts of obedience that were also sandwiched in between acts of disobedience. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:41.980 His entire life, every part of it, was one continual act of obedience. 00:15:42.380 --> 00:15:43.540 This is who he is. 00:15:45.860 --> 00:15:56.720 And so Paul says, so one act of righteousness, one part of it, one part, all of it together, leads to this. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:15:59.360 And so he says, so verse 19, 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:11.120 For as by one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. 00:16:12.060 --> 00:16:12.160 Right? 00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:15.080 So you and I, we have a problem. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:19.320 We have a problem that we inherited, right? 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:21.820 But we also had a problem that we fed. 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:31.640 And so we took it on, and it was who we were, and it was given to us, and it was dirty, and it was filthy, and it was nasty. 00:16:31.900 --> 00:16:41.300 And then in our pride, and in our self, and in our self-righteousness, and who we were, we just kept throwing a fire on the flame, fire on the flame, fire on the flame. 00:16:42.260 --> 00:16:50.760 And so the hope of the gospel is that Jesus came and made a way through his life to find a solution to the problem. 00:16:51.700 --> 00:16:54.100 And as we look at baptism, that's what we're celebrating. 00:16:55.040 --> 00:16:56.920 We're celebrating the solution to the problem. 00:16:57.700 --> 00:17:02.280 We're celebrating where we were, but we're celebrating who he is and what he's done. 00:17:03.660 --> 00:17:08.720 The second thing that baptism is going to show is baptism shows simple faith. 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:10.240 Simple faith. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:10.820 All right? 00:17:13.620 --> 00:17:18.460 Here's what I want us to grasp and understand a little bit about really our journey in life. 00:17:19.500 --> 00:17:29.360 Let's understand that maturity in Christ is a process, not the end goal. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:30.580 Okay? 00:17:31.840 --> 00:17:34.740 Maturity is what we are doing. 00:17:35.540 --> 00:17:37.900 Maturity is what the Spirit is doing. 00:17:38.440 --> 00:17:44.020 Maturity is what is happening continually in the life of the believer. 00:17:44.360 --> 00:17:45.180 God is the goal. 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:47.280 Jesus is the goal. 00:17:48.080 --> 00:17:51.400 It's not that when I arrive, here I am. 00:17:51.620 --> 00:17:56.660 And so when we look at baptism, how saved does a person need to be to get baptized? 00:17:56.980 --> 00:17:58.120 They need to be saved. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:17:59.980 In simple faith. 00:18:00.860 --> 00:18:03.640 When a person gets saved, they get saved. 00:18:03.860 --> 00:18:09.940 Christ saves them fully and completely, grants his Spirit, and takes them on a process. 00:18:11.020 --> 00:18:24.420 And so when Jesus describes saving faith, Jesus says, if anyone would come to me like the faith of a mature elder pastor, they inherit the kingdom, right? 00:18:24.560 --> 00:18:26.040 No, that's not what he says. 00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:30.200 Jesus says, if you come to me with the faith like a child. 00:18:32.080 --> 00:18:35.560 That's what the kingdom looks like, right? 00:18:35.560 --> 00:18:42.300 The beauty of the kingdom oftentimes is more reflective in the hope of your five-year-old than it is in me. 00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:43.540 Right? 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:45.420 So what's faith like child? 00:18:45.500 --> 00:18:46.760 What's the childlike faith? 00:18:47.800 --> 00:18:48.680 Think about a child. 00:18:49.460 --> 00:18:50.000 What do they do? 00:18:50.040 --> 00:18:50.520 They trust. 00:18:52.120 --> 00:18:52.840 They trust. 00:18:54.020 --> 00:18:58.040 The harshness of the world that we live in is kids who don't trust. 00:18:58.120 --> 00:18:59.960 They don't trust because of the world we live in. 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:02.720 They don't trust because it's been broken. 00:19:04.600 --> 00:19:07.920 Childlike love, or childlike faith is found in childlike love. 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:13.460 Faithful, unconditional, reckless love. 00:19:14.120 --> 00:19:14.200 Right? 00:19:16.460 --> 00:19:19.920 Child-saving faith looks like childlike obedience. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:21.020 Right? 00:19:21.060 --> 00:19:30.020 I know it's hard as your kids get older, but I promise, and I'm reminded of this and still see it oftentimes in my kids. 00:19:30.020 --> 00:19:30.720 It's like, right? 00:19:30.800 --> 00:19:32.720 Like, they want to please mom. 00:19:32.900 --> 00:19:34.700 They want to please dad. 00:19:34.860 --> 00:19:36.960 Like, and then there's the heart of obedience. 00:19:37.380 --> 00:19:37.540 Right? 00:19:37.760 --> 00:19:40.780 And this is what Jesus is pointing us to. 00:19:41.700 --> 00:19:44.500 And so I have people, like, we want to have conversations. 00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:48.920 It's why we're doing this series so that we can understand and talk through. 00:19:49.580 --> 00:19:57.960 But Philip didn't take the Ethiopian eunuch to the side and make him pass a systematic theology course before he could step foot in the water. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:19:58.600 Right? 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:08.560 He understood that the maturity was a process and that in us, what you and I have to embrace is the power, simplicity of faith in Christ. 00:20:09.060 --> 00:20:09.300 All right? 00:20:10.060 --> 00:20:15.320 Next, what I want us to see is baptism shows accountability and a new path. 00:20:16.340 --> 00:20:17.380 Accountability and a new path. 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:17.940 Verse 20. 00:20:17.940 --> 00:20:38.100 So that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:20:38.320 --> 00:20:39.620 What shall we say then? 00:20:39.620 --> 00:20:39.820 What shall we say then? 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:44.380 Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 00:20:44.980 --> 00:20:45.880 By no means. 00:20:46.580 --> 00:20:50.640 How can we who died to sin still live in it? 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:51.080 Right? 00:20:51.420 --> 00:20:56.420 This is the public statement of who I am. 00:20:56.420 --> 00:20:58.040 It's why we do this. 00:20:58.260 --> 00:21:00.100 It's why we do this together. 00:21:00.100 --> 00:21:02.160 It's why we do this publicly. 00:21:02.600 --> 00:21:04.700 It's why we say invite people. 00:21:04.980 --> 00:21:07.240 It's why it's a part of the testimony. 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:24.460 Because when we're walking into those waters, when we're standing before our congregation, when we're standing there in front of our lost friends and family, as well as our saved friends and family, it is publicly saying, this is who I am. 00:21:25.340 --> 00:21:27.000 This is who I am moving forward. 00:21:27.780 --> 00:21:31.520 When you are saved, things change. 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:39.360 And when you are saved, people need to be brought into that process of change for you. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:40.460 Here's what I like. 00:21:41.300 --> 00:21:43.140 So you guys know this. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:45.820 If you don't, if you're new here, I want to kind of share with you. 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:49.760 My story goes I was raised in church, right? 00:21:49.900 --> 00:21:59.140 My mom and dad were good and faithful followers of Christ who prayed and continue to pray for me and over me. 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:00.980 And they had me in church, right? 00:22:00.980 --> 00:22:04.640 We were the Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night crowd, all right? 00:22:04.740 --> 00:22:07.380 We were VBS, RAs, right? 00:22:07.420 --> 00:22:09.500 I don't know if any of you know what RAs, but I was RA. 00:22:09.580 --> 00:22:10.960 I was a royal ambassador, right? 00:22:11.040 --> 00:22:12.560 Had all that stuff going on. 00:22:12.700 --> 00:22:16.280 I was in the children's ministry, Christmas productions, and choirs. 00:22:16.460 --> 00:22:20.080 I remember being Joseph one year and a grasshopper the next. 00:22:20.260 --> 00:22:25.080 Still not sure how grasshoppers are working in the whole Christmas narrative, but that's where I was, all right? 00:22:26.300 --> 00:22:28.240 And we were in that. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:30.700 But I didn't get saved until I was 22. 00:22:32.700 --> 00:22:33.960 I didn't get saved until I was 22. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:39.280 And when God saved me, man, things began to happen. 00:22:40.540 --> 00:22:42.000 Things began to change. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:50.140 And because I was the kid who was raised in church, I'll be honest with you, I was even a little skeptical about my own salvation. 00:22:51.380 --> 00:22:54.520 I'm like, eh, I've seen people go on this journey. 00:22:55.500 --> 00:22:58.040 Let me kind of walk this out privately for a little bit, right? 00:22:59.580 --> 00:23:06.220 In my skeptical nature and what I began to see and experience within myself as I went on this journey 00:23:06.220 --> 00:23:10.320 is God began to change things about me of who I was, right? 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:15.500 I began to find that I responded to things, I looked at things, I saw things differently. 00:23:15.820 --> 00:23:21.660 And one of the things that from the time that I was saved, I remember it was like my eyes were open, things were changed. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:29.460 What would God change immediately in my life was the way that I saw people, the way that I viewed people across the board. 00:23:30.580 --> 00:23:36.060 My heart was one of high levels of judgment on many different levels. 00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:40.340 And God began to open my eyes to see people the way that he saw people. 00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:47.400 But also there was other areas of my life that God was going to work on and change. 00:23:47.460 --> 00:23:48.980 And it wasn't going to happen in that way. 00:23:49.140 --> 00:23:54.700 It was going to happen through faithful men and women in Christ as they now know that I'm a believer 00:23:54.700 --> 00:24:01.000 and seeing the blind spots in areas of my life or the open areas of disobedience and speaking truth into that. 00:24:01.800 --> 00:24:08.660 So there were things that God was working, but then also God graciously gave me others to point things out. 00:24:08.740 --> 00:24:11.420 One of them, I'll never forget this conversation. 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:14.240 I was sitting there with my youth pastor at the time. 00:24:14.460 --> 00:24:18.600 His name is Mark Owens and God blessed me with a wonderful relationship with him. 00:24:18.820 --> 00:24:22.040 He's now the executive pastor at Lexington Baptist Church right down the road. 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:28.100 And Mark brought me into his office and we were just talking about different things that were going on in my life 00:24:28.100 --> 00:24:32.960 and what God was doing and the different mission trips and different opportunities in the Bible studies 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:38.320 that I was leading in my relationship with my new girlfriend that I just met that would become my wife. 00:24:38.340 --> 00:24:39.720 And we're talking about all those different things. 00:24:39.780 --> 00:24:41.180 I'm like, man, like here's what God's doing. 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:42.160 Here's what God's doing. 00:24:42.380 --> 00:24:43.140 Here's what God's doing. 00:24:43.300 --> 00:24:45.160 I told him, I said, I was even really stupid. 00:24:45.280 --> 00:24:50.440 Like on the first date that I ever had with Erin, I looked at her and said, you know, 00:24:50.580 --> 00:24:53.300 you're the only person that I've ever dated as a Christian, right? 00:24:53.380 --> 00:24:58.420 So I know the right things to do and you're going to have to hold me accountable as we walk through this together. 00:24:58.580 --> 00:25:00.040 And she's like, amen, let's do this, right? 00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:01.540 And so we're talking about those things. 00:25:01.540 --> 00:25:07.700 And then he looked at me, right, as this 22-year-old college student trying to figure some things out 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:09.860 and trying to walk and navigate through that. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:12.320 And he said, well, can I ask you a question as we work through this? 00:25:12.420 --> 00:25:13.160 And I said, sure. 00:25:13.300 --> 00:25:14.420 He said, how is your giving? 00:25:15.280 --> 00:25:17.040 It's like, that's like for old people, right? 00:25:17.140 --> 00:25:20.020 Like, I don't make that much money. 00:25:20.920 --> 00:25:22.080 And he's like, oh, well, great. 00:25:22.140 --> 00:25:22.940 That's not what I asked. 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:23.980 I didn't ask what you make. 00:25:25.040 --> 00:25:26.520 I asked, what does that look like? 00:25:28.460 --> 00:25:29.920 Because he needed to speak some truth. 00:25:31.080 --> 00:25:32.440 What he saw and what he knew. 00:25:33.560 --> 00:25:34.580 And I'll never forget. 00:25:34.700 --> 00:25:35.340 Here's what he told me. 00:25:35.860 --> 00:25:40.280 He said, man, God can't have the whole of your heart when you keep holding on to what's yours. 00:25:41.540 --> 00:25:41.660 Right? 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:46.740 God can't have the whole of your heart while you're trying to hold on to what's yours. 00:25:47.860 --> 00:25:48.540 Did I know? 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:49.220 Yeah, I knew. 00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:51.500 Do I still know of areas? 00:25:51.820 --> 00:25:52.180 Absolutely. 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:54.460 This is what Paul says. 00:25:54.540 --> 00:25:55.300 What shall we say then? 00:25:55.340 --> 00:25:57.760 Are we continuing in sin so that grace may abound all the more? 00:25:58.000 --> 00:25:58.740 By no means. 00:25:58.920 --> 00:26:03.840 How can we who died to sin still live in it? 00:26:04.320 --> 00:26:04.460 Right? 00:26:05.420 --> 00:26:06.880 Here's what I want to caution you. 00:26:07.780 --> 00:26:12.480 Here's an area of your heart that I pray for often. 00:26:13.480 --> 00:26:17.860 If there's sin in your life and you just don't care about it. 00:26:19.700 --> 00:26:21.520 I've got to ask the question. 00:26:21.700 --> 00:26:24.520 Has God invaded all the spaces of your life? 00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:28.540 Are you flirting with him but not married to him? 00:26:29.540 --> 00:26:29.720 Right? 00:26:30.820 --> 00:26:33.460 Paul says, what shall we say then? 00:26:34.280 --> 00:26:36.640 We continue in sin so that grace may abound? 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:44.060 Well, there's no greater tale of God than the fact that I can be how I want to be and do what I want to do. 00:26:44.320 --> 00:26:46.280 And God's just still going to forgive me anyways. 00:26:47.280 --> 00:26:48.460 Paul says, by no means. 00:26:49.380 --> 00:26:50.140 By no means. 00:26:50.780 --> 00:26:52.780 How can we who died to sin still live in it? 00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:54.340 That doesn't mean we struggle. 00:26:54.580 --> 00:26:55.980 That doesn't mean we don't struggle. 00:26:56.300 --> 00:26:57.680 It doesn't mean that we don't fail. 00:26:57.960 --> 00:26:59.380 But is it in this? 00:27:00.840 --> 00:27:01.140 Right? 00:27:02.680 --> 00:27:05.280 And it's a beautiful picture of what God continues to do. 00:27:06.080 --> 00:27:13.420 Right now, personally in my life, man, God is working in a way that is wonderfully uncomfortable. 00:27:14.860 --> 00:27:22.840 In my quiet times with him and in my conversations with others, I'll share with you what God's really working on 00:27:22.840 --> 00:27:26.840 and kind of the 10,000-foot view of what God's doing in my life right now. 00:27:27.520 --> 00:27:31.680 He's like, man, do you trust me in areas of sufficiency in your life? 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:33.560 Like, am I sufficient enough? 00:27:33.660 --> 00:27:33.940 Period. 00:27:34.420 --> 00:27:34.940 End of story. 00:27:37.740 --> 00:27:38.540 It's hard. 00:27:39.460 --> 00:27:40.220 It's hard. 00:27:41.280 --> 00:27:44.180 And what Paul says is that when we see these areas of our life, 00:27:44.320 --> 00:27:46.600 we can't just say, well, Jesus has it covered. 00:27:47.820 --> 00:27:49.160 Well, Jesus has it covered. 00:27:50.280 --> 00:27:53.620 And the beautiful picture about baptism when we step into those waters 00:27:53.620 --> 00:27:59.300 and when we walk down into them and we sit there and we're professing that in front of our church family 00:27:59.300 --> 00:28:03.640 and from those around us, number one, we're saying that God's done and God's doing something, 00:28:03.900 --> 00:28:06.160 but that I'm inviting you into that process as well. 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:07.200 Right? 00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:08.400 It's called discipleship. 00:28:09.420 --> 00:28:12.520 So that it's not a one and done and I've punched my ticket and I can move on from here. 00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:16.420 But it's continuing on in there, right? 00:28:17.140 --> 00:28:18.320 Verses three and four. 00:28:18.420 --> 00:28:23.400 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 00:28:24.060 --> 00:28:30.280 We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead 00:28:30.280 --> 00:28:35.140 by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.580 Baptism also shows Christ died our death. 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:40.560 Right? 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:42.500 Christ died our death. 00:28:43.080 --> 00:28:46.000 Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, 55, 00:28:47.540 --> 00:28:49.220 Oh, death, where is your victory? 00:28:50.320 --> 00:28:52.060 Oh, death, where is your sting? 00:28:53.320 --> 00:28:55.100 Let's talk about this verse for just a second. 00:28:58.280 --> 00:28:59.760 We still die. 00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:04.280 And death still hurts. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:10.240 Paul's not talking here that death's not a reality. 00:29:11.500 --> 00:29:15.300 I've never lived in a point in time in my life 00:29:15.300 --> 00:29:19.040 where death has been more prominent of a conversation. 00:29:20.860 --> 00:29:24.120 It floods social media. 00:29:24.380 --> 00:29:25.640 It floods conversations. 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:27.860 It floods the news. 00:29:28.060 --> 00:29:29.680 It floods everywhere where we are. 00:29:29.760 --> 00:29:31.260 We can't escape it. 00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:34.200 And so what Paul writes here is, 00:29:34.460 --> 00:29:36.040 Oh, death, where is your victory? 00:29:36.340 --> 00:29:37.640 Oh, death, where is your sting? 00:29:37.840 --> 00:29:39.440 What is he talking about? 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:40.680 What is he doing? 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:42.680 And here's what I want us to get to, 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:48.360 that in baptism, what baptism shows as we're looking at the death of Christ, 00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:51.140 that death is no longer our punishment. 00:29:52.920 --> 00:29:53.900 In fact, just the opposite. 00:29:54.140 --> 00:29:55.380 We're going to do a series. 00:29:55.620 --> 00:29:57.380 We're going to jump all the way forward to 2022. 00:29:57.720 --> 00:29:58.580 It's coming, all right? 00:29:59.280 --> 00:30:00.120 Quickly, all right? 00:30:00.660 --> 00:30:02.720 Christmas is like in two weekends, it feels like, okay? 00:30:05.340 --> 00:30:09.800 But we're doing a series starting in January entitled All Things New 00:30:09.800 --> 00:30:13.920 and talking about what does that mean that he makes all things new? 00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:18.860 Here's what God does in making all things new. 00:30:19.100 --> 00:30:23.120 Death is no longer the punishment for those of us that are in Christ 00:30:23.120 --> 00:30:25.400 because there's a newness that's going to be about that. 00:30:26.280 --> 00:30:30.640 Just a few weeks ago, many of you know Bruce and Cindy Amick. 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:33.740 And Bruce's dad passed away. 00:30:35.060 --> 00:30:39.380 And the day that he passed away, I called Bruce and we talked on the phone for a little bit. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:43.280 And I never will forget what Bruce told me. 00:30:44.560 --> 00:30:47.880 Bruce said, Bo, I'm going to tell you right now, 00:30:48.980 --> 00:30:58.480 my dad's service is not going to be some somber, mourning, sad place. 00:31:00.120 --> 00:31:01.720 It's going to be a time to celebrate. 00:31:04.760 --> 00:31:10.520 And then last Sunday, Bruce, who wonderfully spoke at his dad's service, 00:31:10.700 --> 00:31:14.340 and I think Bruce and Cindy are in here, and I'll just say this. 00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:19.160 I hope my son can say the things about me that Bruce said about his father, right? 00:31:19.860 --> 00:31:20.880 It was a celebration. 00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:23.320 Doesn't mean that there wasn't tears. 00:31:24.920 --> 00:31:28.140 Doesn't mean that death isn't painful and that death doesn't hurt. 00:31:29.360 --> 00:31:30.840 It doesn't mean that we don't mourn. 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:32.260 It doesn't mean that there's not a loss. 00:31:32.260 --> 00:31:35.440 It does, it matters, it affects you. 00:31:35.640 --> 00:31:36.820 You walk through this. 00:31:37.040 --> 00:31:41.360 But the truth is, is that in this, that Christ died our death. 00:31:41.760 --> 00:31:44.340 Death for the believer is no longer the punishment. 00:31:44.660 --> 00:31:46.940 In 2 Timothy, Paul writes to Timothy and he says, 00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:49.800 I fought the fight, I finished the race. 00:31:50.040 --> 00:31:53.320 Now what awaits me is a crown of righteousness. 00:31:54.020 --> 00:31:55.780 He doesn't say an executioner. 00:31:57.280 --> 00:31:58.640 He doesn't say cancer. 00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:01.880 He doesn't say a murder. 00:32:02.260 --> 00:32:05.260 He says, what awaits me is the crown of righteousness. 00:32:05.520 --> 00:32:07.280 Because death, where is your victory? 00:32:07.620 --> 00:32:08.660 Death, where is your sting? 00:32:08.780 --> 00:32:09.640 It's gone. 00:32:09.640 --> 00:32:15.460 And so now for the believer, when we experience death, it's the entry into our eternal reward. 00:32:17.180 --> 00:32:31.720 And when we see an individual walk into that water, and we see them sit down, and we see them slowly begin to lay down into that water, 00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:36.780 what they're acknowledging and what they're showing is that Christ died my death. 00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:46.260 Truth is, for me, right, cancer, heart attack, it's going to get me, right? 00:32:47.880 --> 00:32:52.640 And I pray that it happens before Aaron's, because I can't go through that, right? 00:32:53.100 --> 00:32:54.160 She's stronger than me. 00:32:54.200 --> 00:32:54.640 I told her that. 00:32:54.800 --> 00:32:57.220 Most selfish statement, I've got to go before her, all right? 00:32:58.140 --> 00:32:58.420 All right? 00:32:58.900 --> 00:32:59.880 It's going to get me. 00:33:01.260 --> 00:33:03.360 And she's going to cry, and the kids are going to cry. 00:33:04.220 --> 00:33:06.220 And they're going to mourn, and it's going to hurt. 00:33:07.280 --> 00:33:10.340 But in the context of eternity, right? 00:33:11.040 --> 00:33:11.780 It's gone. 00:33:12.320 --> 00:33:12.860 It's gone. 00:33:13.820 --> 00:33:18.080 Baptism also shows united that we are united with Christ. 00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:19.960 We are united with Christ. 00:33:21.260 --> 00:33:23.920 Galatians 2.20, I've been crucified with Christ. 00:33:24.420 --> 00:33:27.900 It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. 00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:34.120 In the life I now live, in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. 00:33:34.220 --> 00:33:38.140 Who loved me and gave himself up for me. 00:33:38.680 --> 00:33:48.560 When we step foot in the water, and we sit down there, and the pastor lowers us beneath the water, 00:33:49.300 --> 00:33:51.180 it symbolizes our death. 00:33:52.620 --> 00:34:01.200 And that when we come out of the water, that we identify with Christ in his death. 00:34:02.180 --> 00:34:08.680 That before, what it shows is that before we were walking in our sin, and our trespasses, 00:34:08.900 --> 00:34:13.360 and what the Bible tells us that we were, were enemies of God and the objects of his wrath. 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:21.340 But now we have died, and we are no longer defined by that, but we are defined by Christ. 00:34:22.540 --> 00:34:23.900 What identifies you? 00:34:25.160 --> 00:34:26.080 What identifies you? 00:34:26.940 --> 00:34:29.460 Is it your political affiliation? 00:34:30.720 --> 00:34:32.720 Is it your education level? 00:34:33.940 --> 00:34:35.960 Is it your marriage status? 00:34:37.240 --> 00:34:38.920 Is it your work ethic? 00:34:40.140 --> 00:34:42.780 Is it your socioeconomic standing? 00:34:43.780 --> 00:34:53.100 We could continue on and on and on of reading a list of things that you and I feel that identify us. 00:34:53.940 --> 00:35:02.500 But for the follower of Christ, what identifies us, what defines us with who we are is now Christ. 00:35:03.240 --> 00:35:04.200 It's Christ. 00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:07.540 And lastly, we'll conclude with this. 00:35:08.620 --> 00:35:12.000 What baptism shows is that Christ gives us life. 00:35:13.420 --> 00:35:14.460 Colossians 2.12. 00:35:16.020 --> 00:35:22.320 Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith, 00:35:23.140 --> 00:35:26.300 in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 00:35:27.720 --> 00:35:32.160 So, baptism, that pool of water comes out. 00:35:33.200 --> 00:35:38.080 The saved person who was saved before that day gets prepared to enter in to tell the story. 00:35:38.780 --> 00:35:43.620 To tell the story of who they were, but now also to tell the story of who they are. 00:35:44.700 --> 00:35:46.880 And so they come in, and they sit down. 00:35:47.660 --> 00:35:52.120 And the beautiful picture of what's going to happen and unfold over those few moments that they're in there. 00:35:52.520 --> 00:35:57.940 They walk in symbolizing that they were dead, and they were lost, and their trespasses and sins. 00:35:58.420 --> 00:36:01.000 And they've now been crucified with Christ. 00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:03.120 They identify in his death. 00:36:03.340 --> 00:36:07.460 And so they're there, and they're lowered into the water. 00:36:07.580 --> 00:36:12.500 And they identify as Christ died on the cross and was placed into the tomb. 00:36:12.720 --> 00:36:14.000 They identify with that. 00:36:14.180 --> 00:36:19.320 And the beautiful symbolism of the water, that it washes away their sins. 00:36:19.420 --> 00:36:25.360 Because what we know is the blood of Christ is what washes away our sins, of what makes us new. 00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:29.440 But then, here's the beautiful picture, as they come out of the water. 00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:37.240 Whenever we have a baptism service, I always ask the individuals and their families who are going to get baptized to come, 00:36:37.460 --> 00:36:39.380 and we're going to have a conversation before. 00:36:39.540 --> 00:36:42.380 Because it might be comfortable for me. 00:36:42.560 --> 00:36:43.840 It might be comfortable for you. 00:36:43.960 --> 00:36:46.020 But for a lot of people, let's just be honest. 00:36:46.060 --> 00:36:47.000 It's a little weird. 00:36:47.940 --> 00:36:48.800 And they've got questions. 00:36:50.500 --> 00:36:52.140 And so we'll come, and we'll talk. 00:36:52.840 --> 00:36:53.760 We'll let them touch the water. 00:36:53.760 --> 00:36:56.820 I'll explain that it came out of a hose pipe in the mop closet right over there. 00:36:57.080 --> 00:36:57.820 That's where it came. 00:36:58.320 --> 00:37:00.780 We don't buy it from Lifeway, all right? 00:37:01.020 --> 00:37:04.740 We get it from the city of West Columbia, all right? 00:37:05.540 --> 00:37:06.640 And then I show them. 00:37:06.800 --> 00:37:08.360 It's a little hot tub. 00:37:09.320 --> 00:37:10.340 It circulates the water. 00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:12.140 Keeps it a little warm. 00:37:13.320 --> 00:37:15.280 You got a little bench that you can sit down on. 00:37:16.900 --> 00:37:21.020 And then I always say, and I promise I won't leave you under too long, right? 00:37:22.020 --> 00:37:28.260 Now, if it's a husband getting baptized, the wife usually says, eh, just a couple seconds longer, right? 00:37:28.680 --> 00:37:30.360 Like, let's make sure this takes, right? 00:37:31.620 --> 00:37:32.320 And I say, no, no, no. 00:37:32.400 --> 00:37:38.020 We're just going to take you under really quickly, and then you're going to come out of the water. 00:37:39.000 --> 00:37:39.800 We're going to sit you right up. 00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:44.220 And then I tell them, like, just pause in that moment. 00:37:45.260 --> 00:37:46.120 Just sit there. 00:37:47.020 --> 00:37:48.640 And here's what you're going to hear. 00:37:49.820 --> 00:37:52.260 You're going to hear the celebration. 00:37:53.380 --> 00:37:55.720 You're going to hear the clapping. 00:37:57.240 --> 00:38:00.240 You're going to hear, I believe we've even had a few, like, woo-hoos, right? 00:38:00.300 --> 00:38:01.100 Because we're in South Carolina. 00:38:01.180 --> 00:38:02.260 We can do stuff like that, you know? 00:38:02.920 --> 00:38:05.680 What you're going to hear is the celebration of the saints. 00:38:07.020 --> 00:38:13.420 Because what they understand is you've been buried with him in baptism, but we didn't leave you under. 00:38:14.220 --> 00:38:25.900 That we raised you up, and just as God has raised you spiritually from the dead, right, you can now walk in the inness of life. 00:38:26.860 --> 00:38:27.960 And then here's what's really cool. 00:38:28.840 --> 00:38:38.580 The moment that you got saved, the moment that Jesus saved you, what happened in your life is the Holy Spirit came and then dwelt inside of you. 00:38:39.220 --> 00:38:45.420 And over years, you're going to find out more and more what that means and what that looks like, that the Holy Spirit lives in us. 00:38:45.720 --> 00:38:49.860 But here's the thing that I think we all need to be reminded about, okay? 00:38:50.560 --> 00:38:56.060 The same Spirit of God that raised Christ from the dead indwells all of us who are found in Christ Jesus. 00:38:57.280 --> 00:38:58.880 That's what we have in us. 00:38:59.640 --> 00:39:04.000 And so in that, God gives us life. 00:39:05.060 --> 00:39:05.900 All from him. 00:39:06.740 --> 00:39:07.560 Not from me. 00:39:08.520 --> 00:39:09.280 Not from you. 00:39:10.240 --> 00:39:15.200 You and I, before Christ, dead in our trespasses and sins. 00:39:16.020 --> 00:39:23.020 But Jesus, because of his love for us, his love for the Father, and the obedience for him, came and did one act. 00:39:23.680 --> 00:39:24.300 One act. 00:39:25.120 --> 00:39:26.160 The act of his birth. 00:39:26.660 --> 00:39:27.760 The act of his life. 00:39:28.180 --> 00:39:29.320 The act of his death. 00:39:29.700 --> 00:39:30.800 The act of his resurrection. 00:39:31.280 --> 00:39:32.300 The act of his ascension. 00:39:32.560 --> 00:39:33.200 All one. 00:39:34.220 --> 00:39:41.500 So that when God looks at us, that are found in him, he doesn't see every failure of your life. 00:39:42.500 --> 00:39:43.480 He doesn't see it. 00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:50.420 What he sees is the newness, because you and I have been covered by the blood of the Lamb. 00:39:51.780 --> 00:39:52.640 And so it makes sense. 00:39:53.960 --> 00:39:56.560 Shall we continue to live in sin so that grace may abound? 00:39:57.420 --> 00:39:59.100 Absolutely not. 00:39:59.340 --> 00:40:03.620 Why would we who died to sin continue to live in it? 00:40:03.620 --> 00:40:06.380 And so go and be like Jesus. 00:40:07.420 --> 00:40:08.040 Let's pray. 00:40:13.200 --> 00:40:23.440 Lord, I thank you so much for who you are, what you've done, what you were doing, and what you will do. 00:40:25.280 --> 00:40:30.300 Lord, I thank you that you are the God who loves us and who saves us. 00:40:31.300 --> 00:40:36.840 Lord, I thank you that you give us the beautiful picture of baptism to remind us all of what you've done. 00:40:37.660 --> 00:40:42.400 Lord, that through salvation, death for the believer is real. 00:40:45.100 --> 00:40:46.940 But the victory of death is gone. 00:40:48.360 --> 00:40:53.380 Lord, I thank you that in our salvation, Lord, that we've been crucified with Christ. 00:40:54.900 --> 00:40:57.900 Lord, it is no longer in my life and in my pursuits. 00:40:58.200 --> 00:41:01.080 It's no longer what I'm going to do, what I'm going to figure out, what I'm about. 00:41:01.300 --> 00:41:05.820 But Lord, it's that I have life and I live in you and that you live in me. 00:41:06.760 --> 00:41:09.840 And I live by faith and that's who defines me. 00:41:11.860 --> 00:41:18.960 And God, the beauty of what you give us, Lord, that you give us life and that you give us hope. 00:41:20.620 --> 00:41:21.680 That you give us meaning. 00:41:23.320 --> 00:41:24.480 That you give us purpose. 00:41:26.000 --> 00:41:31.320 Lord, you take all things that are old, all things that were broken, 00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:35.200 as you make it new. 00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:38.040 You restore. 00:41:39.160 --> 00:41:40.280 You bring back. 00:41:50.180 --> 00:41:52.080 With every head bowed, every eye closed. 00:41:57.440 --> 00:41:59.220 This series has been on baptism. 00:42:01.060 --> 00:42:02.160 That's been the theme. 00:42:03.760 --> 00:42:04.700 That's been the topic. 00:42:04.900 --> 00:42:07.340 It's been the passages that we draw from. 00:42:09.740 --> 00:42:13.400 But if you're in my class on Colossians on Sunday night, 00:42:13.500 --> 00:42:15.400 you know, we've been talking the last couple weeks, 00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:19.220 that the whole story of Scripture is not about us. 00:42:19.900 --> 00:42:20.700 It's about God. 00:42:22.660 --> 00:42:24.160 So as we talk about baptism, 00:42:24.940 --> 00:42:26.800 as we conclude this series, 00:42:28.340 --> 00:42:36.360 I feel pressed to remind us that this journey doesn't begin by putting your name down on a piece of paper. 00:42:38.320 --> 00:42:46.020 This journey doesn't begin by walking into some water and performing a religious act. 00:42:47.760 --> 00:42:58.800 This journey begins by individuals who recognize and who acknowledge that they're lost and they're broken and they need a Savior. 00:43:00.300 --> 00:43:03.180 That they're dead in their trespasses and sins. 00:43:04.640 --> 00:43:06.480 And that they are not their Savior. 00:43:07.680 --> 00:43:09.200 They cannot save themselves, 00:43:09.880 --> 00:43:12.660 but is only found in Christ and Christ alone. 00:43:14.880 --> 00:43:18.120 And then acknowledging all the things that we will, 00:43:18.220 --> 00:43:19.300 that we pursue. 00:43:20.300 --> 00:43:23.140 All the sin and shortcoming of our lives and 00:43:23.140 --> 00:43:26.340 seeking repentance and 00:43:26.340 --> 00:43:28.220 brokenness before Him. 00:43:30.720 --> 00:43:33.220 Requesting Jesus Christ as our Savior. 00:43:38.540 --> 00:43:41.340 And so today my prayer is that there will be some of you 00:43:41.340 --> 00:43:45.340 who will go out of the lobby and sign up for baptism. 00:43:46.940 --> 00:43:50.780 But my prayer also is that there is any one of us in here this morning 00:43:50.780 --> 00:43:53.360 who does not know Jesus. 00:43:55.160 --> 00:44:00.860 That today would be the day that you put your faith and your hope and your trust in Him. 00:44:02.020 --> 00:44:03.040 And in Him alone. 00:44:07.460 --> 00:44:09.220 Lord, I pray 00:44:09.220 --> 00:44:13.860 for the drawing of hearts. 00:44:15.760 --> 00:44:17.620 For the repentance of spirits. 00:44:19.180 --> 00:44:21.560 For it's that you would be glorified and magnified. 00:44:23.160 --> 00:44:24.500 And it's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:44:25.160 --> 00:44:25.440 Amen. 00:44:27.120 --> 00:44:28.860 I'm going to walk off stage in a minute, I promise. 00:44:30.060 --> 00:44:33.220 We've got prayer encouragers on either side of the auditorium. 00:44:34.620 --> 00:44:36.400 When I walk off the stage, 00:44:36.460 --> 00:44:37.840 I'm actually going to go ahead and head back to the back. 00:44:37.900 --> 00:44:39.720 I'll be over here by the welcome table. 00:44:41.640 --> 00:44:42.640 This morning, 00:44:43.340 --> 00:44:44.720 if you want somebody to pray with, 00:44:44.800 --> 00:44:45.880 we want to pray with you. 00:44:46.620 --> 00:44:47.660 But also this morning, 00:44:47.740 --> 00:44:50.340 if you want to talk to someone about a relationship with Christ, 00:44:51.040 --> 00:44:51.960 come see one of them, 00:44:52.060 --> 00:44:52.600 come see me. 00:44:53.600 --> 00:44:53.840 All right? 00:44:54.840 --> 00:44:56.280 We'd love to talk with you. 00:44:56.340 --> 00:44:57.500 We'd love to pray with you. 00:44:57.760 --> 00:45:00.260 We'd love to celebrate what God is doing in your life. 00:45:00.800 --> 00:45:04.080 And so as the rest of us respond to what Christ has done, 00:45:04.800 --> 00:45:05.840 we'll be waiting. 00:45:07.820 --> 00:45:09.480 Don't leave here thinking next week. 00:45:10.900 --> 00:45:12.220 Don't leave here thinking later. 00:45:13.360 --> 00:45:17.180 Missing out on the life that Christ has for you. 00:45:17.860 --> 00:45:19.780 Would you stand as we worship Him? 00:45:19.780 --> 00:45:41.520 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:45:41.520 --> 00:45:44.140 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:45:44.760 --> 00:45:48.160 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, 00:45:48.740 --> 00:45:53.200 visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:45:53.200 --> 00:45:56.740 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.