Baptism Sunday / Pastor Kim Kesecker / FCF Church

Many people think that save is just about what happens after you die. You know, does the elevator go up or does the elevator go down as pastor Randy often says. But this word saved, it means so much more than that. The New Testament, it was really, originally written in Greek. And so the Greek word for saved is this word called sozo. And what it means, it means to be delivered, to be rescued, to be healed. [00:41:45] (26 seconds)  #SozoRescue

So salvation is far more than just, you know, getting your ticket punch and going to heaven one day, Salvation is about being healed. It's about being rescued. So we might ask the question, well, what? Rescued from what? It's about being rescued from the damage and the destruction of sin that is in our world, sin in our lives, and the sin in our very souls. [00:42:12] (26 seconds)  #SavedAndHealed

You see, we live in a dark and a broken world. But but darkness, it isn't just around us, it's it's something within us as well. Here here's what I mean. Before we come to trust in Christ, our creator, the one who made us, our thinking and our reasoning are in darkness. What that means is that apart from Christ our creator, we just don't truly understand or know who we are. We don't understand what our purpose is. We don't understand why it is that we're here. We just don't understand life and what it's all about. [00:42:51] (33 seconds)  #FromDarknessToLight

And because we don't understand these life governing truths and principles, we end up just being driven then by our self centered way of living. It's all about ourselves. I'm at the center of life and decisions and and direction that I'm taking, and that's what God calls sin. It's missing the mark. It's it's getting off course. Instead of trusting our creator and living the way that he has actually designed us to live, instead we trust ourselves. [00:43:30] (31 seconds)  #SinIsMissingTheMark

And our lives, they begin to revolve around either pleasing ourselves, you know, we're just chasing after whatever what's gonna make me happy or what feels good for me, that's what I'm going after or protecting ourselves. Well, man, I gotta I gotta look out for me. I I I some nobody else is looking out for me. I gotta look out for me and be sure to protect myself. And that's a darkened way of thinking and living, and it is actually contrary to how it is that you and I have been designed to live. [00:44:01] (31 seconds)  #StopLivingForYourself

So if that's what it means to be saved, then then how does a person get saved? With the apostle Paul, he lays it out so clearly and simple for us in the book of acts chapter 16, it's the whole story of the early church. And he was once asked that very direct question, what must I be doing what must I do to be saved? And Paul's response was this, very clear. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way to be saved from the darkness than to trust in Christ our creator. [00:45:16] (34 seconds)  #TrustInJesus

He demonstrated the depth of his love and his trustworthiness by dying on a cross for us. So he has done all that he can do to win back our trust and now he just waits. He waits for you and for me to choose to return to him and trust and choose to be rescued from this darkened way of life and brought into his marvelous life. [00:45:50] (27 seconds)  #JesusWaits

So do I have to get baptized in order to be saved? Clearly the the answer is is no. But but if that's the case, then why did Jesus give his followers this final instruction before he ascended back into heaven after his resurrection? Look at what he said to them. He says to his disciples, his followers, he says, now you go, you go and make disciples of all nations. And he very clearly tells us to do what? To baptize them and we're to baptize them in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit. [00:46:18] (34 seconds)  #MakeAndBaptize