Baptism Sunday at FWC 4/19

``This is what I need someone to grab a hold of today right out of the gate. I want you look at your neighbor. I want you to tell them this. The resurrection wasn't the finish line. It was the starting line. Turn to your neighbor and tell somebody. You see, Christianity is not a one time event, and that's it. If we believe that, it's like reading the beginning of a book, getting to understand the characters' names, and then closing the book and thinking you know what happens. And I'm afraid so many Christians feel that way when it comes to their faith. They think once we get saved, now we're just waiting for heaven. [00:31:54] (50 seconds)  #ResurrectionIsTheStart

Not a new version of the old you, but a new creation. Not fixed what was broken, but transformed. Not patched, healed. God didn't clean up your past. He gave you a brand new identity. So when something or someone tries to bring up what you've done or who you used to be, you tell them that because of Jesus, you are a new person. The old is gone and the new has come. Buried with Christ. Old life dead. Raised with Christ, new life, and new identity. [00:48:07] (47 seconds)  #NewCreationIdentity

And something that I need you to hear to hear me say this morning is this, that we're not saved to sit. We are saved to be sent. Go means movement. It means action, not comfort. Make disciples means not church attendance but followers. Living for him. Baptizing them is a public declaration and it's having confidence and faith. And that phrase teaching them is lifelong transformation. Something that lasts, something that they will understand. [00:34:12] (45 seconds)  #SavedToBeSent

I want you to take this question to heart today. It's not to offend anyone. It's not to upset someone, but it is to prick at your heart and to tug at your heart. If we don't go, who will? Growing up, I heard it said so many times in church. Well, I'm just praying that God sends the right person to my loved one or my friend who's lost. Church, can I be honest with you? God sent you. Yeah. He can use others, but he can use you. [00:50:44] (51 seconds)  #GodSentYou

God didn't just save you from something. Catch this. He saved you for something. We have a job to do as Christians, as followers. Luke fifteen four through seven. So Jesus told them the story. If a man has a 100 sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the 99 and go after the one? And go search for the one until that one is though that is lost until he finds it. Verse five, when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. [00:49:04] (43 seconds)  #SeekTheOne

Listen. I'm gonna get serious again with somebody. I love to laugh, but sometimes the gospel, it hits us hard. Imagine if the disciples kept the gospel to themselves. We love Jesus and we don't want the rest of the world to know him. This gospel is for us, not for everyone else. What if they did that? There would be no church today. There would be no gospel reaching reaching people people across across the the world. World. [00:53:37] (33 seconds)  #GospelForEveryone

And baptism is this moment where you say that old life, that old version of me is gone. I've been washed by the blood of the lamb. Come on somebody. By the grace of God. I'm no longer that person. I was messed up. I had fallen short. I couldn't get it right. I had took what God gave me, and I dirtied it up. But because of what Jesus did, I am a new creation. I am a new person. I am forgiven. [00:47:06] (32 seconds)  #WashedAndNew

Today, some of these people, some of you under the sound of my voice, you're gonna go under that water as your old self. And when you come up out of that water, you're gonna be a new version of yourself. But I I need you to understand this. I want this to be clear. Baptism is not salvation, but a response to it. It can be private, but it's a public declaration. It's not required, but it's obedient. It's being obedient. [00:43:05] (35 seconds)  #BaptismIsResponse