Joy of the New Creation: Buried, Raised, Alive

Devotional

Day 1: Baptism symbolizes death and new resurrection life.

When you step into the water with the right heart and faith, you are declaring a threshold mark of obedience: the old life is crucified, buried, and a new resurrection life begins; baptism itself has no power apart from the faith you bring, but by that faith you proclaim that what is buried you no longer carry and you will walk in the newness of life. [01:01:22]

Romans 6:3-4 (NIV)
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Reflection: What one specific habit, memory, or pattern will you decide to symbolically “leave in the water” today, and who will you tell to hold you accountable by the end of this week?

Day 2: Sin no longer has dominion over believers.

Don’t let the grave keep whispering your old identity back to you; being united with Christ’s death means sin no longer defines, directs, or dominates you—though temptation remains, your legal status has changed and your guilt is not your identity any longer, so stop revisiting what God has put down and start listening to the grace that empowers you. [01:07:33]

Romans 6:14 (NIV)
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under law but under grace.

Reflection: Name one recurring temptation or piece of guilt that still "speaks" to you; what is one concrete action you will take today to refuse its dominion (for example, remove a trigger, memorize Romans 6:14, call a trusted friend when tempted) — write it down and do it before tomorrow evening.

Day 3: The Spirit's power raises believers into new life.

You are not left to mere imitation or your own willpower; the same Spirit who raised Jesus now lives in you, and resurrection power is your present resource—so change your language from “living for Christ” to “living in Christ” and begin today to depend on the Spirit to energize and direct one specific area where you have been striving in your own strength. [01:17:01]

Romans 8:11 (NIV)
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Reflection: Identify one area where you have relied on willpower instead of the Spirit; pray right now and ask the Spirit to empower you to face one specific test today (name it), and tell one accountability partner you will follow up with about how it went.

Day 4: God's gift brings eternal life through belief.

If you do not yet know Jesus as your Savior, today is the day to leave the grave clothes behind—decide now to surrender your past, guilt, and shame; make a public or concrete step of profession (a prayer, coming forward, or typing “I’m surrendering” in the church chat) and allow the body of Christ to celebrate and help you begin resurrection life. [50:54]

John 3:16 (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Reflection: If you sense the Holy Spirit tugging at your heart right now, will you write a one-sentence prayer to Jesus confessing belief and either come forward to a leader tonight or text “I’m surrendering” to the church before the end of the day?

Day 5: Every good gift comes from above daily.

Recognize that every blessing, talent, and provision is a gift from the Father of lights; gratitude fuels joy, and God's riches (His grace) are at your disposal—so stop digging around in the grave of your past and begin stewarding what God has given you now by manifesting Christ through practical acts of generosity, service, and thankfulness. [29:11]

James 1:17 (NIV)
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Reflection: List three good gifts you received from God this week; thank Him for them in prayer today and choose one of those gifts to steward differently this week with a concrete step (for example: volunteer two hours, give a specific offering, or invest time in a relationship) and schedule it now.

Sermon Summary

What a day of joy and holy momentum. We welcomed new members who said yes to partnering deeply with our church family, prayed over them, and committed ourselves again to discipling, encouraging, and serving together. We heard living testimonies—of salvation, deliverance, restoration, and the long, faithful work of prayer. We celebrated prodigals coming home and honored our veterans. Then we turned our hearts to the Word, centering on Romans 6:3–4 and the joy that flows from becoming a new creation.

I reminded us that the water itself has no power—Jesus does. Baptism is a threshold of obedience where faith lays hold of what Christ has accomplished: united with Him in His death, buried with Him, and raised to walk in newness of life. The motto we carried all day was simple and liberating: what is buried, I no longer carry. That means the past no longer defines, directs, or dominates; grace doesn’t excuse sin, it transforms us. We don’t “patch up” the old self; in Christ we become a whole new creation. Joy appears not by chasing it, but by knowing who we are in Jesus—dead to sin and alive to God.

We pressed in on identity: stop revisiting graves God has already sealed; stop letting the grave shout louder than grace. Dominion of sin has been broken, so we refuse to live as defeated people. The resurrection isn’t just an event to celebrate; it’s the power we live in every day. I challenged us to stop saying “I’m living for Christ,” which leans on our strength, and to begin saying, “I’m living in Christ,” which leans on His power.

We made room for salvation, and Alexis said yes to Jesus—church, she’s ours to disciple. Then we moved to the waters: Beth and Richie, Lynn, Stephanie, young Asher, Brittany, and Dustin—each entering with a story, each rising with a new step. We prayed over bodies, minds, and souls; we declared healing, freedom, and renewal. Today was about more than moments—it was a marker. Let’s walk in what we witnessed: raised to life, serving with joy, and carrying nothing Christ has already buried.

Key Takeaways

1. What is buried, I don’t carry This is the freedom of union with Christ: your old self isn’t on life support—it’s in the grave. Shame and guilt are not your companions for the journey; they’re yesterday’s address. Live as though the casket is closed, because it is. [57:05]
2. Grace transforms, not excuses sin Grace is not permission to linger in the old life; it is God’s power to become new. The cross doesn’t lower the bar; it lifts us into a different kind of life. When grace rules, sin loses its seat at the table. [59:48]
3. Joy begins with new identity Joy grows when you stop seeing yourself through the mirror of your past and start seeing yourself in Christ. Dominion changes direction: sin no longer defines, directs, or dominates. Let Scripture, not your history, tell you who you are. [68:20]
4. Stop letting the grave speak Burial is God’s signature that the end is final; don’t dig up what He has sealed. The grave shouts condemnation; grace speaks adoption, cleansing, and hope. Turn down the tomb and turn up the truth. [73:20]
5. Resurrection life is present power The same Spirit who raised Jesus now lives in you. You’re not merely imitating Christ—you’re participating in His risen life. Victory is not your willpower; it’s His resurrection power at work within you. [77:01]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[15:01] - New members invited
[16:23] - Vision: save, disciple, serve
[22:41] - Prodigals returning home
[26:12] - Membership vote and acceptance
[28:29] - Congregational prayer and commissioning
[52:33] - Turning to the Word
[53:19] - Joy of the new creation
[54:24] - Baptism as obedience and faith
[57:05] - Motto: What is buried, I don’t carry
[74:41] - Walk in resurrection life
[77:48] - Living in Christ, not for Christ
[80:35] - Call to salvation
[91:29] - Baptism candidates and prayer
[97:20] - Baptisms begin

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading (NIV)
Romans 6:3–4
3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Observation questions

Read Romans 6:3–4. What three symbolic acts of Christ does Paul connect to baptism in these verses, and how does each one point to a change in a person’s identity?
The preacher gave a short, memorable motto: “what is buried, I no longer carry.” What did he mean by that motto, and how does it relate to Romans 6:3–4? [57:05]
Paul says we “may live a new life” (v.4). In the sermon the pastor repeated the phrase “walk in the newness of life.” What concrete images or phrases did he use to explain what that new walk looks like? [01:03:51]
The sermon contrasted “living for Christ” with “living in Christ.” From the passage and the message, what does it mean to live “in” Christ rather than merely “for” Christ? [01:17:48]

Interpretation questions

What does it mean theologically that believers are “baptized into his death”? How does the pastor’s line “his history becomes your history” help explain union with Christ? [01:05:00]
The pastor described burial as God’s signature of finality and warned, “stop letting the grave speak.” Theologically, why is the finality of burial important for dealing with guilt and shame? How does that affect how a believer should respond to past sin? [01:13:20]
The sermon said “dominion of sin has been broken” but also noted sin doesn’t simply disappear. How should a believer interpret the difference between sin’s presence and sin’s dominion after conversion? [01:07:55]
The preacher argued joy is the overflow of knowing who you are in Christ. How does the doctrine in Romans 6 connect identity (who you are) to emotion (joy)? What steps in understanding can lead from belief to joy? [01:08:20]

Application questions

Name one specific guilt, habit, or shame you keep “carrying.” What would it look like this week to apply the motto “what is buried, I don’t carry” to that issue (specific actions, prayer, and a person who can help hold you accountable)? [57:05]
The pastor invited listeners to stop saying “I’m living for Christ” and start saying “I’m living in Christ.” Choose one concrete phrase, short prayer, or scripture you will use daily to remind yourself to live in Christ. When and how will you practice it this week? [01:17:48]
If you are a believer who has not yet been baptized as a public sign of this union with Christ, what is your next step within the next 7 days (who will you talk to, what date will you aim for)? If you are already baptized, who can you invite to follow through on their next spiritual step? [01:31:29]
When shame or past failures resurface, the sermon told us to “stop letting the grave speak.” Name one specific scripture truth you will rehearse the next time shame comes (write it down). Who will you tell this week so they can pray with you when that shame returns? [01:13:20]
The message said resurrection life is present power (the same Spirit who raised Jesus lives in you). Identify one area where you feel powerless (temptation, fear, anger, etc.). What one practical reliance on the Spirit will you try this week (a brief prayer, memorized verse, set time for prayer, ask someone to pray with you)? [01:17:01]
The church committed to discipling new believers like Alexis and the baptism candidates. Who is one person in your life you can intentionally disciple or encourage this month? List one concrete first step you will take (phone call, invite to coffee, begin a short Bible study). [31:23]

Sermon Clips

``Our main idea is that the joy of the Christian life is found in living as a new creation. Dead to sin. Come on. Look at your neighbor and say, you're dead to sin. But if you're not just dead and left there, Romans makes it clear that we're also alive to something. And that being alive is and alive to God through the resurrection life of Jesus Christ. So, you're dead but yet alive. Hallelujah. If I were going to give you a motto today, in fact, I did give you one in this sermon of the joy of the new creation, it would be this. This is what I want you to walk out with. That what is buried, I no longer carry. [00:56:35] (44 seconds) #NewCreationInChrist

That's important because your past no longer has power over you. When you surrender your life to Jesus, you are a new creation in Christ. So, the theme behind Paul's writing in this particular portion of Romans chapter 6 is this. Through Christ's death and resurrection, we don't just get forgiveness. We get transformation. You are transformed. Totally new. You don't walk out the same. You're not improved. I know that the ShamWow has been improved multiple times. I know that there's other things that are on their third version. I was looking at ear pods, the air pods the other day, and they were talking about version 1, version 2, version 3, version 4. [00:57:35] (47 seconds)

You don't become a new version of who you are. You become a whole new creation in Christ. Hallelujah. So, you are made new. And the joyful living of every believer is this, that what Christ accomplished through the grave, the Spirit now accomplishes in our hearts. And when we look at verses 3 and 4, Paul's letter here to the Romans is the clearest and most systematic and the most comprehensive explanation of all Christian doctrine inside of the Scriptures. It is a doorway, I like to call it, to the treasure of what Jesus has done for us so that we can now live and experience victorious life. [00:58:27] (45 seconds)

Paul is saying that what happened to Jesus physically has happened to us spiritually. And therefore, you are not who you used to be. Point number one, let me run through these real quick. That a new creation means the old you is dead. Verse 3, do you not know that as many of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Here's what I want you to pull out of this. Because we are united with Christ's death, the old sinful self no longer rules over you. Hear that. The old sinful nature has been put in the casket, gone down, buried, covered up, and done away with. [01:03:51] (44 seconds)

It doesn't disappear. It's still going to be lingering around. But let me tell you something. It doesn't define you anymore. Amen. It doesn't direct you anymore. Amen. Hallelujah. And it doesn't dominate you. You are no longer under the original Adam's lineage of death. You now have been transferred into the lineage of Jesus Christ. And his is life and that life more abundant. What's our application? Joy begins. Here's where I want to get to the joy part. Joy begins when you stop seeing yourself as who you were. And you start seeing yourself as who you are in Christ Jesus. Amen. [01:07:54] (40 seconds)

In other words, let me tell you something. Some of you need to go home and break those old mirrors that are in your house. Amen. Because you keep looking into them and seeing yourself as who you were. But there's a new mirror in town now. Amen. Because you can look intently into the word of God and it tells you who you are in Christ Jesus. You are more than a conqueror. Amen. Hallelujah. You now, you now can say no to sin. Not in your strength, but in Christ's strength. In his death. Your past no longer has authority over your present life right now. And guilt is not your identity. Jesus Christ is. [01:08:35] (42 seconds)

A new creation means you've been buried into a new identity. Romans 6, 4, part A. Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death. Here's what I want you to pull out of that. Your past has been buried with Christ. And listen to me. God doesn't dig up what he's already put away. How many of you know God doesn't have a shovel going around digging up your past? Amen. What's been put down has been sealed. Hallelujah. It's been done. In fact, the Bible says, and you have to put a couple of things together to understand it, but your sins have been cast as far as the east is from the west. Hallelujah. [01:09:18] (36 seconds)

Once and for all. Done. Wiped off. Slate clean. Your sins are not only forgiven, they are interred. In other words, when you go and we place the body in the ground, that's the final time, the resting place for it. And those things, your old life, let me tell you something, it's dead, done, and gone. Hallelujah. Your guilt is not only pardoned, but it is covered up. And your shame, listen to me, is not only removed, it is sealed away. And here's the deep theological truth. In scripture, burial always anticipates resurrection. In other words, listen to me, God's not going to leave you dead. You were born for more than this. Amen. Hallelujah. [01:10:41] (52 seconds)

This is why our new identity is defined by what, not by what we were, but by who Christ is. So the believer's identity is not sinner trying to improve, but saint who still strives, and he is united to Christ and being conformed more and more daily to his image. Hallelujah. When you're born again, let me upset some folk today. When you're born again, you no longer are just an old sinner doing the best you know how to do. But when you are born again, you are a new creation in Christ, and you no longer are a sinner, but you're a saint in the eyes of God. Hallelujah. [01:11:32] (42 seconds)

Oh, you may not be perfect yet, but that doesn't mean that God's not bringing you unto perfection. That's the glorious truth here of what God wants to do in our life. So here's our second application point, practical application. Joy grows, grows, grows when you embrace the finality of Christ's work on your past. Here's what I want to tell you. Stop revisiting what God's already buried. In the natural, we go back to the grave, and we revisit those that we've lost, those that have gone on. We revisit that, and it brings back memories. But I want to tell you spiritually, we need to stop revisiting what God's already called dead, done, and sealed, and over with. [01:12:14] (49 seconds)

A new creation means you now walk. Somebody say walk. You now walk in resurrection life. The latter part of verse 4 in chapter 6 says, Just as Christ was raised, even so we also should walk in the newness of life. The resurrection of Jesus is not just an event to celebrate. It is the power you live in every single day. Here's the, let's dig it out a little deeper. Christ's resurrection is the turning point of all of history. But Paul teaches something astonishing here. It is also the turning point of your personal history. Just as his death becomes our death, his resurrection life becomes our new life. [01:14:37] (57 seconds)

Let's put this into a practical application. I've got to end. Joy erupts in the believer's life when we realize, I am not trying to live for Christ. I am living through Christ who lives in me. That's probably one of the most powerful statements I'm going to make today. Anyway, I've been guilty of it myself. Well, I'm living for Christ. I'm living for Christ. I got news for you. When you say that, you're implying that it's your strength and power. I no longer will say I'm living for Christ. I'm going to say I'm living in Christ every time. Because in Christ, then all things are possible. Nothing is impossible then. Hallelujah. Praise his holy name. [01:17:21] (49 seconds)

Here's what you can do. You can walk in victory because Christ walked out of the tomb. You can live free because sin's power was broken at the resurrection. And you can have joy and hope and strength because the living Christ lives in you. So here's what we've come to with the conclusion today. The new creation rests on these three truths. Your old self died with Christ. Your past was buried with Christ. And your present and future are empowered by the resurrected Christ. When you understand this, when you understand this, then joy is not something you chase. It is the overflow of knowing who you are in Christ Jesus. [01:18:09] (48 seconds)

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