The Road to Life

``Baptism is not just a church experience. It is the first obedient step of a resurrected life. You don't get baptized because you're ready. You get baptized because Jesus is alive. Running from the tomb is repentance. Putting to death your old way of life and stepping into the water, these waters is allegiance, being raised into a new life under a living king. Baptism is where your allegiance becomes visible. It's where you stop belonging to your to yourself, and you publicly declare Jesus is my king. [01:10:21] (45 seconds)  #BaptismDeclaration

What do we do now that we know Jesus is alive? Peter didn't say, think about it. He didn't say, well, wait and see if you feel something and come back next Sunday. He simply said, repent and be baptized. That means this. Today, you need to turn from your sin. You need to stop leading your own life, and you need to surrender to Jesus Christ as your lord and savior and king. Receive the forgiveness that he has already paid for. Receive the new life that he offers. And then we want you to step into these waters. [01:08:19] (49 seconds)  #RepentAndBeBaptized

Not because he understands everything, but because he has faith that something has changed. You see, faith doesn't start with mastery of the bible, of scripture, of all things Christian. It starts with movement. Obedience always comes before clarity. The resurrection doesn't ask you what do you understand. It asks you, what are you going to do next? Now that you know, now that you have heard that Jesus is alive, now that you know that he is risen from the grave, what are you going to do with that? [00:31:22] (41 seconds)  #ObedienceBeforeClarity

You won't. Some of you think you need to understand more. You won't until you step into these waters. And some of you think baptism is the end. It's not. It's the beginning of walking a new life under a living king. So, if you've been running from God or putting this off or waiting for a better time, you need to hear this. You don't follow a risen king in theory. You follow him in public and in practice, and you declare it. [01:09:47] (34 seconds)  #BaptismIsTheStart

Let me be clear about what is happening in the gospels this morning. Jesus didn't just come back to life. This wasn't a recovery. This wasn't like something happened in the tomb. He he was able to to get on through his wounds. This wasn't a second chance. Church, this was a declaration. Death has been defeated. Sin has been paid for. And Jesus is not just alive, he is our king. [00:34:06] (37 seconds)  #ResurrectionIsVictory

You see, baptism is where you step into a new identity. You are no longer who you were, you now belong to the king. You were part of his family, and your life now carries his mission. This is why baptism matters. Because the resurrection didn't just change Jesus, it changes what it means for us to belong to him as children of God. Baptism is not just a church tradition, It is a declaration. My old life is gone. [00:38:10] (41 seconds)  #NewIdentityInChrist

You see, the women came with devotion, but no way to complete what they came to do. No plan, no solution, no expectation of anything changing. But everything changes. When they get there, the stone is rolled away. The tomb is empty. And as they see these angels before them, heaven asks the question that reframes everything, why do you seek the living one among the dead? [00:24:57] (38 seconds)  #WhySeekTheLiving

It begins with confusion, with fear, and with people trying to process something that they did not expect. Because the resurrection doesn't just make you feel something, it forces a question that all of us have to reckon with. If Jesus is alive, what are you going to do about it? If Jesus has risen from the grave, what are you going to do about it? You see, the cross was the cost of our salvation, but the resurrection is the call into a new life. [00:21:49] (45 seconds)  #RespondToTheResurrection