Well, hey, guys, how you doing today?
I saw some of you are here after Friday night, Saturday, and I hope you got some coffee when you came in, because I'm telling you what, God's moving through some stuff, but you get a little tired sometimes, can't you?
Yeah, I'm glad to see you all here, and I know some stayed home because they were exhausted, and that's okay. Hopefully, they're tuning in online.
But I wanted to talk to you today about something that really I should have probably put at the beginning of this series on "Level Up," because we've been looking at ways to level up our lives.
And I know that's kind of urban language. I think it's caught on enough that we kind of know what we mean by that.
It kind of started, I think, in the video game community, and it really means, we've said, making intentional moves in your life to better or benefit your life.
And it's making intentional moves in your life, making moves, not waiting for something to happen to you, but it's you making a choice and making moves that bring betterment, and not only to your life, but to others that are around you as well.
And how many of you believe that you can make some moves with God to see things go better in your life? Amen?
Absolutely, you absolutely can. You can definitely level up.
Now, for fun, each week, we've been talking about different video games. We've been kind of tying it into the theme.
And I wonder, did anybody notice on the bulletin cover today what video game we're looking at this week? Does anybody know what that is?
I heard "Dance Off."
Dance Dance Revolution, yeah.
So for those of you who have not seen it, this is what Dance Dance Revolution looked like back in the late 90s.
Have you seen this machine that I'm talking about? Gary's sitting there like he ain't never seen nobody do this. I know you saw people on this machine, Gary. Right?
Right there. Could you do those moves back in the day?
The goal of this game is to watch the character on the screen make certain dance moves, and you're supposed to try to follow what they're doing, to replicate what they're doing.
And to make it easier, they had arrows on the screen to kind of tell you where to place your feet.
And I was always fascinated by this game because I was wondering, are people actually learning to dance for real by doing this?
And I would go by and see people doing this in the arcade, scoring perfect scores, and I would just sit there amazed because the one or two times I tried it when nobody else was looking, let's just say I could not do the complex and fancy moves that I saw happening in the arcade.
And I was fascinated by it, and the people that could do it and could replicate it, but I never really leveled up at all in this game.
In fact, I didn't play it very much because there's usually a crowd around watching it, and I was a little embarrassed by it.
And let me just say that today, as we're talking about leveling up in regard to deciding to follow Jesus, I wanted to make it real simple.
The idea of a lot of people say I'm a Christian, and today I start saying to people, what do you even mean by that?
There are people who think being a Christian just means my mom went to church, or I grew up in America, or I have some vague kind of belief about God.
Can I say, I've started shifting my language. I don't mind the word Christian, but I think it's lost our meaning in our culture.
And so what you'll hear me say a lot of times is that I'm a Christ follower.
And that's what I want to talk about today: are you following Christ?
In fact, the moves I'm talking about and following him is not complex.
Today I'm talking about following him in the beginning basic moves. Everybody can do this move, and that is baptism.
You say, where did you get this idea? Acts 2:38, Peter says to some folks, the first move in following Jesus is, he says, to repent, which means to have a change of your mind.
What you used to love, you no longer love. You now hate. What you used to hate, you now love.
It's a changing of our mind and our understanding.
And when we repent and decide, hey, I don't want to live that way anymore, he says, repent and be baptized.
Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And my question is this: where did Peter get this idea that following Jesus, the first step was baptism? Repentance, where did he get that idea?
And I would say he got it from Jesus.
Now we're going to be in Matthew chapter three today. If you don't want Matthew, if you have your Bibles, you can go there.
If you don't have your Bibles, inside your bulletin, there's some, an outline with some scripture on it, some fill in the blanks, you can kind of follow along to today's scripture.
But let me just say that Matthew is a follower of Christ. And he tells his testimony in chapter nine, but I don't want to go to chapter nine today.
But if you get a chance to read chapter nine, it's about how he came to follow Jesus. And it's really interesting, but I want to go to chapter three because I want to say, where did the disciples get this idea that following Jesus, that baptism was the first and important step to that?
And next Sunday, we're going to be doing baptism here at Genesis.
And I want you to understand baptism is something that we just tolerate every so often. We throw a party, we get cupcakes for the baptized, and they even share some of those with us.
And so I don't want you coming next Sunday and watching a baptism and then slipping out quickly.
Man, I want you to go to the cafe and flood it where they're going to be. And it takes them a second or two to get dried off.
And we want to celebrate and welcome them into the family. Amen?
Amen. It's something that we enjoy, we celebrate.
And today I want to just kind of share with you some three basics about following Jesus when it relates to baptism. Is that okay?
Before we do it next week.
And the first thing I would say, if you're taking notes, is number one, you really need to understand as a Christ follower that it's important.
Baptism is important.
Now I've been around a lot of churches where they say, well, you know, it's not that big a deal. Just accept Jesus into your heart and all that stuff.
I'm saying, well, the New Testament church said it was important. It was a big deal.
In fact, Jesus demonstrated it was important.
In fact, in Matthew 3:13, the Bible says this: Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
Did you catch that? That's really easy to blip over that if you don't understand the geography in Palestine.
When you're looking at this, this verse is actually loaded. Normally we'd skip over that whole, oh, that's nice. He came from Galilee to the Jordan and he was baptized. Isn't that wonderful?
But let me ask you a question. What is the farthest that you've ever walked?
Five miles, anybody? Three miles?
Anybody do a 3K? A 10K?
Anybody ever do a marathon? Half a marathon?
About, I don't know, it's been about maybe two months ago or three months ago, we were on vacation and I did a marathon.
I did. I did a marathon.
I had Netflix playing. They got through a whole season. As I was driving along, I was listening to it. I wasn't watching, but I was listening to it.
And yeah, I got through a whole season on Netflix of one of my favorite shows. Did a marathon. Aren't you proud of me?
What's the farthest you've ever gone? I'm serious about that. I'm curious.
14 miles, I'm just wondering who's got the most.
Anybody do March of Dimes walk-a-thon back in the day? Did you make it all 20 miles? Did you?
Well, that's impressive, yeah.
You rode your unicycle, how far?
Yeah, well, you were on a wheel, so that didn't really count.
I don't know. See, how far you're willing to go for something tells you how important it really is to you. Would you believe that?
The other night, Kathy, when I got home, I hadn't eaten all day, and so she fixed this delicious quesadilla.
And in our family, we kind of mock a movie we saw. She said, I made you a dang quesadilla.
And I said, okay. Some Napoleon Dynamite fans, you understand that reference.
And so I enjoyed it. It was wonderful, it was tasty, it was delicious.
And then we were going upstairs to bed, and she was going in the bathroom, getting ready and all that.
I guess they gotta take all that makeup off her face or whatever.
And so when she came out and she was getting ready for bed, I said, you know, that was such a good quesadilla, but it was small.
Would you go down and make me another one of those?
And she said, I'm gonna get in bed now, but here's how you make it.
And so she told me, you gotta put it in the fridge, put the oil in.
And I mean, she went through the whole process of how to make myself a dang quesadilla.
And let me tell you, after she was done, I sat there and I thought about it.
And I thought about it. And I laid in bed and I thought about it.
And I really thought long and hard about going down there and making myself a quesadilla.
But can I tell you, I wasn't willing to get out of bed to do it.
How many of you know it wasn't really that important?
I had a little hunger for it. But if I was famished, man, I'm telling you, I wouldn't have just went downstairs.
I would have went to Kroger to get the stuff. I would have, if they were closed, I'd go to Columbus to pick up.
You can know how important something is to you by how far you're willing to go to obtain it.
And I thought it was interesting that our society demonstrates commitment in many different ways.
Jesus showed commitment here, because does anybody have any idea how far it is from Galilee to the Jordan where baptizing was going on?
It was actually 60 miles, the Bible says.
That Jesus walked 60 miles to get baptized.
Well, think about that. That's commitment, man, amen?
60 miles just to get where John was baptizing.
And what I wanna say to you is he was committed to this.
I don't understand why it is sometimes the church, we're not that committed to it.
Because Jesus was very committed to it.
Some people say, well, you know, I was gonna get up and get baptized that day, but I was a little tired, so I stayed home.
We won't even drive two miles sometimes to do it.
But Jesus walked 60 miles. It was important to him. It was commitment.
You know, listen, many times you can tell what people are committed by looking at their bumper stickers.
Any of you got bumper stickers?
I can probably tell how you vote if you got bumper stickers.
I can probably tell you what sports teams you're dedicated to, what you're committed to.
Nothing wrong with those things.
But followers of Christ, we need to be committed to the things Jesus was committed to.
I mean, if we're actually following Jesus, we're going to, in the church, be committed to what He's committed to, amen?
If He was committed to reaching lost people, then we need to be committed to that.
And I've been in some churches that weren't committed to that.
They just wanted to get together and sing and have some fun and throw a big party and just hold on till Jesus come back.
And I'm saying, no, Jesus was committed, man. He went to the cross to see people saved, amen?
And so people in the church, I believe as people that say we're following Christ, if we're following Jesus, we'll be heading in the same direction he is.
We'll be committed to the same things he is, and he was very committed to baptism.
He said it was incredibly important.
But the second thing we have a struggle with is any time we're trying to follow Jesus and committing to something is we have to get over our objections.
See, the reason I wouldn't get up and play Dance Dance Revolution is I had an objection.
I didn't want people watching me because even though there is a dance company, I don't own it because the music moves me funny, not in a good way, okay?
So I think it's hilarious. We chat about it all the time.
It's, oh my goodness, they got our name on people just think we can dance.
And no, no, that's Emily and Caleb, they're the dancers. We can't do that.
And so I didn't play because I had an objection to it.
And many times I have seen when it comes to baptism, people have objections.
They're like, well, you know, I don't know.
And if you've heard me talk about baptism at Genesis before, let me just say that you've probably heard me share this experience.
I was talking to a guy who said that he went to a Wesleyan church when he was young to a VBS, and he went through this experience, but the pastor kind of scared the hell out of him, literally.
He's like, oh my God, I don't want to go to hell.
And he was like, well, get baptized.
And so in order to get baptized, he's going to not go to hell, he got baptized, and he was scared.
And so he decided he was going to do this, and after a while he said he went to a Baptist church, and the Baptist church he wanted to join, and the pastor asked him, have you been baptized?
And he said, yeah.
He said, by immersion?
He said, no.
He said, we got to dunk you.
And so they dunked him, and then they said, well, he went to another church after that.
They said, well, have you been baptized?
He said, no.
He said, no.
He said, no.
He said, yeah, I was baptized at the Baptist church.
They said, well, that's not our church, that's not good enough.
And so they baptized him again.
I mean, I grew up in town, not throwing any shade, but Emmanuel Baptist, I have cousins-in-law who tell me they were baptized almost every Sunday because they gave you extra treats as a child.
You know what I'm talking about, those Jerry, Gary, I see you laughing about it.
If you came in and you were on the bus, man, they would open it up, and it was an exciting thing.
And so I know some of Kathy's family, the cousins, and Gary's told me that he's just dunking people every week.
And here's the thing, guys, the pastor said to him, you need to get baptized.
He said, I've been baptized two or three times.
And the pastor said, I'll never forget what the pastor said to me.
He said, yeah, but those times you weren't believing.
So essentially what happened is you took a dip in a pool.
There was one day where you stand in the water, you're standing on your father's finger, and that's what you see, and it's a life change.
And let me explain to you what's going to be happening next week for those who are being baptized.
What we're going to be demonstrating is when you're standing in the water, you're standing there representing standing in your old life.
You're there representing before you met Jesus, and when you're lowered under the water, it represents the fact that you died with Christ.
And you are, the Bible says, buried with him in baptism.
And then when you come back up out of the water, it is symbolic of the fact that you have been reborn, a brand new creation in Christ.
And so we like to talk about activations in our church.
Baptism is an activation.
It is cooperating with something physical that demonstrates what's actually going on internally.
It demonstrates outwardly to everybody what's actually happening.
Now, I know all these objections that people have, but let me just say this.
If you've been baptized before and you weren't believing and receiving Christ, then you just went for a dip in the pool.
Because what it's meant to do is it's meant to say there's some meaning to this.
You're not saved just because you get in the water.
You're saved because of what the Savior does for you internally.
And your decision to say, I'm going to follow Christ now.
Does that make sense?
And so listen, I know we all have objections, but Jesus walked 60 miles from Galilee to Jordan where John was baptizing.
And Matthew 3:14, it says this.
It says, but John, who's called John the Baptist because he baptized all the time, John tried to deter him, the Bible says.
In other words, John the Baptist, you do know Baptist was literally what they called him.
Why? Because he was baptizing everybody.
John the Baptist, who was baptizing everybody, tried to talk Jesus out of this.
Now, here's what I know.
If you're following Christ and you're about to take a step of baptism, there's going to be all kinds of things trying to talk you out of it.
One is going to be the enemy.
There might even be well-meaning religious people trying to talk you out of it.
John had a good heart.
He absolutely was out there baptizing, helping people find a relationship with God.
But let me just say, if you were going to take a step of this, someone is going to try to talk you out of it.
It could be yourself.
And the objection of, I've already been baptized, let me just say, you need to settle with God.
Have you been baptized since you became a believer?
Since you've decided, I want to make a decision for that.
And if not, I would encourage you to be baptized.
Some people say, well, Keith, I was baptized as a baby.
And I would say to you, that's wonderful.
And I want to be very sensitive to this, to people who've been baptized as a baby.
Let me tell you something about baptizing a baby.
If you were baptized as a baby, it was an unbelievably emotionally significant event in the life of your parents.
Because they were the ones that were making that decision for you.
And you don't remember it.
You were very tiny.
They probably put a dress on you.
I don't know why they do that.
They put dresses on boys even.
They put these long baptism dresses on them.
And they baptized you.
And then a priest or a preacher dumped some water on your head.
Or he dipped you in the water.
And some of you have seen that YouTube video.
I should have showed it.
But I didn't want anybody thinking we're going to do that around here.
Where they slip and the baby falls into the water.
So at some point, they dipped you in the water.
They sprinkled you, christened you, or whatever.
And let me say, that's wonderful.
And it was very meaningful for your parents.
But this is not the baptism that Jesus demonstrated.
What Jesus demonstrated for us was different.
I'm not saying your parents were sinning by doing that at all.
I'm not saying they did anything wrong.
In fact, if you get baptized next Sunday, and you were baptized when you were a baby, let me just say, I believe what you're doing is honoring what they were hoping for you.
That you would grow up and become a follower of Jesus Christ.
So you're not dishonoring what they did.
You're actually honoring what they were hoping and praying for you.
Does that make sense?
And so you're not dishonoring.
You're actually fulfilling their wishes.
People say, well, Keith, I got baptized when I was 10, 12, 14, camp, whatever.
But I didn't really understand what was going on.
But I got baptized.
Or maybe you were here at Genesis, and you prayed to receive Christ.
And you say, well, I just don't feel like I need to be baptized again because I already did that.
Listen, if you were baptized before you received Christ, let me encourage you that you were a wet sinner when you came up.
And it makes no difference how many baptisms you had before meeting Jesus.
It really doesn't.
Listen, there are 27 references.
I don't have time to go over all of them today, but there are 27 references in the New Testament.
And every single time you see baptism taking place in the life of someone, it is always after they have met Jesus and decided to follow him.
The second objection I get is this: well, I'm scared of water.
Now, I'm very sensitive to this.
You say, Keith, why are you sensitive to that?
You've got a pool in your backyard.
Yeah, but my wife doesn't swim.
She doesn't like boats.
I say, honey, you can put a pool in your backyard.
You can put a life jacket on.
She said, why don't you fly?
You can put a parachute on.
So I'm very sensitive to this.
I really am.
I understand people have legitimate fears about water.
So let me just give you a couple of real quick points, all right?
We have never had anybody drown at a baptism at Genesis.
Ever. Hallelujah.
We've had a lot of people die to their old way of living, but nobody drowned.
We've never had a shark attack at baptism.
Because we do it in the tank, and there's no sharks in the tank.
If we were a church on the coast, that might be a concern if we were doing it at the beach, but that's never happened here.
We've never lost a single person.
You have nothing to be scared of.
Literally, there will be trained CPR people in the tank with you.
We've never had to do CPR on anybody.
There's been a few I've wanted to hold down longer than others.
But we don't hold you down to the bubble stop.
It's a very quick dip and back up, okay?
So literally, I understand the fear.
I do.
And we'll even work with you.
We'll even help you with that.
But it is a very safe thing.
There's at least two or three other people in the tank that help you get under the water and get back up.
You are not going to even slip, okay?
So you don't need to be scared, or you're going to be injured or hurt in baptism.
The third objection I hear is this: Keith, I'm just a private person.
Kind of an introvert.
So I just kind of prayed to receive Jesus, and I don't want to make a big deal out of that.
And I don't want to do baptism because it's such a public thing.
And I would say, as much as I can say this, with incredible kindness and sincerity, people who are following Jesus don't have the privilege of remaining silent or private about their walk.
We just don't.
Jesus, for us, for you, our Savior, hung bleeding and naked on a cross.
I know we put that little diaper on him in the crucifixes because religious people's sensitivities would be offended if a crucifix didn't have a diaper on.
But I'm telling you, there was no diaper.
He hung naked completely in front of the entire world and was tortured to death on a cross, on a hill, in a very public setting.
When it came to paying for our sins, Jesus did not go into a cave and quietly do that.
He went out on top of a hillside and literally was raised up on a billboard saying, this is how much I love you.
That's how far he went.
And as followers of Christ, we need to be willing to follow the example of Jesus.
We need to be willing to go public for Jesus.
In fact, Matthew 10:32 says, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.
But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.
So you've got to go public with it.
There's no such thing as a private baptism.
It's a public event.
In fact, you're supposed to invite your friends and family to come witness this event.
That's the whole point, is they get to come hear what it is you're doing and the step you're taking and to see the demonstration of that.
So they go, oh, maybe Jesus, if they're that committed to following, maybe I could follow him too.
And I would say the third thing about baptism is, I really need to do this as soon as possible.
I put ASAP, but that's what it means, as soon as possible.
As soon as possible.
I don't know why it is, but in the church, sometimes we procrastinate doing what Jesus has commanded us to do.
And let me just say, if we're following, we need to follow quickly.
Delayed obedience is disobedience.
Jesus, I know you're telling me to give my life to you, and I'm going to someday.
The problem is, one of these days often turns into none of these days.
And I can tell you, when the kids were growing up and they said to me, when I said, hey, I want you to clean your room.
And they said, yeah, dad, I'll get to that after I'm done with the Xbox game.
Delayed obedience is disobedience.
In the church, we think, well, I'll pray about that.
I'll think about it.
I'll wrestle with it.
And I would say, when it's time to do something and Jesus has put it on your heart, don't wait.
I don't care what it is.
If he says, stop that relationship that you're in, you need to stop that relationship.
Don't play with it.
Don't say, I'm going to think about it.
Don't say, I'm going to ponder on it.
I'm going to pray.
Listen, if you get used to following Jesus the minute you hear what the next step is.
Can I tell you one thing about Dance Dance Revolution?
I lost because I couldn't follow quickly.
And people miss out because they don't follow quickly.
Now, we see in verse 15, Jesus, after John was trying to deter him, replied, let it be so for now.
Now, John, in fairness, was saying, I need to be baptized by you.
And let me tell you, he absolutely had it right.
Jesus had done nothing wrong.
We know he was without sin.
There was nothing he needed to repent of.
But what he was doing is demonstrating the first step of connecting in a relationship with God.
And he wanted everybody to know, all you got to do is just follow my steps.
And he doesn't make them complex.
I've heard a lot of preachers talk about some complex ideas.
And they try to go real deep.
And they get real involved in their arguments and their sermons.
And I'm like, that is not what Jesus did.
He didn't take simple ideals and make them complex.
And let me tell you, I went to seminary.
They wanted me to write 12 pages on two words.
And I'm like, why would you do that if a sentence will work?
For some reason, we think when somebody's complex, they're deep.
No, they could just be muddy.
See, Jesus was a good teacher.
What Jesus did was, he took very complex ideals and made it so simple anybody could understand it.
When somebody came to him and said, man, there's 600 and some odd laws in the law of Moses in the Midrash.
What am I supposed to do, Jesus?
He said, boil it all down to this: love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
That's the kind of teacher he was.
Overly complex ideals could cut it right down to the heart of it.
And so, he made it very simple that our first step was baptism.
And he says this.
He says, let it be so to John for now, for it's proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.
Righteousness meaning to act right.
To do something that is correct or right.
And then it says, then John consented.
And I would say, listen, obedience is not something that you should pray about.
If God says it to you, you don't have to debate it or think about it.
If you haven't been baptized, let me just say, next Sunday's your day.
Next Sunday's your day.
Obedience now leads to opportunities later.
Don't miss that.
You need to write that down.
It ain't in your outline.
People are missing opportunities because they're not obedient now.
I know people who have missed the person God had for them because they were living in sin now with a person they shouldn't have been.
And because they wouldn't be obedient and stop the relationship with the unbeliever, they were so connected.
When believers saw this person, they said, you know what?
That person's already taken.
They're not even on my radar.
They didn't even know they were missing out on opportunities because they weren't being obedient.
People in the church miss blessings because God says, put me first in your finances.
And then they wonder why their cars are breaking down.
Do you know the Bible says that the people of God traveled in the day of sin?
And for 40 years, their shoes didn't wear out.
Their clothes didn't wear out.
See how that happened?
It's the blessing of God, the favor of God.
And yet I know people in the church that hear over and over, put me first in your finances, put me first in your finances.
And then they wonder why they're having trouble with the house.
Why are they having trouble with this?
I'm not saying people who tithe don't have trouble.
I'm saying people who tithe and have trouble still have the favor of God to take care of that.
Does that make sense?
And obedience brings opportunities later.
If you are a believer, if you are faithful in the small things, God will give you greater.
I have watched this principle across the board.
When people take small steps of obedience to God, I just watch.
I'm like, God's gonna bring them more.
And the Bible even says in heaven, he's watching how we're obeying now, what we're faithful in these small things now.
He says, come, you're faithful in the small things.
I'll make you ruler over many.
Your eternal rewards are tied to your obedience.
And in other words, you have more opportunities later in heaven because of your obedience here on earth.
I don't feel like people are catching this when I'm laying down.
Your obedience matters.
And the enemy will fight you on this.
He'll tell you all kinds of reasons why you shouldn't do this, why you shouldn't tithe, why you shouldn't witness to somebody, why you shouldn't get baptized.
He'll do this.
Why?
Because he's trying to rob you.
The Bible says the thief comes to steal.
He wants to steal your opportunities.
Opportunities.
And so he will lie to you.
He will do everything he can to prevent you.
Other people who are immature will try to stop you from taking steps of obedience.
Well, now, I don't know if you should go all that far.
That sounds a little radical because they don't understand.
Obedience brings opportunities.
And the really cool thing about following Jesus is he made the very next step very clear.
It's baptism.
It's going public.
Now, at Genesis, we baptize by immersion.
And what that means is, is we lower people completely into the water.
And the reason we do that is because we believe Jesus was baptized that way when we read the text.
The Bible says he came up out of the Jordan.
And the word there seems to imply that he came up out of the water.
And we know the Greek word for baptize is baptizo, which means to wash by plunging under water.
And so we just try to follow Jesus as closely as we can.
And many of you, you have never taken that step with your walk with Christ.
And let me just say this.
When we pray to receive Christ, we're not just praying to get out of hell.
See, if all you're doing is trying to get some fire insurance, that's not what Jesus came to do.
Jesus came to give you an abundant life.
And abundant opportunities come from obedience and following him.
Does that make sense?
And when we actually choose to follow Christ, I'm not saying, I decide I'm just going to believe there is a Jesus.
Well, the devil's believing.
I'm not going to believe that and tremble.
But they don't obey.
They're in rebellion.
I feel like I'm talking to some folks today that if you would just surrender your rebellion to Jesus, he's going to open opportunities to you.
See, when we are surrendering to Jesus, what we're doing is we're surrendering to the Lordship.
Now, I didn't do that very well when it came to Dance Dance Revolution.
There was something giving me clear direction on screen.
Step on the right arrow, and I'd be like, where's the right arrow?
Step on the back arrow.
And I'd be like, with the left foot or the right foot?
How do you?
So I wasn't real skilled at understanding the directions I was being given.
But Jesus always makes it simple.
And the question is, do you have fire insurance?
Or are you following?
Because it's so much better than fire insurance, guys.
Following means walking out your destiny and your purpose.
Following Jesus means walking to things you never dreamed you would do.
How many of you know where the presence of Jesus is?
The miraculous happens.
The Bible says, wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am also.
You know what's exciting when the presence of Jesus shows up in church?
We see miracles, signs, wonders.
We experience his presence.
Listen, when you shift from fire insurance to following, what you're shifting to is fire insurance.
What you're shifting from is just, I have a certain belief about God, and this is lordship.
And guys, listen.
This is not about you feeling guilty because you keep sleeping with that boyfriend over and over again every time he calls.
That's not what we're talking about.
We're talking about because God has a better plan for you.
And when you surrender to his lordship, it's not about religion.
It's about relationship.
And it's about following right in.
The Bible says, walk in the spirit.
What's he saying?
Follow in the spirit, and you will not fall.
You will not fall.
You will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
And so when I begin to follow what it is God's showing me, it's not about getting it all right, and I know the cover of the bulletin says perfect.
I guarantee you I was never perfect at Dance Dance Revolution.
But I tried to follow to the best of my ability.
And when it comes to Jesus, he's asking, who do you say that I am?
Well, I think he's a good religious teacher, taught some good religious things.
No, he's a loving savior.
And he's the Lord, the King of Kings.
But how do we say you're the King of Kings if we don't show that he has authority in our life?
If I'm not following, is he really my king?
Is he really my lord?
And so we're surrendering to the lordship of Jesus.
And I just want to ask a sincere question.
Can you say that Jesus is calling the shots in your life?
Well, I don't know.
I got to go home and pray about this.
No.
He said, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say?
He called people to decision, but I don't know what he's saying about this.
And I just want to ask you a sincere question.
Can you say that Jesus is truly Lord in your life if you have not taken a step of obedience in baptism or anything else?
What is the next step for you?
You say, well, Keith, I've been baptized, and that message you're talking about, I've already been baptized.
I need to just tune this out.
Well, my question to you is, if you've already been baptized after you were a follower of Jesus Christ, what are you doing to surrender to his lordship and follow him now?
And I don't have to preach that to you because I know he's talking to you.
He's talking to you about it.
The Holy Spirit, if you're a believer, how many of you know the Holy Spirit will, he will convict and convince.
And if you're not convicted and convinced, I think maybe you need to learn to follow Jesus and become a believer because you have the Holy Spirit, and he'll tell you what the next step is.
The question is, will I follow Jesus?
Now, verse 16 goes on to record this.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water, and at that moment, heaven was open, and he saw Jesus.
He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him, and a voice from heaven said, this is my son whom I love, and with him I am well pleased.
How many of you know the Father already loved the Son before the baptism?
But when you take a step of obedience, it pleases the Father, and he starts showing his favor publicly.
When I do a step of obedience in quiet, well, Lord, I'm just gonna, you wanted me to give this to that person, and I'm just gonna do it.
I'm just gonna give it.
Nobody's gonna know what my right hand, left hand is doing.
I'm gonna do it because I'm being obedient to you, Lord.
The Father who sees in secret talks about it openly.
You don't have to talk about it.
You don't have to say, well, you know what I did.
I really wrestled with this, and...
See, when you take a step of obedience, even if it's something you say is just as small as saying, well, Lord, I'm gonna start surrendering to you the way I do relationships.
I'm gonna stop living with this dude.
I ain't married to him anymore.
I'm gonna stop, you know, whatever it is God's speaking to you about.
I'm gonna quit rolling joints and smoking them.
And listen, let me just tell you right up front.
When Jesus is in your life, your want-to shifts.
It's one of the ways John 3 says we know that we're even followers of Christ.
We cannot go on sinning because his seed remains in us.
What does that mean?
I can't go on not listening, not following whatever the instructions he has in front of me are.
I can't go on not listening.
I can't do that.
Why?
Because I'm not happy.
I'm not fulfilled.
The conscience nags me.
And every so often it just comes back to me and over and over again.
That's proof you're a believer.
And Jesus is trying to say, would you follow though?
Would you surrender completely to my lordship?
And I love him because he'll just show you that next step.
Baptism pleased the heavenly Father.
Sometimes people say to me, Keith, how can I know the will of God for my life?
How can I know the will of God?
Well, I'd say the way we know the will of God is by looking at the will of God, the word of God.
And when the word of God tells us to do something, we can know then we're in the will of God when we do what the word of God says.
So if you've prayed to receive Christ and you've never taken a step of obedience in baptism, or if you prayed, Jesus, I'm going to follow you and you haven't been following in some area today, let me just say this.
Take a few moments and say, Lord, I know what your will is because this is what your word says.
And I want to follow.
In Matthew 28, 18 through 20, it said, Jesus said, He said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.
And what's the first thing he says in making a disciple?
Baptizing them.
The very first thing Jesus said to do.
In other words, he says, I want them to do what I did.
If they won't do what I did, then how will they become like who I am?
And so I want them to do what I did.
The identifying mark of a believer is not a fish sticker on the back of your car.
It's not a tattoo with a scripture or a cross.
Wonderful as that may be, that you say, I want to declare, but the mark of a believer, the Bible says, is baptism.
Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I commanded you.
And surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age.
And when Peter got up and preached the first sermon in Acts chapter 2 to the church, this first gospel message, he said this in Acts 2:41 when he gave the invitation.
It says, those who accepted his message were baptized.
Hey, I've received this.
What do I do about it?
I get baptized.
About 3,000 were added to their number that day.
Can you even imagine 3,000 baptisms?
We have 15 or 20 here, and we run about 25 minutes long.
And some people keep saying, I don't even got time for a cupcake.
I couldn't believe they baptized 25 people, and they've got to get out of here.
Imagine if we baptized 3,000 in a day.
Wouldn't that be something?
Dwayne, we're going to have to figure out some more tanks.
And so their decision was, after this had happened, they were baptized.
Baptism has always been a big deal in a church.
It's always been a celebration.
So let me ask you this question.
Do you need to be baptized?
I know people who struggle with this, so let me kind of wind down with this.
It's been a few years ago now, but my wife was finally able to live out one of her dreams.
When we were newlyweds, we were cruising through, I think it was, was it Tennessee or North Carolina, where they have Bristol?
Anybody help me, NASCAR fans?
Tennessee.
We went right past the raceway.
Is that the tricky triangle?
NASCAR fans, help me out here.
That's not it?
But we went through, and on our honeymoon, before we got to where we were headed to Myrtle Beach, we went past this, and she said, I really want to see you.
I want to see you at a NASCAR race.
And so, being the loving and kind husband I am, I lodged that in my mind, and it only took me 30 years later to take her to a NASCAR race.
And it was the tricky triangle we went to, so it wasn't Bristol.
And remember before we were going, she was all excited about it, man.
She called me up.
She was at Walmart.
She couldn't believe, we're finally going to see a NASCAR race.
Now, she doesn't even watch NASCAR at home.
I mean, once in a while, something's on, she'll be like, I don't know, she used to go, go, Jeff Gordon.
And by the time I took her, Jeff Gordon didn't even race anymore.
But she calls me from Walmart, and she says, I'm in Walmart, and I'm shopping.
I said, well, that's wonderful, honey.
Why are you calling me about that?
I want to know, which NASCAR driver do you want to represent?
I said, the only one I know is the one you constantly told me about was Jeff Gordon.
I think it's because he was cute with black hair.
I'm not sure of that.
I said, that's the only one I know.
And I know he's not going to be racing anymore because he got out of it.
And so she's like, which one do you want?
And then she told me, I forget, there were several she named off.
And I said, I don't care.
Give me that Kyle Busch guy you said.
I know nothing about Kyle Busch.
Okay, okay, all right.
Well, the M&M car.
I had no idea.
Thank you, NASCAR fans.
But she really cared about this, and she wanted to get the shirt that represented her driver.
And we went, and we sported our NASCAR shirts like everybody else.
And I was shocked how many people there had on their favorite driver's shirt.
You ever been to a concert?
People are wearing the shirt?
You ever been to Genesis?
I went to the, yeah, there you go.
Kitty's over here representing today.
Yeah, I saw a few others in the house too.
Yeah, yeah, Jeremy's representing today.
So we love wearing shirts to say, I'm a NASCAR fan.
I'm a fan of this person.
I'm a fan of this.
And there's nothing wrong with showing our fandom.
Kathy and I both wore our shirts.
I didn't know who Kyle Busch was.
I tried to look him up on the internet so I could know a little bit about him.
And so I went and I watched, and I kind of semi-rooted for him that day.
And I can't even tell you if he won or not because I can't even tell you who won.
He did?
He did win that day.
Thank you for reminding me.
So I'm really in a NASCAR.
We went and we represented wearing our race car, our regalia, our t-shirts.
And let me say something to you.
It was fun.
It was enjoyable.
And I knew my wife was committed to the driver that she was wearing the shirt of.
Nothing wrong with that.
She was a fan.
But listen, guys, my wife wears something else every day of her life.
And it's not a t-shirt.
Every day of her life, she wears a wedding ring.
Now, I got a real cheesy one when we first met.
When we first got married because they saw me coming, man.
Let me tell you, there's a crack in that rock like all the way down through.
I was a young teenage kid.
They sold me, I don't even know if it's a diamond.
I'll be honest with you.
And so I upgraded her at one of our anniversaries.
And she wears that thing around, and I got just the biggest one I could afford because I wanted everybody to know she's taken.
But she wears that thing all the time.
Not because it's pretty or the diamond's large or that it's gold.
You know why she wears it?
It's not about being a fan.
It's showing she's committed.
See, you could say, oh, that's great.
Honey, you got a Kyle Busch or whoever's shirt you were wearing that day.
I don't even remember.
That's great you're a fan.
But the wedding ring says, no, I'm in this for life.
I'm committed permanently.
This is the mark.
Everybody knows.
This is the sign.
I am committed.
I'm not a fan.
I'm completely in.
I'm committed all the way.
And I would say to you, that's what baptism is supposed to be.
It's supposed to be a wedding ring that demonstrates I'm not just a fan of Jesus when things are going good.
You know, in fact, I remember when I got the t-shirt for Kyle Busch, I said to her, does he win?
Because I didn't want to wear the t-shirt if he wasn't winning.
You know what we do when somebody we're a fan of isn't winning?
We put the t-shirt away and we get quiet about it.
But can I tell you something?
When I'm not winning, she's still wearing the ring.
When things aren't going like we want it to go in the marriage, we're still wearing the ring.
When things are high on the mountaintop, we're still committed, and the sign is still there.
And when things are low and challenged and difficult, she's still wearing a ring.
What I'm saying to you is, listen, guys, it's time to take off the Jesus jersey.
And it's time to get committed.
If you haven't been baptized and taking that first step of obedience to say, this is the mark, this is the sign, I would say next Sunday is your Sunday.
But if you have, if you have done it, it's time to stop looking like a fan and start showing everyone he's your Lord with the way you live your life.
That you're really committed.
Now there's some people I sense today that God's been talking to you about some decisions that you've played with, you've thought about, you've wondered about, maybe I should let go of that, maybe I should make this change, maybe I should do that.
Don't miss this.
Today's your day to take off the jersey and live up to the ring.
If you've been baptized as a believer, that's what you're saying.
I'm committed.
When things are going good in my life, I'm committed.
When things are going rough in my life, I'm committed.
When I don't know if I'm gonna make it, I'm committed.
It doesn't matter what happens, what storm comes into my life, I am committed.
I'm committed to following you, Jesus.
You show me the next step.
I've already settled the issue.
You're in charge.
You're Lord.
You're King of Kings.
And it don't matter what anybody else around is looking at or thinking or if there's people in the crowd making fun of my moves.
I don't care because Jesus, you are the Lord.
And I'm taking the step that you show me to take.
And church, hear me.
In the coming days ahead, it'll be shown who's committed and who's not.
Be committed, guys.
Obedience brings so much opportunity.
And if you haven't been baptized, let me encourage you to do that.
I think it's pretty hard to read up there, but you can text BAP, that's the first three letters of baptism, to 740-212-2002 to still sign up.
You can check it off the back of your connection card today and drop it in the bucket as you leave or take it to the welcome table if it's your first Sunday.
But let me encourage you to make a decision.
Say, well, I've already been baptized.
Then I would say, live your life.
Live up to the baptism and the commitments you made on that day.
That he's the Lord.
You took the first step to follow in baptism, wonderful.
Keep following.
Keep committed.
Can I pray for you?
I'm gonna ask all of you to stand together.
And as I'm praying, let me just say to you, our prayer team is up here today.
And as the prayer team is coming forward, they're moving to the front of the auditorium to pray with you.
And I just need to say this, listen.
If you have not made a decision to follow Jesus, you can just walk up and say, I wanna follow Jesus.
And they'll pray with you about that.
They will.
It's what they came here to do, to pray with you and for you.
You don't need to pray about obedience.
If God said it, that settles it, if you're a follower of Christ.
But there may be some things that are going through in your life, or maybe you wanna take that first step to follow.
This is your chance to do that today.
So I'm gonna say, don't wait.
I'm gonna say a closing prayer in just a moment, but don't wait.
Go ahead and move out now.
Anything you need to pray about, this team is up here to pray with you and for you right now.
Doesn't matter what it is.
They're not gonna judge you.
They're not gonna criticize you.
They're here to encourage you and pray with you.
They came here today just for that.
And if you have any questions about what we've talked about today, they can help you with that.
We pray together, just bow our heads.
It's okay to keep coming while we're praying.
And they're gonna remain up here even after this prayer today to pray with you.
Jesus, thank you that number one, for not only commanding us to do things, but setting the example for us.
That you walked 60 miles, Jesus.
Sometimes we're worried about our schedule or things and we put things off.
And Lord, I pray that standing right now, you'd strip away those excuses and you'd set aside those excuses.
In fact, I pray right now, if people need to be baptized, they'd set it in their hearts right now.
I'm going to take that step.
They determine that they would absolutely do it in their heart and they'd be here to take that step next week.
And Father, for the rest of us as we stand here, I pray you would move us to do what you've called us to do.
I pray that there's points of obedience you're calling us to.
And right now all over the church, that thought came up in your mind is, is that what you're talking about, Lord?
Is this what you're talking about?
I would say, you don't have to question it.
The devil's not going to bring something to your mind about obeying God.
If you're having that thought, that's the Holy Spirit saying, won't you take this next step?
That's the arrow on the screen in front of you now.
And he's saying, step here now, step into following me.
And I pray you'd move us today, Lord, to do what you've called us to do.
And I know some are wrestling with big issues.
Some are in relationships and are trying to figure out how do I extract myself from this.
Lord, I know that the example you set for us when you took a step of obedience and was baptized, that the Father instantly displayed his favor.
So Lord, I pray you'd give them faith to know if they take the step of obedience, they'll find favor and opportunity.
And we speak against the enemy's lies today, Lord, with your truth that you are for us, not against us, that you want us to succeed.
And when we get off base and we're not following so well, you do things like you've done today, Lord.
You say, come on now, get back in line.
Come on, take that next step.
You can do this.
And it's not about perfection.
It's just trying.
Just stay in step with your spirit.
And you love us.
Even when we fall down, Lord, you lift us up in your grace and your mercy.
And you say, I forgive you.
Keep following.
Keep following.
So Lord, I pray whatever the following issue is today that people are wrestling with, that we be determined to take that step.
And each one of these folks that you're talking to today, each one of us, Lord, in my heart, Lord, I pray, show me.
Could we just pray that together?
Jesus, show me what my next step is right now.
I want to follow you into deeper territory, Lord, into more opportunity.
I want to make you number one in my life.
I want to follow you, Jesus.
Well, he's here right now, folks.
And Lord, I pray the next Sunday together, those who've been baptized because they chose to follow, and those who have yet to be baptized and are going to be baptized.
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