Gaining Ground | A Life that points to Jesus | Landon Sherman

Let's stand and worship together. And I try with all my might But I just can't win the fight I'm slowly drifting A vagabond Just when I ran out of breath I met a man I didn't know And he told me that I'm not alone You pick me up You turn me around You place my feet on solid ground I thank the Master I thank the Savior Because you heal my heart You change my day Forever free I'm not the same I thank the Master I thank the Savior I thank God I cannot deny what I've seen Got no choice but to believe My doubts are burning Like ashes in the wind So so long to my old friends Burning in bitterness You can't just keep them moving No, you ain't welcome here From now till I walk the streets of gold I'll sing of how you saved my soul

This wayward son has found his way back home You pick me up You turn me around You place my feet on solid ground I thank the Master I thank the Savior Because you heal my heart You change my day Forever free I'm not the same I thank the Master I thank the Savior I thank God And I lost another one I am free And I lost another one I am free You pick me up You turn me around You place my feet on solid ground I thank the Master I thank the Savior Because you healed my heart You changed my name Forever free I'm not the same I thank the Master I thank the Savior I thank God I thank God

Christ is my firm foundation He's the rock on which I stand When everything around me is shaking Oh, I've never been more glad That I put my faith in Jesus Because He's never let me down He's faithful through generations So why would He fail now? He won't He won't See, I've still got joy in chaos I've got things that make no sense So I won't be going out there I'm not held by my own skin ♪ Pray, cause I've built my life for Jesus ♪ ♪ And he's never let me down ♪ ♪ He's faithful and very sincere ♪ ♪ So why would he fail now ♪ ♪ He won't, oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ He won't, oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ He won't fail, he won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't, oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ He won't, oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ He won't fail, he won't fail, oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ He won't fail, he won't fail, oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Christ is my first foundation, yes he is ♪ ♪ He's the rock on which I stand ♪ ♪ When everything around me is shaking ♪ ♪ Oh I've never been more glad ♪ ♪ That I put my faith in Jesus ♪

♪ Cause he's never let me down ♪ ♪ He's made for new generations ♪ ♪ So why would he fail now? ♪ ♪ He won't, oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ He won't, oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ He won't fail, he won't fail, oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ He won't fail, he won't fail, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ Come on, who's thankful that we serve a faithful God? We thank you, Jesus. We're faithful through the ages. ♪ Rain came when my house was built on you ♪ Come on, declare it. ♪ Rain came with you, I'm gonna make it rain again ♪ Come on, what's going on? ♪ Rain came when my house was built on you, I'm gonna make it rain again ♪ Come on, sing that again, rain came. ♪ Rain came when my house was built on you, I'm gonna make it rain again ♪ ♪ Rain came, you know I'm gonna make it rain, you know I'm gonna make it rain, you know I'm gonna make it rain, yeah ♪ ♪ I'm standing strong, I'm with you, yes I'm gonna make it rain again, yeah, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh. ♪ I'm gonna make it through, cause my house was built on you, this is my first foundation, it's a rock on which I'm standing, everything around me is changing, yeah, oh I've never been more good, I put my faith in Jesus, I'm gonna make it rain again, yeah, oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh. ♪ You'll feel, come on can we put our hands together for King Jesus, get back in the fight. ♪ Everything changed, it's getting harder to recognize the person I was, before I knew Him. ♪ I don't talk like I used to ♪ ♪ I've been washed from the inside ♪ ♪ I've been washed from the inside out ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪

♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I cannot explain ♪ ♪ Nothing's more real than this in the presence of God ♪ ♪ Oh, what my heart experienced ♪ ♪ When my shame hit the wayside ♪ ♪ And my sin met the most high ♪ ♪ I was washed from the inside ♪ ♪ I was washed from the inside out ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood, Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood, yeah, Jesus ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood, yeah, Jesus ♪ ♪ It's never been about performance, perfection ♪ ♪ Or striving for acceptance, let me tell you ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood ♪ ♪ It's never been about deserving, or hurting ♪ ♪ It's a gift that's free to give it, let me tell you ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood ♪ ♪ Does anybody wanna be holy, righteous, purified and solid? ♪ ♪ Let me tell you, it's only by the blood ♪ ♪ Does anybody wanna be worthy, forgiven, justified, really living? ♪ ♪ Justified, really living, let me tell you ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, I know I was sublime ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood, it could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus, yeah, oh, you're blood, you're blood ♪

♪ Yeah, Jesus, yeah, oh, thank you, Jesus, yeah, oh, thank you ♪ ♪ Yeah, Jesus, yeah, oh, thank you, Jesus, yeah, oh, thank you ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, I know I was sublime ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood, it could have only been the blood ♪ Amen. You may be seated. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hey, everybody, welcome to Compass. Our mission is navigating people to God. My name is Landon, and I'm on the teaching team here. Thanks so much for being at Compass today. Grateful for all of you that maybe tried. Compass, for the first time last week at Easter, grateful you're back, and we'd love to meet you and answer any questions that you got at a place called Guest Gathering, if you're here with us in the room at Collierville. And by the way, hey, if you're in the room with me right now, can you do me a favor? Can you welcome everybody on the other side of the camera watching at the Allred unit right now? And anybody else online, too, thank you. Love you guys, and I'm excited to dive into a series called Gaining Ground, talking about how to grow in our faith.

And I wanna start with a story. I got invited to do a race with some friends a couple months ago called a Hi-Rox. I don't know if there's anyone in the room that's familiar with Hi-Rox, but if you're not, here's kind of the focus and function of it. It's like a hybrid lifting and endurance race. So basically, you do one of those exercises and then you run a kilometer for a total of eight exercises, eight kilometers. So you do an exercise, run a kilometer, you repeat that eight times, which means that Satan invented it. And ironically, it actually, during the race, did bring me closer to Jesus, because I almost met him right there on the convention center floor in Dallas. Just almost, it was almost over. And I show up on Friday night in Dallas at the convention center ready to run this race, and there's 3,000 people, the energy's everywhere. 3,000 people all excited to be there and meet. And here's the truth, okay? It's not a secret to me that the Lord did not give me a runner's body, all right? I am shaped like SpongeBob, and it just doesn't do well for long distances. And you know how people talk about, and it's all you marathon people or triathlon people, you talk about like a runner's high, right?

Like the endorphins you get in your brain and you just wanna keep going and you get that flow state. That has never happened to me one time in my entire life. Okay, like I've had like a brisket high, or like a pizza high, okay? Not a runner's high. And so I get through this race and I finally finish, and my wife looks at me and she says, don't you feel accomplished? And I looked right back at her and said, no, I feel tired and full of regret. But here's what's interesting. At least one moment after this, I thought, you know, running isn't all that bad, right? Like I'm still gonna do it for sure. I'll go on a jog every once in a while. Why are you laughing, you know? Because you know, right, there was no chance I wasn't gonna do it. Because here's what happened. In prep for the race, I had a training plan, and once I got off the plan, I drifted a little bit. I don't know if it's ever happened to you, where like three miles a day turned to two, and two miles turned to one, and one turned to none. And I had great intentions to continue, but I had really bad execution. And sometimes I think that's also true for like our, like pursuit of God, or maybe spiritual life.

And here's what I've learned over the last couple months, and I really feel like this is something God showed me. You know, there are so many incredible people in this church, like of all walks of life. And you've got college students and young families, and you've got like CEOs, and you've got teachers and coaches, single people, married people, engaged people, blue collar, white collar, right? Like anyone in any area of life is probably represented here. And what I've noticed is like when you wanna grow, like if growth is your thing, there's a way for you to grow in almost every area of your life. Like when it comes to your career, think about it. You get a promotion, or you get a raise. When it comes to a relationship, maybe you meet somebody, and you start dating, and then you get engaged, and then you get married, and then you maybe start having kids, right? There's a growth plan for every area of life. But what I feel like God has shown me over the last couple months is for a lot of us, there's a growth plan for everything out here, and then we come here, and we kind of sit in these seats and we think, okay, I know this is like a good thing, but I'm not exactly sure what to do with it. Or maybe like you've got the desire to grow,

but you've never really had anybody model that for you. And that reality has led us to the launch of something that's specifically, at least early on, for the men in our church called Gaining Ground. And it's built around this verse. It talks about like a growth plan for faith, of having an active faith, 1 Timothy 4.15. And here's what it says. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress, right? Think about that verse, practice, right? So there's dedication, there's immersion. It's everything for you in that moment. And so you're actively devoting yourself to it. And then as a result, there's progress, there's growth. And I wanna be clear, for the next couple of weeks, this scripture is not just for the guys. This is for anybody who wants to grow, who wants to have an active. Active faith, right? Those are forward words. Because here's what I've seen and here's what I've experienced in my own life. Like if you're not intentionally pursuing something, like how easy is it to drift? Right, like I talked about, when I got off my running plan, I eventually stopped running and you know what I've noticed about faith? Like it's pretty rare that it's like drastic, like you go a full 180 and what I mean by that

is like I've yet to meet somebody who showed up here consistently and was all in on Jesus on Sunday and then started worshiping Satan on Monday. Like I've yet to meet that person and you know what I've seen countless examples of and I've even experienced in my own life? One miss week turns to two, two turns to 20, right? One moment where you decide not to pray leads to prayerlessness, right? There's this natural drift and so gaining ground is kind of turning that whole thing on its head and deciding, I'm gonna practice this, okay, I'm gonna grow, right? Graining down is the decision to stop drifting and start pursuing Jesus and the question is, how do you do that? How do you do that? And I think regardless of if you're brand new to this thing, this is the first time you've ever been in church or you've been doing this for 30 years, the good news is there's always something for us, right? To move us towards a closer relationship with Christ and the scripture that we're gonna be in over the next couple of weeks is 1 Timothy chapter four and that's gonna be our anchor chapter for this series. So if you got your Bibles, feel free to open that and as always, it'll be on the screen next to me. Paul is this spiritual father. Paul wrote one third of the New Testament

and he's writing to somebody younger than him. It's his mentee in the faith and his name was Timothy and we know from church history that Timothy was going and leading a church in Ephesus, it's where we get the book of the Bible called Ephesians and Paul gives him some parting advice and here's what he says, starting in 1 Timothy chapter four, verse six. If you put these things before the brothers, you'll be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you follow. So immediately, he says, if you put these things, now, what things? Before this verse, if you read verses one through five in chapter four, he's talking about that little thing that we just mentioned, drift and he's saying, some will drift. What are they gonna start doing? They're gonna start buying into lies. They're gonna start buying into false teaching and so Paul is telling Timothy, the way to not do that, the way to take a step forward instead of take a step back is to devote yourself to growth, being trained in the words of faith and of the good doctrine, right, true theology. We know that is like the words we've been given through the scriptures. As long as you do that, like you're moving in the right direction

and he warns him in verse seven, have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths and I love that the word silly made its way into the Bible. Rather, and this is such a good, listen to this, okay? Pay attention to this. Rather, train yourself for godliness. So there's an active participation in moving towards godliness. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is a value in how many ways? Every way. Why? As it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. So they had silly myths in the first century. We have silly myths. What are those? Anything that is anti-scripture, right, goes against what the scriptures teach is what Paul would call a silly myth, right? And as you grow in godliness, you grow in also your discernment, meaning your ability to distinguish between a truth and a lie. And Paul says there's an active participation to train yourself for godliness, right? The decision, you gotta show up for practice and I love the sports metaphor in this, right? I connect with that, maybe you do too. He says physical training is of some value.

But he wants us to know what's most important. So while Pilates and pickleball is of some value, okay, godliness, training yourself for godliness is of greatest value. Why? Because, he says at the end, it holds promise for the present life, meaning our life right now, the seven days of the week that we have right here, and also for the life to come. Meaning, yes, we train ourselves physically, but what we do with our heart, with our soul, is of the most value. And it should be reflected in the time that we spend. and our intention behind those things. One day physically, even if you're Arnold Schwarzenegger or a high rocks champion, your body will give out on you, right? One day you'll stop working the job that you work and yet your soul, your heart is forever, right? There's implications for this life and the next. So Paul says, this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance for to this end, we toil and strive because we have our hopes set on the what? On the living God, who's the savior of all people, especially of those who believe. So when we leave here, we go to Monday, what's our hope in? Our hope is in earthly leaders? No.

Our hope is in politics? No. Our hope is in our own physical strength? No. Who's our hope in? In the living God who rose from the grave. Okay, and then here comes the verse that everybody writes in a card when you graduate high school. Verse 11, command and teach these things, let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct and love and faith and purity. One of the things I wanna talk about today is this, that when you make a decision for Christ, and we're gonna see today that one of the first steps to gaining ground is making a decision of sometimes radical obedience. Every single day, right? That when you make that decision, that there should be actually a difference in your life. And so Paul says, these are some of the differences, right in your speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. So I wanna say two things from this first. First, it says, let no one despise you for your youth, okay? So for the young people in this church, in this room right now that are listening to my voice, I want you to hear something. You don't need to wait for God to use you, okay? You don't need to wait till you're 30.

You don't need to wait till you're 30 or 40. You can make a difference in your high school right now. Okay, you can make a difference in your college right now. You're not just the church of the future, you're the church of right now. And by the way, we believe that as a church, okay? So I'm actually seeing right now, I'm seeing students that are leading their parents to faith. We've had, I think up until this point at this service, we've had 130 people decide to be baptized across all our campuses so far this weekend, okay? A good chunk of those are young people, just one story. I met a kid a couple months ago and I met him because I was meeting with their family to prepare for his father's funeral. It's a 12 year old little boy, his daddy dies just like that. And it was a hard moment, hard meeting, it's been a hard season for that family. And I got to watch on Wednesday night as this 12 year old boy made a decision that he wasn't gonna run from God in the hardest season of his life, he was gonna run to God. And he's been in church every single week and we got to watch as his mom and his siblings walked on the stage and he got baptized right over there. He made a decision for Christ. A good chunk of that 130 are students. And so listen, that's an example

of don't let anybody despise you for your youth. And I just want you to hear me say, listen, it's never too early to live your faith and it's never too late to start, okay? So for some of you, like we've had on Thursday, I think we had as young as seven or eight got made a decision for Christ to be baptized. And then there were others who, how do I say this, were seven or eight a very long time ago, okay? Here's what's true for both of them, they made a decision. They took a step towards radical obedience. You wanna know how to gain ground in your faith. Like if you're kind of part of that group or you know how to grow in every other area of your life and you come here and you're like, I like the idea, but I don't know what to do. If that's you, listen, here's where you start. You start with a moment of radical obedience. And as a result of that, like when your spiritual life is intentional and you are actively gaining ground, listen to me, the world around you should be able to tell because there's fruit. And so people can see whether or not they even have words for it. Hey, wait a minute, Jake is different and Heather is different. He's showing up different at work, showing up different at school and showing up different when we hang out.

It's because like they made a radical decision for their faith that you can't be around Jesus after you put your faith in Him and not change. Okay, and as a result, you're a living example of someone who's living their faith. How do you do that? Have you ever heard the phrase like in networking, it's all about who you know? You guys heard that? Listen, when it comes to spiritual maturity, okay, it's all about who you know. And I'm not talking about like other people, okay? I'm talking about if you really wanna be spiritually mature, it means you actually know Jesus. And yet your life is not measured by how much you know about Him, your life is measured by how much your life actually reflects Him. Because if you're. Life actually reflects Him, there's fruit and people could see it. Like you know Him like you know a friend. One day I was driving with some friends and I went the wrong way down a one-way street. I told y'all I was bad at running. I'm even worse at driving, okay? Like I should not be allowed to drive. It's a miracle, pray for me. And so we finally, you know, we get back on the road we're supposed to be on

and I'm, oh my gosh, guys, I'm so sorry. And they were like, you should be sorry. You almost killed us. And so I said, Hannah, I'm sorry. And they say, hey, it's okay. And we go on with conversation and 20 minutes later, I say, hey guys, I'm so sorry I did that. And they say, hey man, it's okay, we forgive you. And 20 minutes later, I'm still thinking about it and raking myself over the coals for this. And they say, hey man, it's okay, we forgive you. And then 20 minutes after that, you ever had that? Where like people have forgiven you but you haven't forgiven you? And I say, hey man, I'm really sorry we did that. And then my friend Mark puts his hand on my shoulder. And if Mark was sitting here, he would tell you that he was one of the biggest drug and alcohol addicts on the planet. And God rescued him after one moment of radical decision. He looks at me, he says, Landon, you can stop apologizing now. And he says something I'll never forget. He said, I know grace like I know a friend. There's a difference in knowing about Jesus and actually knowing him, okay? Some of us, like we know about grace, like we've heard about the concept and we sing the songs and we may even be able to quote the scriptures, but you've never actually accepted it for that thing

that you don't want anybody else to know about, you know? And I wanna be clear, grace isn't just something you get one time, like when you come grab a towel and you make a decision to be baptized. No, grace is like breath, it's like oxygen. Every single day, and yet there's some of us that like I was in that car, it's kind of like, well, I'm pretty sure God's forgiven me for that, but I haven't forgiven myself for that. There's a pastor named Joby Martin, he's out of Jacksonville, Florida, and he's got a quote I wanna share with you. Here's what he says, there's more grace in Jesus than there is sin in you. There's more grace in Jesus than there is sin in you. And a grace-filled person understands that it's not just like when you make a decision for Christ out of that radical obedience where you get grace. It's your daily bread, it's the marker of your every single day. And when you accept grace, like you get that living act of faith, that whole practice, immerse, progress faith we're talking about. When you accept the grace of God, when it becomes like the oxygen like you breathe, and yet Satan, the enemy of your soul, the enemy of my soul, wants to trick you and think you, no, you're not a candidate for that, or you don't even need that, right?

He wants to remind you of what you can't forgive yourself for and confuse you that God ain't ever forgiven it in the first place. And what I want for our church and for me and for you is to have a living active faith marked by grace. And when you wake up and your two feet hit the floor, Satan and his demons start sweating because you're coming. I asked the great theologian, chat GPT, if you were gonna keep a Christian stagnant, what would you do? And here was the response. I wouldn't try to make you walk away from your faith that's too obvious, too risky. I'd convince you that you're already doing just fine. I'd remind you that you believe the right things, that you go to church when it's convenient, they're not as bad as other people. I'd keep the bar low and make sure you feel good about clearing it. I wouldn't tempt you with destruction. I'd distract you with just enough, just enough scripture to feel informed, but not transformed. Just enough conviction to feel aware, but not actually enough to change. I'd keep you busy, full schedule, good things, important things, just not the most important thing. Because if I can crowd your life, I can quietly starve your soul. I'd make any discomfort you feel get numb quickly

through entertainment, noise comparison, or scrolling. You won't sit still long enough to hear God clearly. I'd convince you growth is optional. I'd let you keep your faith just without fire, your beliefs just without obedience, your identity just without movement because a stagnant Christian doesn't have to be defeated, just inactive. Listen, the enemy doesn't need to destroy your faith if he can just keep it still. And the good news is this, listen, listen. The good news is this. When you put your faith in Christ and you actively and intentionally pursue Him and you try to gain ground, you have a growth mindset towards your faith, it results in full and complete transformation, okay? Full and complete transformation. That's what 1 Timothy 4, 11 teaches, right? That's how Paul gives us like those five areas in which there's a transformation that happens. Here's what a transformed life in Christ looks like. First of all, speech, what flows out of us. Like people are refreshed when they're around us. Conduct in how we live. There's a visible difference in our life. There's something different about that person. Love, how you treat people. People don't experience your theology first, they experience your love.

The love of Christ compels you to action. Faith, what you trust, like you trust God when things go your way and when things don't go your way. Purity, what you pursue, the affections of your heart starts to change. Listen, when you put your faith in Christ, it's complete and total transformation. When Jesus changes you, He reshapes your whole life. And yet, why doesn't it feel that way? If we're just gonna be another layer of honest, right? It's because sometimes we get this idea in our heads that if we put our faith in Christ and we become a Christian then just everything is gonna be linear and we're never gonna have any more problems. Like we're never gonna step back or misstep. And I wanna talk to you about a fancy theological word called sanctification. Okay, it's a theological word and it simply just means becoming more like Christ. So the product of my life is to become more like Christ. The whole point of gaining ground is not to grow towards being a kinder, nicer person. Now that can happen, but that's a by-product. The pursuit is Christ. And yet sometimes, again, we buy into this like, well, it's gonna be linear or something happens, there's a setback in our life or we commit a sin and then we start questioning God. Listen, sanctification is the process of God restoring us in our failure and victory, okay?

The ups and downs every single day, every moment of every day. And I told you guys like where we've seen this, this gaining ground thing that we started stuff for men and I'm so proud of so many guys that are stepping up and they've been called higher and they're hitting the mark. And there's this phrase that's become this tagline that I think it helps make this, understand the sanctification thing. And it's from a football coach, okay? It's a men's ministry, all right? We gotta talk to them like they'll understand, okay? I'm this way too, all right? There's this tagline from a football coach named Frank Reich and he had this team that was failing and then he turned it around. And here was their tagline, get 1% better a day, okay? When I think about growth, I wanna go from zero to 60 in 0.5 seconds. Like I wanna go from step one to step 10, right? How many of you know growth is what? Just a little bit at a time. And so I think, you know, when it comes to like becoming more like Christ, the thing that I want in my life is that like, I'm just getting better at pursuing Him every single day. Sometimes it's 10%, most of the time it's 1%. And I've seen all these men decide to get 1% better a day, right? And here's what it looks like.

For some of them, it is literally showing up because this is the first thing they've ever done that kind of fits in the faith category in their entire life. For others, like it's five minutes with God before you start your day, before you go to school, before you do whatever. And if just five minutes a lot, well, probably not, but it's five minutes more than they were spending. Then there's others who made the decision, like before their kids go to school, like they're actually gonna sit down and pray with their family and ask God to intercede for them on their day. You wanna talk about a big difference? Oh, man, that can change your family. And look, I don't know what's happened in your life and I don't know your story. I know God's gonna do a miracle in your life today, but I do wanna remind you of something. Like we celebrated this week, last week, the blood of Jesus still covering, you know, our offenses. And I just want you to hear it. Listen, that's still true, even though Easter was last week. Okay, the blood of Jesus covers all of our offenses. And yet what's our job? Our job is to take a step towards him. Okay, and sometimes that can look like 1%. And so I just, as I was preparing for this message, I just felt like I wanted to remind everybody in this room,

you guys, the tomb is still empty. Like we celebrated Easter in grand fashion last week and it was awesome, praise God for that. But I think sometimes, like even subconsciously, like we can celebrate this risen Savior on a Sunday and then go back to a dead faith on a Monday. And I think if you think about it, like, guys, we live in a Monday world, don't we? Jesus rose on Sunday, he resurrected. We live in a post-resurrection world. And yet, listen to me, church, the tomb is still empty. Okay, and I just wanna remind you of this. Listen, he's still your risen Savior. And that changes everything for your life. Okay, on Monday in the drop-off line, he's still your risen Savior. On Tuesday in the Zoom call, he's still your risen Savior. On Wednesday in the gym, he's still your risen Savior. On Thursday, sitting in traffic on Highway 35, God help us, he's still your risen Savior. Friday night, when you gotta choose integrity or compromise, he's still your risen Savior. Saturday at. a soccer game, he's still your risen savior. And Sunday, he's still a savior worth worshiping, okay? Don't leave Easter in the grave. And what's required of us is an active living faith, why? Because a risen savior deserves a living faith. A risen savior deserves a living faith. One of my favorite examples of that in scripture,

and I wanna close with this, is a guy named Peter. And if you're part of our pre-Easter series, 24 Hours to Live, we talked a lot about Peter. Peter was a disciple. He was one of Jesus's closest friends and followers. Peter was awesome. Peter was a fisherman, and I like to fish, so I like Peter. And he had a big faith, and he wanted you to know it. He would say, Jesus, I'll never fail you, and I'm gonna follow you, and even if everybody else fails you, I'll never do it, and you're the king of my life. And Jesus looks back at him and says, Peter, I'm gonna build my church on you, with you. I mean, what a compliment that is. And Jesus also told him, you're gonna fail me. And if you know the story, Peter didn't believe it. He said, no way, there's no way I'll ever fail you. And yet, what happens in Jesus's most vulnerable moment, Peter says, I don't even know this guy. And then he watched his leader, Lord, Savior, brutally murdered on a cross. But after the resurrection, Jesus not only forgives him, he restores him, and there's a difference, right? Because it wasn't just, hey, Peter, I got that. When you denied me, yeah, I'll cover that. No, he covered it, and then he said, hey, by the way, I need you. Like, I forgive you, but I'm gonna restore you. Restore you to what? To a position of authority, like that you're gonna go

and be my vessel from this point forward. And I just want you to hear it. Listen to me, church. Jesus wants to restore your life. Not just like halfway restored where you're doing better, but you still walk with a limp. No, I mean fully restored. When you're jumping up and down like you're 12 years old again, you get a childlike faith. And so Peter had this moment where Jesus restores him, and then he's talking to a group of people on one of the biggest days in church history, the day of Pentecost, and they all had to answer the question that we have to answer today. What are you gonna do with the good news of Jesus Christ? What are you gonna do with the fact that God is exactly who he says he is, that Jesus has never told a lie, that he wants to restore your life? So Peter, knowing everything about his own sinfulness, stands in front of a group of people just like I'm doing with you right now. And here's what he tells them. Acts chapter two, therefore, let all Israel be assured of this. God has made this Jesus. Remember, he's talking to the people that were a part of the decision to crucify Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.

And when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, brothers, what shall we do? God was moving in their life, the Holy Spirit was shifting things for them, and they immediately moved to a point of decision. The gospel always moves us to a decision point. They say, what shall we do? And here's what Peter 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. The promise is for you and your children, all who are far off, for all whom the Lord God will call. And it says in verse 41, that those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that day. And that word repent, Peter says, that's the question, what do we do? Peter says, repent and be baptized. Repent is a military term. Think about like somebody who's in a position of authority, calling out to the soldiers and shifting their direction. It means very literally to move from this direction, turn, make an active turn, and go in another to the voice of your master. That's what repentance looks like for us.

We're moving in our direction, I'm in charge, I've got the keys of the car. To God, you're in charge, that's repentance. And then he says to be baptized. Why baptism, right? Well, who should be baptized? If you look in the New Testament, it's a real simple answer. Anyone who believes in Jesus and wants to follow him. Everyone who's ready to say, God, here's the keys of my car, here's the keys to my life, you got it. Now, why baptism? Because it's symbolic of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Right, there's a spiritual death, something has to die. And for some of us, it's just the acknowledgement that, hey, my way isn't working. I don't wanna be in charge anymore. Burial, there's something that gets buried, right? When you go into that water, that's sin and shame, clean. And then there's a resurrection. You come out of the water, you get a new life, not better, brand new. And I wanna show you a video, a story of somebody in our church that made that decision and how it affected them. has done for me is given me a purpose to live, that even whenever I'm alone, I'm not alone, that I always have someone that I can have a shoulder to lean on, to cry on whenever I need him.

He is always there. Hi, my name is Christopher and this is my baptism story. So whenever I was 20, I joined the military and at that time in my life, I felt that I was in a dark place. I was running to alcohol to kind of numb my feelings so I don't feel anything. And then once I finally got out of that dark place, I met my now wife and faith was extremely important to her and she wanted to go to church. And at that time, I also wanted to go to church as well to kind of see what church was really like again after not going for about six years. I remember it was during Christmas Eve service of 2025 where Pastor Drew said if anybody wanted to get baptized that it's time, it's a great time, just come up, talk to one of the pastors and you would get baptized. Around that time, I reached out and I was asking if I was able to dedicate my son and also possibly get baptized at the same time. The day that I got baptized, I was nervous, not knowing what was going to happen. Before I got in the water, I felt that I had everything in the past, all my bad mistakes in my shoulders and the moment that Pastor Nathan asked me to recite after him. I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and I take him today to be my Lord

and to be my Lord. And my Savior. And my Savior. Christopher, because of that confession of faith, man, I get the honor to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And then dipping into the water and getting out, I felt that everything that I had in the past, all bad mistakes was left in the water. Felt like I was a brand new person. I was reborn again and it was time for me to be a better husband for my wife and a better father for my son as well. Mm. You know, I love that story because you see, he made a decision and he recognized that it not only impacted him, it impacted potentially generations to come. And I wanna be clear about a couple of things. First, baptism doesn't save us. Okay, Jesus saves us. But to be clear, neither is baptism a suggestion. If you look in the New Testament, it's a commandment that's received out of obedience for all of those who put their faith in Christ. It's also only a decision that we can make for ourselves. And maybe there were some of you who were maybe baptized when you were young or sprinkled as a baby. And while I love the decision that your parents made for you to raise you up in faith,

baptism isn't a decision that anybody else can make for you, right? It's an opportunity to personally express your own faith. Maybe you're thinking, when should I be baptized? And it's real simple, when you believe in Jesus and really make a commitment to follow Him. You don't have to pass a test. You don't have to clean yourself up first. And sometimes, in fact, in the New Testament, more often than not, people weren't planning to be baptized. No, there was an immediacy to this decision. Most people accepted on the day that they accepted Christ were immediately baptized when they put their faith in Him. We talked about today, how do you grow in your faith? It starts with a moment of radical obedience. And I think one of the most honoring things that we can do is say yes to that when the Spirit prompts us, even if you weren't planning on it. And in boldness and faith, say, okay, I'm gonna do it. There's a time that the Apostle Paul is preaching in the book of Acts, similar to the moment with Peter in Pentecost. Perhaps it's a moment just like this in this room today. Paul preaches the sermon, talks about Jesus. And then he asks him a question that I wanna ask you. Acts chapter 22, what are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. And what? Have your sins washed away by calling on the name

of the Lord. And church, I just wanna say with as much love and support as I can give you. And in just a moment, we're gonna have a time of celebration. What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Some of you have been trying to wonder if you're ready to do this. Because you haven't forgiven yourself for something you've done. Listen, hopefully you hear me today. God wants to cover that. You're thinking, what are people gonna think about me? Quite honestly, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks about you. This is a moment between you and the Lord. And we got everything you need. We got change of clothes, we got hair dryers. Okay, in just a second, the band's gonna play a song. And our church, when people are walking down, and now some have already made a decision to be baptized, they're signed up, there's others that are in process right now. And when you see people church, when you see people come to the front and grab a towel, I want you to celebrate, go crazy, because that's what good families do. Can I get an amen, right? Listen.

If you wanna come down here, you're a little bit bold. First of all, you're a little bit scared. We got people right here that can answer any question you wanna answer. I'd encourage you, tap somebody on the shoulder, right where the family of God, if you've got a friend with you today, have them walk down here with you, all right? Listen, it may not have been on your calendar. I promise you, it's on your Savior's calendar. Some of y'all been waiting a long time. You think you waited too long. You messed up too much, you wandered too far. Those are lies from the pit of hell, all right? Jesus is here now, and he wants to restore you. He wants you to know grace like you know a friend. I'm gonna pray, and we're gonna sing a song and see what happens, all right? Heavenly Father, thank you for the chance to be here. Thank you for these people. Thank you for this place. Lord, we just ask you to move in our midst in this moment. God, I thank you that at your name demons flee, that your name strongholds are broken. Prodigals, come home. We love you, Lord Jesus. We thank you in your heavenly name we pray, amen. ♪ I know who I am ♪ ♪ As I know who you are ♪ ♪ The cross of salvation ♪

♪ Is only the start ♪ ♪ And now I am chosen ♪ ♪ Free and forgiven ♪ ♪ I have a future ♪ ♪ It's worth living in ♪ ♪ I wasn't made to be tending a grave ♪ ♪ I was born blind ♪ ♪ Born and raised back to life high ♪ ♪ I was made for more ♪ ♪ So what would I make of bed in my shade ♪ ♪ When a fountain is running my way ♪ ♪ I know what it means ♪ ♪ I was made for more ♪