Going Public

Okay, so I want you to rate yourselves now, how ready are you to hear from God? Everybody here, everybody at each of the sites, you're going to lean over, I'm going to give you some numbers, commit to one, so five is I expect to hear from God today, four, I'd like to hear from Him, three, I'm probably going to get distracted, two, does that really happen, one, don't push it, I'm here as a favor. Go ahead, tell the people around you, where are you, rate yourself, how ready are you to hear from God? Go ahead, talk to each other. Okay, here's the deal, doesn't matter where your number was, one through five, doesn't matter, God is ready for you. Heavenly Father, I pray now that you'd speak to each of us, some of us are ready, some of us are desperate, some of us might be surprised today, some of us are not ready at all, but you're that good, you're that big, Lord, speak to us now through ancient stories and from fresh new images, in the name of Jesus we pray, amen. So it was a river at flood stage, I mean, flooded rivers are dangerous, this one, the water's moving fast, at the middle of this river on a normal day it's probably ten feet deep, but now you can't even hardly tell, it's a hundred foot wide this river, it's moving fast because it's a change in elevation, it's dumping into a lake that's fourteen hundred feet below sea level, so this water is moving, but how do you get across it? You see, there's no boats, there's no flotation devices, there's no bridges, there's no work around, there's no nothing, to get from point A to point B you gotta cross this thing, and if you try to cross this thing, it's certain death. Now I should probably mention, depending on the historian that you go to, we're either at fourteen hundred or twelve hundred B.C., so where we are is at the Jordan River, just so that we can see this, if you guys will put this map up here, we're at the Jordan River now, the children of Israel are getting ready to step into a land that was promised to them a long time ago, and what God is saying is, if you'll trust me, if you'll take this step, I will bless you, I will protect you, I will lead you, but you're gonna have to take that next step. Now, let's back up a little bit.

Their parents had been here forty years previously, their parents were the ones, this is the time of Moses, they had been rescued from slavery in Egypt through a series of miracles, and they get to the edge of this land, and out of fear from different obstacles, they back away. Now you need to hear me, God's never gonna force you into an abundant life. He won't. And so these people, this whole generation now, wanders in the desert. They're free, they don't go back to slavery, they're free, but that fuller life that they could have had, not too many of them get a chance to actually step into that, into that life. So now their kids are here at this border, they're here again, and will they trust? This time their leader is Joshua. Will they trust God as he leads through Joshua? Joshua tells the people, get ready, because God is about to do a mighty miracle, and boy does he. You see, the priests take the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant is a symbol of God's presence, okay? In the Old Testament, this would just be a symbol, God isn't contained in that Ark. But it's a symbol, and God wanted them to know, I'm going ahead of you. So these priests now, can you imagine being these guys? They're stepping into this water that is ripping past, it's swirling, it's foamy, and oh boy, here we go. And they step in. I don't know how long it took, but something begins to happen, and they begin to notice that the flow of the water is slowing down. Something begins to happen, because what we're told in the narrative is 15 miles upstream, the water piles up in a heap. That's very specific about where this happened. I don't know how God did this. I can tell you that in 1266, in that same area, the water stopped because of a landslide,

and the river stopped flowing for about 10 hours. I can tell you in the 1920s, there was an earthquake in this exact same region, and it caused a landslide, and the river, the Jordan River, stopped flowing for about 21 hours before it busted through. I don't know how God did it, I just know that he did it. He could have done it that way. He could have just said, stop. That word heap, you want to look at that, the word heap in Hebrew is the same word. that he uses when God piles up the water into heaps, when he spreads the sea apart so Moses and the children of Israel can walk through. I'm telling you, God can do it however he wants to. There are moments in our lives where we are going to have faith-stretching, heart-thumping decisions to make, and we'll have to take a step. I guess what I'm saying to you is sometimes you've got to get your feet wet to understand how big God is. So then what do they do? There's this miracle. Everybody gets to the other side. Joshua chapter 4 verse 1. When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, choose 12 men from among the people, one from each tribe. Tell them to take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing. They're in the middle of all of this. Carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you're staying tonight. So Joshua called together the 12 men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and he said to them, go over before the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites to serve as a sign among you in the future when your children ask you, what do these stones mean? Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. The stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. So this is going to be a sign. It's going to be an excuse and a reason to tell your kids about God's faithfulness. It's going to be a memorial. It's going to point back to what God did in this moment. God is saying, y'all got to slow down and do this. You see, there's so many important things that they're going to do, historic things that they're going to do. But first, you got to stop. Do not move too fast into this because I want you to remember and I want you to be able to tell others what I did for you. Have you ever noticed that we move too fast in this world? I

think it's good to move fast. I'd like to move fast, but sometimes we move too fast. Sometimes we move fast out of necessity. Moms, can the preacher get an amen on that? Moms have to move fast. Have you ever seen the mother of little ones? Like she's sitting upright. She closes her eyes for two minutes. She calls it a nap. I mean, that's as good as it gets that day. You ever watched a young mom eat dinner? How fast she has to move. Now you moms can explain this to me. I know why. Because the window of opportunity for you to actually get food into your mouth is closing. It's not long before somebody's throwing green beans across the table or throwing up something green at the table and you're the one who's going to clean it up. Amen? You understand the old joke of mom's recipe for iced coffee. One, have kids. Two, make coffee. Three, forget that you made the coffee. Four, drink it cold. Moms know what it's like to move fast because sometimes you have to. It's good to move fast sometimes. But now I'm not talking to moms. I'm talking to all of us. There are times when maybe we're moving too fast. You ever been moving so fast to get someplace or so fast to get away from someplace that you missed the miracle that God did right in front of you? The Israelites are at a place right now where God is saying, we're going to slow down and you're going to give a testimony to what just happened here. That's a weird sort of a thing that happens. These ancient stone kind of rituals and traditions, you see it all in the ancient cultures. For the Israelites, they're not worshiping these stones. They're pointing towards God. We don't know what it looked like. Here's a kind of a sketch of what it could have looked like. There's an Egyptian temple south of Israel that the stones are all lined up together. So maybe some people think it was six stones and six stones. Maybe it was that. Maybe it was a heap of stones that are stacked up. That makes sense. There's some people who wonder if the stones were in a circle because the place where they did this is called Gilgal in the Hebrew. That means circle. It means like you rolled the stones to this. We just don't know. What we know is it happened. And when this writer was telling the story, he said, they're still there to this day. They're still telling the story to this day. But still, put yourself in the story. Now you're not the priest. The priests are standing there in the middle. They're holding on to this, the Ark of the Covenant. And by the way, when they get to the other side, the water starts flowing again. But they're still in the middle. Everybody, you and your family, walked across. You tried not to break into a trot because that wouldn't be cool, right? So you're trying to, oh, I got it. I got it. Hey, how you doing? Pick him up. We're moving slow.

You're just trying to get through this, right? You get to the other side. You're relieved. Oh, thank you, God. And then Joshua tapped She runs on the shoulder and says, hey, you're the one, buddy, from your tribe. I need you to go back into the riverbed. I want you to pick up a stone near the priest. Not a little stone, not something you could just put in your pocket and go. He says, it's something that's gonna fit on your shoulder. I mean, think about it. There would be fear involved, wouldn't it? Just going back in, there'd be a kind of a self-consciousness. You got all these people on the side of the riverbank, and you're the guy that, oh man, I don't wanna mess this up. How about an inconvenience? Kind of like now the mud's all over you. And you're like, okay, here we go. I mean, I could think of lots of reasons why you wouldn't do it. Why would you do it? I don't know, gratitude? Yes, gratitude. Hey, I do want my kids to know what God did here. I do want a reason to tell my friends and people I don't even know yet, I want a reason to tell them how God was faithful here. So yes, I've witnessed this faithfulness. I'm in, I wanna do that. How about this?

Because God said so, so yes. Cool story. What's the takeaway? Turn to each other real quickly. What's the takeaway of this story? There are many layers to this story. What is God? Here we go, what is God saying to you? What did you take away from this story that might apply to you and your spiritual journey right now? Go ahead, talk to each other. We'll come back in a second. Okay, all right, somebody here just tell me a takeaway. What's a takeaway from this ancient story that could apply to our lives today? Anybody got something for me on these sections? Yes, sir, in the back. Trust, let's come back to that. Yeah, yes, ma'am. Okay, so do not fear, what was the last part then? So stay in the present moment with me. I'm right here, I've got you. Yes, yes. Listen, let's just say that one more time. Wherever you are, God is there, okay? Okay, yeah, man. We overcome by the power of our testimony. So our testimony has power to it. And Jason, I would suggest

that it has a kind of a multiplier effect. When we give our testimony now, other people, other people, I think that's a part of what God is saying to us. Okay, anybody over here? Those are really good answers. Anybody over here got something? Yes, ma'am. Okay, so the abundant life doesn't come easily. And maybe it comes when we intentionally, we take that next step. I really do think sometimes you gotta get your feet wet to experience some of this. All right, now let's fast forward, depending on your historian of choice, either 1200 or 1400 years, which puts us in the time of Jesus. We're at the exact same spot. It's the same river. It's the same spot on the river. It's right here. There's a fella named John, not the guy who writes the books in your New Testament, but there's a guy named John who is, he's baptizing people. That's where he gets his nickname from. It's a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Now, we'll come back to that, but I want you to know where this is happening. It's happening, another gospel says,

at a place called Bethany beyond the Jordan, or Bethany on the other side of the Jordan. Now, if you ever get to Israel, and you say, well, I wanna know where Jesus was baptized. There are people who will go, well, it was right here. Now, the truth is we don't know, but this is a pretty good shot. It's just across the border. It's in Jordan, and it's right here at the Jordan River. So, this same action, this is where the Israelites crossed over like 1,400 years, 1,200 years ago. So, we're in the same geography. Here we go. Before we go, let's talk about baptism. So what is it? Well, first of all, John didn't invent it. It's something that you even see in the, it goes all the way back to the time of Moses. It's a symbolic cleansing, washing of impurities. Hear me, I'll say it a dozen times today. The water doesn't do anything. You're relying on God to do it. It's a symbolic gesture, okay? It's like those stones in the old story. They didn't do anything. Those stones aren't the point. Those stones point to the one who delivered those people. You with me? So he didn't invent this.

What is he doing? It's a, he's, the word means to dunk. That's just what it means. It means to immerse. It means to dunk. Now, some people will say, well, in other places in the New Testament, it doesn't always mean that. I'll give you that, fair enough. But when you look at the context of these stories of people going down into and coming up, that kind of looks like they're getting dunked. In another passage, it says that he's doing this because there was plenty of water. Like he picks a part of the Jordan River because there's plenty of water. So it looks like people are getting all wet. Now, the only reason I'm telling you that is because when you see how we baptize people, you're gonna get all wet. Now, the amount of water is not the issue. If you have a health issue, if you've got something else going on, come talk to us. We have dealt with this. We will deal with this. It is the posture of your heart that matters, not the amount of water. But real quickly, why was John baptizing? Because this is before Jesus. It said something about a baptism

for the forgiveness of sins. Does John think that baptizing people is what forgives you? No, it's all symbolic. John is telling people, don't rely on your family heritage. Don't rely on your religion. You've got to personally turn to him and ask him to forgive you. You can't rely for them. You can't even rely for Jewish men. You can't rely on something that happened to you when you were a baby. That's not it. You've got to make this personal. And so then when people have asked God to forgive them, then he says, why don't you get in the water? And it'll be a symbolic act. Here we are again in the Jordan. It'll be a symbolic act to show people that you have asked him to forgive you. And he has cleansed the inside of you as thoroughly as this water is washing over the outside of you. You see, that's what's going on here. Now, Jesus comes along. He is Messiah. They've all been waiting for Messiah. John's paving the way for Messiah. Jesus says, I really am the fulfillment of all of this. I'm not a political answer for you. I'm a personal answer.

If you'll trust me, I am God in the flesh. I'll make a way for you. His death on the cross makes forgiveness possible. When he's resurrected, it proves that Jesus is who he claims to be. And then Jesus, when he starts his movement, says, we're gonna reach back to this old ancient tradition and I want my followers to be baptized. It'll be a way to tell the world that I have forgiven them and that they're with me. So all of that is really kind of a big sort of picture of what baptism is, why this happened. But I will tell you, when you start to go a little bit further into it, you've got to get to a place where you realize that it all comes down to the word trust. It comes down to the word trust. What Jesus is saying is, will you trust me? Romans 3.22 says, we are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. That's it. Now that means an awful lot, but I want to stop here for a second. You see, the whole ballgame is what we're now about to say. Baptism is a beautiful expression of what God has done in us, but baptism means nothing if you haven't turned to him. Listen, it can happen in a moment. It can happen in a season. It can happen in your turning to him.

It could happen because you're beginning to feel a deeper longing in you. Some of you have had so much success in your life that you're like going, well, what else is there? And you ache and you long. Some of you are getting a sense of your mortality these days. Some of you were here last week, last, last week. The Holy Spirit is doing something in our midst. It kept rumbling. He kept rumbling, and this momentum, it kept rumbling through the weekend. By the time we got to the 11 o'clock service here, I know many of you were here. The Spirit of God fell. Something happened. I know it happened. People from Fenton, I'm sure it happened at the other sites. People from Fenton telling me the same thing. I mean, there were folks up the aisles on their knees worshiping here. God is doing something, y'all. But listen to me, listen to me. If the story is true, if the way the story ended last week is true, I don't want. I don't want you to miss it. You see, there's coming a day when you and I will stand before a holy God for whom, like, I mean, there are no secrets. And what I'm saying to you is you don't have to stand there alone.

Honestly, this is a conversation. It could happen after church today. It could happen on the way home. For some of you, this is a great conversation on the way home. Why am I, should I turn to Jesus? I mean, what difference would it make? I'm telling you, it makes all the difference. And once we have turned to him, once we have received him, once we have enjoyed his grace, then we want to tell the world. But the question that's in the back of some of your minds is, well, I heard that Jesus got baptized. If he's the perfect son of God, what's the deal? Because he doesn't need to be forgiven of anything. One more time, it's a way, baptism is a way to identify with other people. When you converted to Judaism, if you were a Gentile, a non-Jew, and you converted to Judaism, there was a symbolic baptism that spoke to, God has forgiven me, but it was also a way to say, I'm with these people now. So, now watch Jesus. He's in the water. And it's in the water that he commits to the cross. It's in the water, I believe, that he says to his father and to a watching world, I'm gonna take all of this on. I'm gonna do this now. It's in the water, I believe, where Jesus says, I'm with them. Because every other person who was stepping into that river, they needed forgiveness. Jesus is saying, I'm with them. And while he's praying, while he's praying, those of you who

have been baptized, you know what I'm talking about. The most powerful personal moments are when you're praying, oftentimes, in the water. While he's praying, that famous verse where the heavens open up and we see and we hear a voice from heaven saying, you are my son whom I love. With you, I am well pleased. The love, the blessing, the favor of God has drenched Jesus. He is empowered with the Holy Spirit. That's Jesus' baptism. So, what does that have to do with us? Real quickly, just like when we're talking about that old story, those are ancient memorials and testimonies, okay? So, what is the testimony? It's a symbolic act. First of all, I think, let's just reach back. It's a way for you to identify with Jesus. If it's him identifying with you, I think it is a way. Baptism is a way for you to tell your classmates, the folks at work, your neighbors, your family, it's a way for you to say, I'm with Jesus. I use this example because people are like, oh, man, you didn't use that example. So, I'm going to use it again, but I'm going to stress something while we're doing it. So, here's the deal. Baptism is, to my relationship with Jesus, what this ring is, to me being married to Robin. Baptism is, to my relationship with Jesus, what this ring is, to me being married to Robin.

Does that make sense? Let's try it this way. Robin, if... You love these parts, I know. So, we've been married low these couple of years, and this ring doesn't make us married, does it? No. No. In fact, this isn't even the ring you gave me. That's at the bottom of a lake. Yes, it is. But we're still married. Because of this, it's a relationship. It's a commitment. There's an intentionality to it. This is a symbol of that. It's an outward, hey, y'all, I'm with her. You with me? If I were to say, like, when we're together, you know, and nobody is around, just like, honey, I just, oh, I love you so much. Oh, I love you so much. You're my little schnookum schmoopy. I love you so much. But when I'm out in the world, it's a little awkward, embarrassing. I don't want, but I love you so much. When we're here like this, but then if I leave and go, yeah, no, I don't want to go public with it. How do you think that makes her feel? Is she still standing back there? How does it make you feel?

Like you're ashamed of me. Like I'm ashamed of you. Like some of this stuff that we're talking about in private, it's like, what does that even mean? Exactly. Wouldn't you be proud? Some of you, thank you, some of you are going, I'm not married. I'm not going to get married anytime soon. I don't want to get married. That illustration did nothing for me. Let me ask you this, has anybody ever stood in the gap for you? Some of you are saying, no, not really. I'm telling you, if you turn to Jesus, He's the one who stands in the gap for you. And your baptism is a way to say, I'm standing with Him. I'm for Him. Now, there are so many different things that we could talk about. Some of you are like, yeah, it just still feels like so, I don't know, it just feels like, you've told me it's not about religion. You're telling me the water doesn't do it. Why should I do this? Because it tells your story. Real quickly, it tells your story of forgiveness. In Isaiah chapter one, it says, though your sins are like scarlet, they can be as white as snow. This is God talking. God says, if you come to me, I'll clean you up, I'll forgive you. When you watch in just a minute this video, and I'm going to, really, you want to stay and watch this. But when you see this, every person that you see coming up out of the water is dripping wet.

It's a beautiful picture of them dripping with the grace of God. They are absolutely forgiven and cleansed of all unrighteousness and regret and shame. Here's one. They are given a new life. Romans six, verse four says that when you, it's like we're, it's like we die and we're buried with Christ in baptism. It's an image of being buried, which if you have a water phobia, this one isn't helping you. Okay, I know, I know. But we always bring you back up, I promise. But it's like you're dying to self. You're dying to thinking that religion is going to do it. You're dying to thinking I can make things right with God. Maybe it's pride. You're dying to pride. And then you are raised in this resurrected new life. It's a new life. It does not mean that you're perfect. It does not mean that you've arrived. You will always keep seeking him out until eternity one day when he heals us all. But I'm telling you, this is it. There's a new plot line in your story. And this is the, what are we saying at the beginning? I was but God, but God had a different plan. This is what this picture is. It's a picture of you being placed into the family of God. The minute that you say yes to Jesus, you are now a son or a daughter of the king. The spirit of God now resides in you, courses through your veins, and he's trying to connect you to other people because you're, as followers of Jesus, we are to love and laugh and grieve and serve and celebrate and worship together.

So this is a picture of you. You are a son or a daughter of the king. There's that. How about this? This is a symbolic act showing the world that you've had a change of allegiance. Here's one for you. The really, really early church, I'm talking the first three centuries, after many prayers for your safety and for your growth, and you would have to go through some stuff, but when you were baptized, before you would baptize, they would ask you out loud, really loud, do you renounce Satan and all of his works? And they would do it three times. It was like their way of saying, are you with him or are you with us? Is Jesus truly Lord? And they would ask it again and again and again, and you had to respond, yes. And then you turned to the west, spit in the face of the devil, and then you were baptized. I keep pitching that as a new tradition for us. It's not landing, but you feel the passion there, right? Just so you know, turn to the west, that's darkness, that's sunset, that symbolizes the evil one, and then they would turn you to the east, that's dawn, that's light, and they would baptize you. You see, this is a chance for us to actually tell the world that things are different for us. Now, some of you are still at this point going, yeah, but why, it's so awkward, it's so weird, why would I do it? Listen, the most direct answer I can give you is because he said so. I mean, over and over again, you will see that Jesus connects this to discipleship. He says, go make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. He connects it to being a disciple. Jesus is saying, if you follow me, then do this.

And all throughout the New Testament, this was the universal practice of the church. It's just what you did, and the order was always the same. Believe and then be baptized. You believe, like something happens internally in you, and then you're baptized. Now that is why we don't baptize babies. For some of you, maybe you're new to this place and you're going, oh man, is that what they're saying? Listen, I believe there are people on both sides of this issue who love Jesus, who are incredibly gifted scholars and they disagree on this. And we can live with that as long as nobody says the water is what cleanses you of unrighteousness. And by the way, not everybody who baptizes babies says that. But we stand in a long tradition of people who say we're gonna defer baptism until you're old enough to actually tell us that you've made that decision on your own. You see, that is the clearest, cleanest way. We think it's a good reading of the text. But I'm gonna tell you what, in our particular situation in this city, we continue to run into people who keep pointing back to something that happened when they were an infant. And they think they're good with God. You see, you have to get to a place where you have made this personal, where you have turned to him and you trust him on your own.

What about the babies and the children in the New Testament? What does the Bible say? Well, it doesn't say a lot and we'll talk with you about that if you want. Really, in the first three or four centuries of the church, not a lot was written about it and frankly, people didn't agree on it. But what they did agree on was it's grace, it's God's grace, that's what we rely on. So Greg, then what am I supposed to do? Like I was baptized as a baby, I have since come to Christ. Maybe went through a confirmation process, maybe not, but it has become real. I have repented, Jesus is Lord, he has forgiven me. This is personal, man, it's real. What am I supposed to do? We would invite you to consider what it means to be baptized as a believer now. Now, we're not saying this in any way to devalue what happened to you as a little one. In fact, we celebrate that your parents loved you enough to put you on a path towards Jesus. We just wanna get to a place where you can celebrate where that journey has led you. This will be one of the most significant moments spiritually for you and this one, this one you'll remember. Now, some of you at this point are going, I can still give you like a thousand reasons why I'm not gonna do this, man. I mean, they're downloading in your head now, aren't they?

Again, I'm not gonna force you into this. I'm not, I want you to consider this. I'm gonna say that some of us are at a place where you wouldn't say you're afraid, and I get that, but you might say you're hesitant. Like you got stuff in the back of your mind. Let's try it this way. Can anybody relate to this little guy? Ooh, he wants to take that step. He really, well, I can't, I can't. No, I've got to, I want to, I really, whoa. I want to take that step, but come on, buddy. Come on, you can do it. I want to take that step, oh, and he did. Yeah, man, yeah. Listen to me, when it comes to this, some of you are at a place where you're going, I don't want to do this now because like I'm too old or I'm too established or everybody in town knows me. Oh, everybody at school knows me or what's my family gonna think? Or I accepted Jesus a long time ago and I don't want anybody to think this just happened. I can think of a bunch of reasons, but don't let anyone else's opinion define your spiritual journey. You see, there will come a moment when you make this personal if you do and you're like, ooh, I'm gonna get my feet wet. I'm gonna step in. I think many of you in that moment, God will meet you

and you'll be just like that little guy. It'll be a yes. I think it comes down to a word that's come up already and I think one of the things that baptism illustrates gets to the very core of the spiritual journey. Again, baptism is secondary. I want you to know Jesus, but watch how these connect now. And again, not connect in the way of baptism saves you. Jesus saves you, but there's a word I want to use. Will you guys come up here? So, oftentimes we will use this word to kind of, to illustrate this life that we're in and it's the word surrender, okay? So the word surrender is a beautiful, wonderful, liberating, difficult word. Surrender, you get to a place where it's like, God, I don't have it, you've got it. I'm trusting you, right? So sometimes to illustrate that, I'll do a trust fall. You know where that, where you just fall back and everybody's like, oh, and then I get caught and everybody's all better. I thought it would be better if we just like stretched it out a little bit. little bit so I was just thinking about this this week watch it it'll happen in every baptism here but there's a moment where you get past the tipping point there's a moment where like you have surrendered I don't got it anybody uncomfortable I am I'm doing both of your annual reviews in a couple of months so but it's a moment of surrender it's a moment of now you're not surrendering to the pastors you're surrendering to Jesus but in that moment

it is a beautiful picture of Jesus I got nothing but you and I started to think that might be one of the best images I could tell the world that's how much I trust him you see when you get to it thanks guys when you get down to it this is gonna be your moment to tell the world that you're with Jesus but the real moment is when you accept his grace so June 20th 21st is when we're gonna do this and we would love for you to be a part of that we would love some of you like oh but that's Father's Day weekend yeah I know I've had people tell me that's like the best Father's Day ever but this is when we're gonna do this we want to help you with this in just a second you can go to our at each of our sites you can go into the lobby and you can you can see kind of talk to some folks out there and see how all of this works we want to help in whatever way we can we want to help some of you're saying well I've already been baptized what do I do we've got a class set up this summer called next steps with Jesus that's gonna be for everybody getting baptized man we want you to be a part of that try that how about just start the next series with this next week anchored we're gonna have Austin French some of you know Austin French a recording artist he's gonna be leading worship here next week sharing some of his story we're gonna do this together so you've got friends that need to know about the hope of Jesus but I just want to say one more time this is your chance moms leave a legacy dads men come on this is your chance to tell your kids what was that story I want a reason to tell them while these stones are here I want to give you a reason to tell your kids why you're being baptized the goodness of God the grace of Jesus this is what we do I guess what I'm saying is it just might be time for some of you to get your feet wet amen here's the deal if you choose to do that you will be young old and everything in between you will be standing there drenched in the blessing of your Heavenly Father covered by the sacrifice of the Son and empowered by the very Spirit of God I've witnessed it time and time again this past year when a young woman I'm talking about a school-aged girl was baptized we're always really sensitive they need to know what they're saying they need to

know what's going on they need to know what they're doing and so we take a moment to ask those questions she knew exactly why she was there she knew exactly what this was she knew exactly what baptism was and what it wasn't it was the most beautiful thing but I asked her we asked her do you understand how much God loves you her eyes are filling up and I'm thinking oh it's she's nervous about the the baptism so we kind of slowed it it wasn't that at all she goes I do I do I really do I know what this is she articulates her faith she said things like it was so clear and she said I know how much God loves me and I just want to tell the world I'm with him I'm telling you doesn't matter how old you are this could be your moment to go on record this could be your moment to step into a fuller life this could be your moment and when you step into the water you will stand there covered in the blessing of your Heavenly Father and this time he'll be saying you see that one that's my child in whom I am well pleased you