The New You

I'm so glad that you're here. I'm excited about today's message. We are in week three of our foundation series. Last week, Pastor Phil preached an amazing message on salvation in what it means. If you haven't heard it, you need to go back and listen to it. It's going to challenge you. It's going to remind you about why we get saved and what it actually means for us. Today I want to continue to build on that foundation and talk about water baptism. And I want to tell you, like, we take water baptism at Journey Church very seriously. And let me tell you how seriously we take it. We take it so seriously that today we actually baptized the building. Here's what I mean by that. One of our tubs decided to move out of the overflow of God's presence and flooded the front half of the building. So the whole building's baptized. Now we're good to go. And so listen, that concrete floor never looks so good. All right. It looked great. Listen, our worship team, before they got to rehearse, they had squeegees and brooms, literally snow shovels, Nate, our production director had a snow shovel, and they were pushing water outside of the building. Can we give it up for our volunteers and our staff? Man, they were doing an amazing job. Then they got up and led us into worship and nobody had any idea what they had walked through. And they were smiling and laughing. So the building's been baptized, people are getting baptized. We love baptism at Journey Church, okay? So I want to talk about that today.

The title of my message is The New You. The New You, when you get water baptized, you are declaring that the old version of you, the one that was lost in sin, dying and going to hell. That version that he or she is now dead, and that there is in fact a very new you. Not because of you, but because of Jesus in you. So I want us to take a look at what it means to be The New You through the eyes of water baptism. You don't become new because you start having positive thinking. Nothing wrong with positive thinking. You don't start becoming The New You because of positive self-talk. Nothing wrong with speaking positively to yourself about yourself. You're fine in measure. You're not going to get to become The New You because you start doing yoga and eating organic. That's fine. That's not The New You. We love to talk about The New Us and doing things to make us The New Us, and I'm all for that. It's great. I mean, I think one of the best things you can ever do for yourself is to get a fresh haircut. There's nothing like getting a fresh haircut. I love it. It's what you come out feeling fresh and clean and you look good, and it just feels wonderful. Ladies, you maybe get your hair highlighted, or you get your hair colored, or you get a blowout, or whatever it is that you want to do, that men will never understand. That's okay. But it makes you feel good. Love it. You know, every now and then, I'll splurge and do a $10 Scott massage.

Best 15 minutes of my week. They should warn you, though, because once you've experienced that, you want to go into hibernation mode. They should put a warning label that says, after getting a scout massage, you should not operate heavy machinery because you just want to go and take the biggest nap ever. It's amazing. And it feels fantastic. So you come out with a fresh haircut, you get a scout massage, ladies, maybe you get a man in a pettie. I don't know some of the guys do too. No judgment if you get a man in a pettie. Sometimes you might go with your wife. It's okay. It's all right. And it feels wonderful, and you feel like a new version of you want to come out, don't say, yeah, but here's the thing. The highlights fade. Your hair grows back. Well, for most of us, the hair grows back. Guess what? You got to get another haircut. Scout massage happens. You take a nap. Guess what? You wake up. You're like, oh, man. Scout massage is gone. Where'd it go? That was awesome. All of those things make us feel new for a moment, but then we got to do them again and

again and again. When you get saved, it lasts. You only got to get saved that one time. When you give your life to Christ, you're good to go. He saves you. He sets you free. He cleanses you with his blood. You're made brand new and you are the new. it look like for you to walk it out in and through the eyes, through the lens of water baptism? Well, to help you with that, I want to answer two very simple questions today. The first one is what is baptism? And the second one is why should you and I be water baptism? If we're a follower of Christ, why should we be water baptism? So I want to answer that first question. What is baptism? When we when we talk about water baptism, what do we mean? What is it? Is it getting into a tub and going under or going into a pool or going into a light to be baptized? Sure. That's a part of it. But what is the essence? What is the meaning behind it? What's the theological framework behind it? Well, the first thing I want you to know is baptism is an outward sign of inward transformation. Take a screenshot of that, write it down. Baptism is an outward sign of inward transformation. In other words, baptized baptism shows that you have been saved. Baptism isn't salvation. I want you to hear me say that very clearly, salvation and baptism are not the same thing. Jesus saves you. Water baptism tells people that Jesus has saved you. Big difference. Now you may have come from a tradition, a faith background where you may have been sprinkled as an infant. That's okay. That's fine. That was a that was a your family putting a high value on your walk with Jesus. That's wonderful. I'm glad your family valued your relationship with God. That's important, but it didn't save you. It didn't. Because if that could save you, then Jesus didn't need to die. Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life. No man, no woman comes to the Father, but through me, not through sprinkling, through Jesus. Are we all clear on that? Four of us. Fantastic. All right. The rest of you will get a later. The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 or 17 about the inward transformation we experience. Take a look what he says. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.

If you're in Jesus, your new creation, the old has gone and the new is here. This is a word for somebody today. There's somebody under the sign of my voice. Maybe you're sitting in the room and you are a follower of Christ, but you have been walking in shame and in condemnation for sin that he's already forgiven. Maybe you've been taught to do that. Maybe you thought that you had to do so many good things. You had to pay penance. You had to say this thing the right way. You had to do this thing for this person in order to make up for it. I do believe that our life should reflect being saved, but those things aren't what saves you. Jesus is who saves you. And the moment he does, you are a new creation in Christ. The old you was gone, the new is here. That's it. So if you're walking in shame or condemnation, my friend, in the name of Jesus, I break that off of you. The Word of God says, you're brand new because of the work, the saving work of the cross of Jesus Christ in your life. You're brand new. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. So baptism is an outward sign of inward change, of inward transformation. That's the first thing. The second thing is baptism symbolizes the death of the old you, talking about the new you, but the old you's got to die first. Baptism is a symbol of that death. And the apostle Paul talks about this very clearly in the New Testament. I want to first take a look at Colossians 2 and see what he has to say about that there. Colossians 2, the apostle Paul says that having been buried with him, him being Jesus, in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. So Paul's saying that when you get water baptized, you're showing that the old you is dead. It's symbolic of that death, okay? He talks about this more in Romans 6 as well. Take a look at what he says in Romans chapter 6. He's a into His death? So when you were baptized, you were baptized into death. Don't you feel encouraged? Me too. But it's a good kind of death. It's the one we want. We were therefore buried with Jesus through baptism into death. Why? Remember that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, through the glory of the Father,

we too may have new life. So when you go in the water, the old dead, you, and I'm not just talking about the dead skin cells that fall off your body into the water, which is by the way gross, don't drink the baptism water, okay? When you're in there, it's symbolic of a watery grave. You go in and you say, okay, the old me, because of Christ is dead. That used to be me. I'm going to go in this water and symbolically declare my faith in Christ that He has saved me and I'm going to leave the old dead me in the water and I'm raised to life. When I come out of the water, it's showing that I am raised to life in Christ just like God the Father raised Christ from the dead. This is powerful. This is not just hype or a good photo lot for the church. This is a massive step in your walk with Christ when you get water baptized. You are telling everybody who hears about it and sees you do it. There's a new me in town. You may have known me. It could have been last night that you were still operating as the old you and maybe you got saved by the Sunday and baptized the same Sunday or last week you were living for the world living and sin living for yourself. You got radically saved and you got baptized today. Maybe it was 10 years ago, but whenever it was, you left the old you in that watery grave and now the new you has been raised to life in Christ. Some of you need to remind the enemy of that because the enemy wants you to think you're not really free. You still struggle. I mean, come on. Are you, did you really die the old you? Are you sure about that? Are you certain?

I mean, come on. You're not that great. You still got to yell at your kids sometimes. You still yell at your spouse sometimes. You still tell people that they are number one when you're on the high one. It cuts you off sometimes and you got a journey sticker on the back of your car. Are you sure there's a new you? Here's what you got to do. When the enemy tells you that you own it, own it, you're getting on the hide, especially not from him. Who cares what he thinks? You say, you know what? You know what? You're right. I did that. I did that. I said that. I thought that. I desired that. I hung out with that group of people. I snorted that, smoked that, drank that, added all of it. That was who I used to be. Oh, but now thanks be to God because of Jesus. I'm a new creation in Christ. That's the old me. See Satan, you got to update your contact list. You got the wrong number, bro. You called the wrong person. You dialed the old me. This is a new me.

Guess what? That's my contact information for the new me. We're done. You're cut off. I'm no longer that person. I left the old me and that water regrave and I'm alive in Christ. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. In fact, some of you, not all, but some of you need to tell some people who are actually in your contact list. You need to block them. And I'm not saying be mean. I am saying have boundaries because you don't want to go back to the old you. Jesus paid an extremely high price to set you and me free. And in order to not go back to that, sometimes you have to remove some people from the equation. Here's the thing. Love and proximity aren't the same thing. I can love you from a distance. That's all right. Well, John Michael, I've known him for 20 years. That's okay. Jesus knew you before you were a twinkle in your mama's eye. [BLANK_AUDIO] his family thought he was crazy who do you care more about and who who's opinion of you matters more to you the world's or his I'm more inclined to care more about what the man who created me and gave me life and died for me thinks versus when anybody else thinks so some of you all need to update your actual contact list and remove some names okay that was not even in my notes that was for free you're very welcome all right number three baptism tells the world you belong to Jesus baptism tells the whole world you belong to Jesus you do you're

saying I'm not my own I was bought with a price that price was Christ's blood he paid for me Paul says that we're now slaves to righteousness I don't own myself he does he earned the right he died on the cross for me so I belong to him forever and when I'm water baptized everybody gets to see that they get to hear they go wow I knew who they used to be BC before Christ they were a completely different person they looked a lot different they spoke a lot different they spent their money a lot differently now I don't even recognize them great you're not supposed to recognize me you're supposed to recognize him and when you go in that water you're telling the whole world I'm not my own in fact Peter talks about this in his first pistol first chapter first Peter chapter 3 verse 21 he says and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God it saves you by the resurrection of Christ now he's not saying that again baptism saves you he's saying that baptism is a representation of the salvation you received from Christ and that gives you a clear conscience before God see when you come up out of that water there's no more condemnation like you're telling the world I don't live afraid of God anymore he's my Heavenly Father Jesus is my big brother the Holy Spirit's my best friend I don't I have a clear conscience because of the blood of Jesus I can walk free and I don't have to live in the old patterns and lies and the thoughts that I used to have the relationships I used to have that weren't healthy that were leading me down a dark road that's not me anymore I belong to Jesus there are certain countries in the nation right now that if you're to get water baptized if you declare that you wanted to get baptized if you were actually a Christian and you said I follow Jesus I would like to get water baptized there are some countries in the world that face very strict persecution very severe persecution excuse me and I'll ask you two questions are you willing to shed your blood and are you willing to die for Jesus if the answer to one of those questions is no you're not getting water baptized it's that big of a deal it's not a photo op in China it's not a photo op in India

it's on a photo op in many parts of Africa it's a death wish because when you go public with your faith and you go in the water everybody knows you are now marked you cannot go back once you get in that water see if you don't say anything about it no one necessarily knows but if they if they hear about you going in the water people see that and it puts a mark on your back and you can face real persecution in parts of the world for your faith now thankfully currently we don't have to worry about the US people class for you they cheer for you I take pictures of your family which I'm all for that those things aren't bad I don't want you to feel guilty about that I just want you to understand it's so much more than that you even though you may not be putting a target on your back physically and face real persecution physically you are putting a target on your back with the enemy and he hates you and he wants to wipe you out because you represent everything he can never be and can never have he lost all that when he got kicked out of heaven and when you go public with your faith you inspire other people who aren't living for Jesus to give their lives to him because they've seen the change in you and if you would have told them six months ago now they're standing beside you at the tub. The enemy doesn't want you to do that with your life, because when you get water baptized, you're telling the whole world, "I belong to Jesus." Okay, so we have answered the question, "What is baptism?" Now I want to answer the second question. Why should you and I be baptized? Why? You might think, "Well, John, Michael, I've already given my life to Jesus. I know that I'm saved, I know I'm going to heaven, I'm living for the Lord. Why should I go public with my faith and tell the world that I belong to you?" Can I just say that with my words? We'll say, "Look, the very first person I was looked to in Scripture, when I need to do something right in my life, the first person we should always look to is Jesus. What did he do?"

You may not know this, but Jesus was baptized. That's actually the first thing I want you to see as to why we should get baptized, is that Jesus himself, the Son of God, was baptized. Take a look with me in Matthew chapter 3. This is the water baptism of Christ. It says, "Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John." That's John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, okay? But John trying to deter him saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus replied, "Let it be so now. It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented. Take a look at what happens next. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment, heaven was open and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him, him being Jesus, and a voice from heaven said, "This is my son who my love. With him, I am well pleased." John the Baptist had a ministry of preparing the way for Jesus Christ. It was prophesied about him in Isaiah. John the Baptist, his public ministry, was in the wilderness of Israel, and he would tell people to repent of your sins and then be water baptized. So he was baptizing people, all kinds of people in the Jordan River, because they had confessed their sin to God and now were showing that they were remorseful of that sin and that they were going to live a new life in God, then Jesus showed up and has this conversation with his cousin, John, and goes, "I want you to baptize me, bro," and John freaks out. He goes, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, sir, that's not what we do here. Are you kidding me? You want me to baptize you?"

The reason John freaked out was because Jesus never sinned. You only get water baptized to show that you've been forgiven of your sin, but Jesus didn't have anything to be forgiven of. John was like, "Bro, no, I'm not doing that because people are going to start thinking that you've done something wrong. We got to protect your reputation. You're Jesus. I need to be baptized by you." So why did Jesus get baptized? It's because he's the greatest king of all time. He didn't do it because he needed it. He did it because we needed it. And Jesus never asks us to do anything that he himself hasn't already done. Jesus wants you to get water baptized? He went first, even though he didn't have to. He did it to honor the father and to model for you and me what it looks like to live a life submitted to the father and to live a life that's resurrected, raised from the dead, the new you. That's why he didn't because he loves us so very much and he wanted to model what it looks like. So the first reason you should be baptized is because Jesus was baptized. If you see him doing it, we should be doing it. If he's talking about it, we should be talking about it. If he's not doing it or talking about it, neither should we. The disciples the apostles The men that the Lord had given charge of his kingdom to and said, all right. I'm gonna leave for a little while Y'all are in charge. Don't blow it again like Adam and Eve did in need, okay? Let's not mess this up again. Here are the keys in the kingdom. You guys go Take care of it preach the gospel tell them what to do show them how to do it. Bye So now these men are in charge and they're like

All right, I guess we'll hang out and see what happens. So Jesus ascended to the Father 40 days after his resurrection 10 days after that the disciples are in the upper room in this in Jerusalem in the city and They're praying to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit They get filled with the Holy Spirit. They all start speaking in tongues. It's crazy the place blows up It's amazing the whole city's in an uproar and they're like, what's going on? They almost be drunk Peter's like, bro. It's not even nobody's drunk. Are you crazy? Where do you live? What are you talking about? What timeline I know it's always five o'clock somewhere, but seriously 9 a.m. Come on, bro So Peter gives up and he preaches and it says that everybody who heard his message they were struck to the heart and Said what do we do and Peter answered them in Acts 230 here's what he said Peter replied repent so get safe first and Be water baptized every one of you. Not most of you. That's some of you every one of you in The name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins So repent receive forgiveness be baptized show you have been forgiven and You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit Three massive things are happening in this verse salvation water baptism and spirit baptism I wish I had time to talk about spirit baptism baptism. I don't right now We've preached on a before should go on YouTube find it, but I Only have time to talk about water baptism. There's a lot happening in one verse Peter says get saved get water baptized and if you read to the book of Acts you see story after story of the disciples the apostles Baptizing people who give their lives to Christ in fact what's cool about this Peter said get saved get water baptized and spirit baptized in Acts 10 cool stories You go read it and Acts 10 this guy named Cornelius a ruminous insurion powerful wealthy Get saved Peter comes this house He gets saved there. Sorry. He preaches the whole family the whole family the whole house the servants. They all get saved While Peter's still preaching they all receive in their hearts. They get saved They don't even do an altar call the Holy Spirit falls on everybody the young you felt the Holy Spirit Peter goes whoa Whoa, whoa, what just happened? You're supposed to get saved then water baptized and spirit baptized But they got spirit baptized first. I guess we should water baptize them so they get saved

Spirit baptized and then he water baptized baptizes them The point is though the disciples knew water baptism was crucial to our faith And he said every single one of you Should give your lives to Christ then get dumped Get drenched And if our early church fathers in the first century The guys who were closest to Jesus tell us we should do that That's good for me If they did it and they were that close to Jesus I want to be a part of that so Jesus did it number one the disciples did it number two number three Jesus commands us to be baptized So he didn't just do it himself and the disciples didn't just have a good idea Jesus actually commands that you and I if we're followers of Christ that we should be baptized Take a look at what he says and Matthew chapter 20 verses 19 and 20 These are some of his final words before he ascends to heaven to his father Jesus said therefore go and make disciples of all nations Baptizing them after you made the disciples Get safe first then water baptism salvation then baptism. Those are two separate things Baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey Everything I have commanded you Baptism wasn't an option here for the disciples. He said go baptize them It was a command and if he commanded that to them Two thousand years ago. It is still an act of command for you and me today if we were followers of Christ We should be water baptized You should be It's on a suggestion I'm telling you, if you're a follower of Christ, you need to get water baptized. As one of your pastors, I'm admonishing you right now with the authority of Scripture behind me. It's not my authority.

It's the authority of the Word of God. You need to get water baptized. It's not an option. It is a command from the Lord Jesus himself. It's important. It's vital to our faith. It marks you. When Jesus was baptized, and Matthew 3 and Luke 3, and also in the Gospel of Mark, the Greek word that's used for baptized is the word "baptizo," and it means "to dip," to immerse, to fully submerge. Jesus went all the way in, and what we see in Scripture is the disciples did the same thing for people when they got baptized. And it wasn't, again, it wasn't a sprinkling. I'm not trying to make fun of that or make light of that, but here's why I believe from what we see in Scripture, it's what we believe in the church, that why Jesus wanted us to be fully immersed. It's because when you go in the water, it's a very humbling thing to do. It's very vulnerable, very trusting for you to get in that tub. Everybody's eyes are on you. Have you got some family, some friends around you and they're watching you? And they go, "Have you professed Jesus to be the Lord of your life? Have you been born again? Have you been cleansed of your sins?" Yes. Okay. That's vulnerable. And then some might tell you to put your hand on your nose, that way the water is a ship, your nose, and you feel like you're being waterboarded because we don't want that to happen for you at church, okay? Well, when people leave in the church, go, "I got waterboarded, no you didn't."

Okay. You shouldn't hold your nose. It's okay. And then they take you under, and you got to really trust that person because if you made a mat the night before, they might hold you under a little bit longer just to make sure it worked, okay? So you're putting your life into the hands of these people, and you're going under the water, and you're thinking, "Oh my gosh, this is happening right now." And you're processing in the moment, "I'm leaving the old me, the dead me here." When I come up, I'm telling everybody, "I'm brand new. I don't belong to myself. I belong to Jesus." And then you come up out of the water, and you take that first breath, having publicly declared your faith in Christ, and you're soaked to the bone. You just got a drench for Jesus, and you know what? You're never going to forget it. You are soaked from head to toe. You can't deny some of my sprinkles, you can say, "Oh, it's built a little bit of water on me." No, no, no, no. You got to go change your clothes. You are so drenched. You got to go change your clothes. And even after that, you got to dry your hair. Why? You're immersed. It's so powerful, an image. And I believe Christ wanted us to do it that way so that we would be marked and go, "Man, I went in that water. I got completely soaked in that first moment.

I took my first breath out of that water, it hit me what happened. I'm no longer my own. I have followed in the footsteps of my Savior, Christ Jesus. I've obeyed His command. I've gotten baptized after confessing my sin and declaring Him as the Lord of my life. And now I've just told the whole world, "I belong to Him. Oh my goodness, the old me is dead and gone, the new me is here." That's what water baptism is all about. And that's why you and I have to be baptized. It's not a good idea, it's a command. I remember when I was first water baptized, I thought I was six years old. Oh, six. And you might be going, "John Michael, didn't you say we don't baptize infants at journey? No, we don't." I was six. I chose to be there. My parents didn't make me do it. It was a choice, yes, but I didn't fully understand. I hadn't walked through a whole lot of life then. When I was 32 and I'd gone through some stuff, baptism meant something different to me. See, even Jesus, He wasn't baptized as a baby. He was dedicated as an eight-day old, but He was baptized as an adult man. I'm not saying you have to be an adult to be water baptized. And you have to understand that when you go in that water, you're not coming up the same And when I had that realization at the age of 32 as a passer, whoa, I got to get water and pass or whoa, I got to get water baptized all over again. It means something else to me now. So I got water baptized as a 32 year old husband, father and pastor. And I went public with my faith again and I got out of that water and I was grinning from ear to ear. Why? Because I knew in that moment Christ had saved me before I got in the water, but now I couldn't wait to tell the whole world that I belong to Jesus. [applause]

Journey is not good enough for us to know inside that we are the new us, the whole world deserves to know that there is a new us. And we do that by being water baptized. So maybe you're here today, you say John and Michael, I've given my life to Christ, but I've never been baptized, or I was sprinkled as a child. It's amazing to me how many times I'll ask somebody, hey, when did you give your life to Christ? And they'll say, first thing, well, I was christened. I was sprinkled as an infant. Oh, okay, that's great. When were you saved? Well, I started coming to the journey three years ago. No, no, no, no. When did you give your life to Christ? Jesus saves you. Baptism tells the world you have been saved. So if you've given your life to Christ, and you would say, John and Michael, I've never been baptized, or I was sprinkled as a child, but man, I want to go all in, man. I realize this is a commandment from Jesus. I want to obey His command. I want to follow in His footsteps, and the early church's footsteps, I want to be water baptized. I want you to go online, journey.church/baptisms. I don't want you to sign up for our next baptism. Right now, if that's you. Maybe you're like me, and you were baptized as a kid. But you hadn't walked through a lot of life yet. It didn't mean as much to you, and now you realize, man, I got to get rebaptized. That's okay. I did it as a 32-year-old pastor. Jesus did it as a 30-year-old man who didn't need it at all. There's no shame whatsoever. You should be proud of that choice. Or maybe you're here today, you would say, John and Michael, I've done everything you've said. Wonderful. Proud of you, man. Maybe you've walked every one of these truths out that we pulled from the Scriptures today, and you're living them out. You've walked them out. That's great. I want to tell you one thing. Even if you have done all of it, I'm going to challenge you. Never forget. Never forget where Jesus pulled you out of. Never forget that there was an old you. Yeah, it may have been 25 years ago, but there was an old you who was lost in dying and going to hell, who was going to be a separate from God forever. But one day Jesus found you, and he picked you up out of the My Reclay, and he set you free, and he gave you a new name, and he cleansed you of all your sin and forgave you. And then you got water baptized, and you went public with your faith, and you left the old you in that watery grave, and you were raised to life in Christ. Never forget. See, journey, when you give your life to Jesus, that's the old you. But when you give your life to him, and you walk in obeisance to him, and you live in submission, and you tell the whole world, "I belong to Christ by getting water baptized." That is the new you. (dramatic music) You