Buried for a New Life

Title: "Buried For A New Life | Pastor Joel Mason (Sunday Service)" URL: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GJCYa1AhXU" Transcript: "(00:01) determined that they want to walk with Jesus. They've committed their lives to him. They want to uh express not just the hope that they have in Jesus, but the joy and peace that comes from that relationship. Um so I want to take just a couple minutes and talk about what we're actually here this morning. (00:19) I want to talk about how we kind of got to where we are today. And then uh we're going to get some people wet. And I have to say before we do that, for those of you being baptized today, you got it really easy because most of the time this water is freezing cold. I got it warm for you today. (00:37) In fact, yesterday when I came in to check it, it was at 100°. So, we cooled it back down a little bit. Um but that's just to say those who have been baptized in here before are more spiritual than well not we've been in a series um called life unlocked and I truly believe that name of that that name defines clearly what it is we're about. (01:02) We have looked at foundational beliefs of the Christian faith and then we have talked about and moved it into that that belief is not enough. Our world believes in all kinds of things. It is if we turn our belief into faith and our world does that too. Uh we worship all kinds of gods in this world today. (01:21) We worship the one God of the Bible who has revealed himself to be true and sovereign. And in that we approach him as he has displayed and encouraged us to do that. He has told us how we can approach him. That approach comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ. God from the beginning when we uh rebelled as a as a uh people, we rebelled against God in the garden. We decided to go an independent rebellious path. (01:46) And God even at that moment promised that he would redeem what he had created and bring us back into what we were created for. Bring us back into relationship. And so we have the Old Testament account of what happens when uh we as rebellious people walk away from God. when we what life is like when we try to live on our own. (02:07) And God throughout the course as you over as you look at the overview of the Old Testament is a calling of people back to him. And in that call, he is always promising there is coming a Messiah, a redeemer, one that will allow for relationship to be restored. And then we read in John chapter 1 that the word became flesh and he made his dwelling among us. Set up his tent among us. (02:27) that God himself came to be one of us so as we would be know how to relate to him and then he came also to pay for that which had separated us from him our sin and so as a result when Christ died on the cross our sin was paid for and relationship was again offered and for those who turn to uh God in faith in Jesus it's not just a belief system that I believe Jesus did this it's a whole new way of life in fact we're going talk about that. (02:57) I'm going to talk about it here for a couple minutes. Couple of passages where we're shown and challenged to understand that this is not just something that God did to allow us to continue to be as we are, but actually die to the old and rise to the new to live in a new life in Jesus. And that is what we're celebrating this morning. We have seen God in our series acting and moving in our midst. (03:22) And we are celebrating part of that in those who are saying,"I want to follow Jesus. I've committed my life to him." I want to go Acts chapter 2 verse 42. You're probably familiar with this, but it says in that verse, "All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, to sharing in meals, including the Lord's supper, and to prayer. (03:47) " Why do I bring that up? Because in this series, that's what we are getting back to. the foundations of being a follower of Jesus. We're looked at what it is to to be those who saturate ourselves in the word of God, who spend time together as part of the community God, and that it is a gift from him to grow us in maturity and closer to him. (04:11) We have uh in increased our intentional focus on prayer and as a result, we're seeing uh God's activity. Part of that activity are those who are coming to an understanding that they can have a relationship with God, who've committed themselves to Christ and are today wanting to be baptized. Part of that also is just it reminds me of verse 47. (04:29) And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. That's good news as far as I'm concerned. And that's what we get to experience. And here's the problems and challenge that we sometimes experience is that uh we are we can easily become very program oriented and moving things through things from that perspective even as a church even as followers of Jesus. (04:54) But we need to be those who are wise to mark the occasion of what God is doing to give him glory and praise to be able to say God you are good. God you are in our midst. God you are bringing change. God, you are you are active and we see it and we long for it and continue and we will continue to surrender to you. That's the transition from belief to life. We've been living what we are called to live. (05:19) Belief is any you can believe in all kinds of things. Faith is the application of belief that my life, my words, my actions, my thoughts, every everything is seen as an opportunity to express my belief in Christ because I want to surrender everything to him. In fact, that's what we have been centered on in this last portion uh of this series is the idea of total surrender. (05:42) We can we are not fully having life unlocked for us until we decide that we are no longer in charge of it and we surrender it to God at the moment of surrender. God has the freedom in our lives to accomplish what he desires. God can accomplish in you and in me. This is gonna I want you to see how powerful you are. Only what you'll allow him to do. (06:07) That's pretty scary if you think about it because we have a tendency sometimes just out of habit or out of just our the way we've always been brought up or the way we do things, we will limit God. And I've said and you've heard me say before, God is not a God who competes. He doesn't have to prove himself. (06:26) And we are a people that often approach God and say, "Prove yourself to me by giving me this and then I will do this." No, it's that's not what we are called to do because he is far above us. and has done far more than we can ever imagine or think to bring us into relationship with him. And he says, "You will receive the best when you surrender all. (06:52) When you give yourself to me, when you take what you say you believe and allow it to transform and inform everything that you do." So in that those relationships maybe within your marriage where there's tension and things aren't always good, God can be there because you follow Christ and you can start to surrender that relationship. (07:11) God teach me to be humble. God teach me to seek forgiveness. God teach me to see my failings. God, teach me, work in me, humble me. Allow me to be an expression of your activity in my life. Let me be Jesus in this moment. As we've talked about in this series, we are called to be the aroma of Jesus in a world of death. He is the aroma of life. We need to bring life into everything that we do. (07:38) When we walk in a room, it needs to be expression. People can go something changed. Not because I'm here, but Christ is here in me. And we also are to what are we called to be? We are called to be the uh the image of Jesus. that when people think of Jesus, they can say, "I met him today when I met you. I walked with Jesus at my work today because of you being there with that person. (08:10) " You see, we have that opportunity as Paul says in in Romans chapter 6 that we are being transformed into the image of Jesus, which is the desire of the father that we all come to look like his children. The Apostle John tells us that's what we are because what Christ has done, we are his children. We got to learn the family tendencies and we learn them when we totally surrender in faith. (08:36) You see how faith and surrender go together because oftentimes we hold back on the surrender because of uncertainty and my belief has yet to inform my actions. But when they begin to and I say, "God, I don't know how you're going to do this. I'm scared. I've failed too many times, but I'm surrendering to you in this moment. Jesus, have your way in me. God accomplishes great things. Just as when we have as we've been saying in this series, we've spent more time in prayer. We got more people in life groups. (09:01) We're reading through the Bible together. We're seeing uh effort being made to transform belief to faith. And we're seeing results in people's lives. as it said there in verse 47 and God was adding to their numbers uh those who are being saved. We're seeing that in our church. We celebrate an aspect of that today in baptism. We're seeing an increase of people attending. (09:28) We've I this is where I part of it is oftenimes I get to see more than you do and I don't like that and it's not fair. You need to see it too. But I'm I have had so many opportunities recently to talk about Jesus, lead people to Christ, seeing people coming for the first time here. We have people in our life group that attend or attend only on Wednesday. (09:48) They have aren't able to step foot in here. Why? They saw something online and they and they called and said, "Can I be part of that?" You see how God's moving? God is good and he wants those who will surrender to him so that he can do all that he desires to do. Here's the good news in all of that. (10:09) Jesus still loves his lost sheep. He always has. But he's looking for a place where he can bring them. And I want to be that place. He wants to be the place where he knows that his children will love in his name, will show grace and mercy and kindness and love, will speak truth when truth needs to be spoken, who are fully surrendered in humility through prayer, who know his word intricately and live by it. (10:39) God needs his children to act like him. As we read, be holy for I am holy. God desires and God is moving in our midst. Colossians chapter 2, I want to actually I'm going to start Romans 6 for a minute. So we see what it is that we are doing here today. Paul says this. Well then, should we keep on sinning that so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not. (11:06) Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Okay, he's talking about that aspect. See this is where where belief and faith it's in the middle of that where I live that sin can often enter the picture that rebellion against God where I choose to do things my way not his way where I absolutely for refuse to surrender and in that process I can say well God forgave me once he'll forgive me again there is a lack of surrender and a lack of faith if that is our approach to God because we do not value what he has done. As Paul says, by no means can we (11:43) do that. There is no way that can be our expression or our aspect or outlook on life. But he goes on, he says, "Or have you forgotten that when we joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, the very thing we're doing today, we joined him in his death? For we died and we were buried with Christ by baptism. (12:09) And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the father, we now we also may live a new life. When we baptize somebody, what we're here for today is actually a joyous funeral service. This is the happiest funeral service you're ever going to go to. In fact, this is one where we should be shouting and praising and recognizing God because as Paul just said there, when a person goes in baptism under the water, it is the expression of the grave. But we don't go there alone. (12:37) We go there with Jesus. And just as Jesus rose from the dead, we rise with him also. But not to continue to live. We washed it away. The sin remained in the grave. Christ conquered it. And so we rise to a new life, a new life in Christ. (13:01) Why then, Paul would argue, why do we continue? Why would we even consider continuing to live a life of death? Why would I grab the corpse out of there and say, "Let's put it back on. It makes no sense." That's why we do baptism in community. We do it so that witnesses that will stand with us in the moment and walk with us throughout our lives. We don't make cheap what Christ has done by saying, "No, I'll be baptized and do what I want to do." We say, "I'll be baptized into the body of Christ. (13:34) I am part of his body, and I need others," as Paul talks about in Romans 12 or 1 Corinthians 12. We need to be united in the body of Christ to be the full expression of the activity of Jesus in our lives. Admonishing, encouraging, loving, supporting, praying for. You see, we go through the one and anothers of the New Testament. (13:56) And we become the full expression of Jesus, as Christ asked, as Christ commanded, as Christ desired for each one of us. Colossians chapter 2, it says, "For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized." Just what we were talking about, "And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted in the mighty power of God. (14:18) " In other words, when these people step in or any of us who have been baptized step into that water, we step in and trust that what's being represented is the reality of what Christ accomplished and the cross and the empty tomb. It applies to me. (14:38) I can think until that moment it belongs to everybody else or just it's not quite I'm not quite good enough. It has nothing to do with being good enough. Do you believe? Do you trust? Do you act upon what Christ has done? That's what these people are doing today. They're acting upon what Christ has done. And they believe and are standing and taking an action of faith that says, "Jesus, I'm yours." The old is gone. The new has come. (15:06) Allow me to live in the fullness of the life you have given me. I'll say this, too. By the time I'm done, if you haven't been baptized, if you haven't committed your life to Christ, haven't been baptized, we got plenty of water up here today. So, just letting you know. First Peter chapter 1, Apostle Peter says this. So, you must live as God's obedient children. (15:31) Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know any better then, but now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the scriptures say, you must be holy because I am holy. What is Peter telling us? The symbol of baptism is the full recognition of who you belong to. (15:58) Jesus. And now you, as Paul says, you're now his ambassador. You're not only the child of God, you're the ambassador of the kingdom of God. You are the one who represents the name of Jesus in your family, in your community, with your friends, and with your enemies. You represent Jesus. You belong to him. (16:18) Isn't that good news? I think that's the greatest thing that can can you want to talk about hope and peace and joy. That's what Paul was talking about. We get the joy of the reality that my life is no longer mine. People aren't going to see me. I'm being transformed and they see Jesus. (16:36) And as I said, there's a third thing we talked about in this series. We also get to be the voice of Jesus. So, I can unashamedly tell somebody, not only have I been baptized, I've been baptized because of what Christ did for me. He died and rose again. He allowed me to die to my old life and have new life in him. Here's how he's changing me. Here's how I depend on him. (16:56) Here is what Christ is doing in me. John chapter 15 tells us exactly how. Yes, I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. (17:23) But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want and it will be granted. When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. And this brings great glory to my father. How do you continue to walk in that life? You got to abide in Jesus. And it goes back to what we started about. (17:46) It's reading the Bible. It's praying. It's being part of a community. It's fully surrendering to the one who gave you life. And at that moment and in those moments, the power of that raised Christ from the dead is the very power through the spirit that's at work in your life. But you've got to abide in Christ. (18:05) Now, here's the good news. I am going to guess that I'm not the only one, but I'm not perfect. Some of you going to be shocked by that statement. My wife laughs the loudest. Okay, thank you Renee. Um, anything you want to share? I say that for this reason. Some I have been heard people say I got to be perfect before I be baptized and Jesus that makes what Jesus did unnecessary. (18:42) If that's the case, we can't be. So he takes us as we are, but he died for what keeps us from God so that we can have a new life in him. Here's the other thing. We are in the process of being transformed. It's a here's the churchy word sanctification. It's the word that simply means that God is in a process of transforming my life to fully be engaged with him to fully reflect his activity. So I do become the image of Jesus. (19:10) I do carry his aroma and when I speak I speak the words of wisdom that come from Christ. So in that process though I look and go oh that is too much for me. I'm going to fail at that one. And you know what God says? Yeah you are. You cannot do it apart from me. That's what Jesus was just saying to us when he said we got to abide in him and he will abide in us and he will produce much fruit. (19:37) So here's my words of of challenge and to those who are being baptized today and each of us who say we've committed our life to Christ. Guard your heart so closely that you work toward a life that is fully surrendered to Jesus. And in the midst of that, if you fall before Christ and you fail, then fall before Christ. If you fail, God does not condemn. (20:02) Apostle John told us if uh we're all going to sin, we're only fooling ourselves if we think we won't or that we don't. But the wise person recognizes that separation and the effect on the relationship and says, "Jesus, I was looking at myself and not at you. I was thinking of me, not of you. I was not willing to surrender on that and I see how I hung on tight. Forgive me. (20:29) " And God says, "If you confess your sins, my character is to forgive your sins because of what Jesus has done." You see, the eternal effect of the cross and the empty grave, it wasn't a one-time thing. It's what allows us the access to God that when in the midst of desiring to walk with Jesus, I stumble and I fall, God does not abandon me on the road and say, "That's it. You're gone, bud." No. He comes and picks me back up. (20:55) He says, "That wasn't very smart, was it?" No. Oh, you're still my child and I still love you. You haven't lost any value in my you through what my son has done for you. You are priceless to me. You see, that's the hope that we have. I hope that's not just when I believed in Jesus, everything's good. But as soon as I, oh, I I blew it. (21:20) No, I come back to the words of Jesus and I choose to abide with him and I walk with him and I allow him to produce in me what does he desires to do knowing all along that God will forgive me. Now I'll go back to what I said in Romans. Do I go on sinning that grace may abound? Do you see the conflict between those two? Absolutely not. I have a forgiving God who will forgive. (21:42) But you understand there's an arrogance then that would need to be addressed if I think I can go on sinning and think everything's fine with God. That's that's got to be addressed. And until you address that, you're still separated from God. Well, wait a minute. I put my faith in Jesus. Yeah, you did. But you're not living according to that faith. (22:02) And so, a word of wisdom for those who are being baptized, be quick to seek forgiveness. Do not think that holiness comes in your own. Seek the one who is holy and he will produce in you what is a reflection of himself. That's why he's put his spirit within us. That's why we can talk about what Paul said, joy and hope and peace, a point of celebration because of what's being expressed that our eternal faithful father who in his son gave us life rejoices in those who recognize it and recalls us to rejoice (22:43) with them that life has been found and we now will walk together in that life to reflect our savior. here. That sound like good thing? That sound like something worth celebrating? I think it is. All right. I'm going to invite those if you haven't, Kevin, I'll invite you to head back that way. I think everybody else is back there. (23:08) I'm going to pray and then I'm going to go uh we're going to sing one song while I go prepare to get wet myself and then we will be back out here. Let's pray. Father, you are so good. So good. that the words don't we do not have the vocabulary to express anything about your nature but in humility we bring our trivial in some respects offering to you and you say it's great and I thank you for that I give you praise for each of these people being baptized today I want to say you are sovereign and you are moving in our midst those of us who are watching and witnessing what is (23:51) taking place. Challenge ourselves. Where am I in my relationship with God? Oh, I've been baptized. Fantastic. Are you living by faith? Have you fully surrendered? Or are you still looking to see, I don't know about Jesus. There's a lot of other things that maybe could answer it. I would encourage you to in that same mind ask Christ to show himself to you. (24:21) The God of the universe joined us in the flesh to release us from the effect of sin on our lives so that we could come a new in relationship to him. We come alive. Jesus, your name is above every name. You are the only one worthy of praise. You're the one who extended the grace and mercy of of your father to us through the sacrifice, unbelievable and unimaginable sacrifice on the cross. And today we come with joy and praise. (24:57) And with each of these people that we baptized, we as they raise out of that water, we recognize it's because of you and it's for you. And through them you will live. and may you bless them, protect them, and may you do the same in this church and expand its effect through each one of us seeking to surrender. (25:17) And we pray this in your beautiful name. Amen. Would you stand if you're able? I've heard the accusation. I've heard the propaganda. I've heard the lies they whispered to my soul that I have been forsaken and I'll always be forgotten. No matter what I do, it's not enough. But then I heard a voice as its reminding me of who I've always been. (26:16) I am your beloved. You have bought me with your blood. And on your hand you've written out my name. I am your beloved one the father loves. Mercy has defeated all my shame. There's no accusation nor any condemnation when I look into my father's eyes. They don't see my sin. They only see redemption. This is how my heart has been defined. (27:16) And I can hear a voice that is louder than the thunder, reminding me of who I've always been. I am your beloved. You have bought me with your blood. And on your hand, you've written down my name. I am your beloved one the father loves. Mercy has defeated all my shame. The one who knows me best is the one who loves me most. (28:31) There is nothing I have done that could change the father's love. The one who knows me best is the one who loves me most. There is nothing I have done that could change the father's love. Oh, the one who knows me best is the one who loves me most. There is nothing I have done that could change the father's love (29:44) cuz I am your beloved. You have bought me with your blood and on your hand you've written out my name. I am your beloved. One the father loves. Mercy has defeated all our shame. I am your beloved. You have bought me with your blood and on your hand you've written out my name. I am your beloved one the father loves. (30:36) Mercy has defeated all my shame. You may be seated. Make sure we're all set here. And John, I'm going to ask you to come out here. John Andrews is going to come out here. He's our first one to be baptized this morning. John, I'm just gonna ask you a couple of questions and and uh we'll get busy here, but um John has just been fairly recently. (31:29) How long have you been coming uh here to West Valley? About two months. About two months. Yep. Um do you want to take just a minute? I I spot here and talk about it, but just uh little interview here for a minute. What led you here? to this church to God in in uh in particular in specific but here even to the church. Yeah. (31:53) Uh well is a path I've always wanted to go down but I've always personally been too scared to afraid to travel it myself. Um wasn't until recently that I had the right people in my life to help guide me and also looking onto myself to find myself before I was able to hear his voice. So that's what started it. My daughter um she suggested this church and I'm very thankful for it because this is a great place. (32:18) That's good. I'm glad to hear that. Um I hope you don't mind my bringing this up and I know that you've been going through some medical challenges. Yes. And uh can you give us just a little bit of the good news that you got here just even last week? Um yes. Uh we are fighting cancer in my family. (32:34) Um I was diagnosed with a brain tumor back in April. Had surgery. um been trying to recover. My MRI in September showed full regrowth. Um did a lot of praying and changed medicines, but we had another MRI at the beginning of this month and it showed that it was a significant improvement. So, improvement. Wow. Thank you, John. (33:02) I'm going to have you meet me right over here. And I have the privilege of uh reading what John wrote to kind of let you and I know um what brought him to this place. It wasn't until I needed to find myself as an adult that I started to hear his voice. I had to find myself before I could see and hear his grace. (33:23) It started small and people around me, they would say the right things I needed to hear at just the right time. Now I not only hear his guidance, but I catch glimpses of his divine path for me. I see him work blessings through others when it's needed the most. (33:43) Even though I started my relationship with Jesus later in life, I now see he was walking with me for a long time. And I see his work through me for others. I have accepted Jesus into my heart and ask for his continued grace. Being baptized is part of my path to align my relationship with Jesus in a way that pleases our father. Jesus died to forgive our sins and we give thanks for his sacrifice every morning as I rise from the water. (34:04) I know in my heart Jesus is with me and rises with me through my relationship with Jesus. I know God as he works through me. His miracles are abundant and he blessed my family so I may continue to spread his blessings and grace. As he fills my cup, it overflows to others who need hope. (34:27) Jesus is the only path to God and I will follow his word so I may know him. Well done, John. Is it your have you committed your life to Christ? Yes. Is it your desire to walk with him for the rest of your life? It is. Then it is my privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Ah, praise God. And um we uh like to choose John a uh a Bible verse that is kind of seinal to today and it's found in 1 Peter 1:13-16. (35:09) And it says, "Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ was revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he called you uh who called you as holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written, be holy because I am holy. (35:33) " Amen. Amen. Congratulations, sir. Proud of you. And I love that you celebrate because this really is a celebration. Right. I'm gonna ask Kyle to come out here. Kyle Atkinson. Thanks, John. I don't know if uh you've all had a chance to meet Kyle or not. Kyle, how long have you been here with us? Three weeks. (36:05) Three weeks. That's awesome. I am thankful that God has brought you here and I am thankful that we can be a part of what God's doing in your life. Um, briefly, you want to give us a little bit of how you ended up here? Uh, Google. Okay, there we go. That's brief. I love it. Thank you. (36:36) how I um uh moved here recently about six months ago and uh just uh have been in this in the search for a church and luckily I was uh gracious enough to find this one and you guys have welcomed me with open arms. So I just I can't thank you enough for that. Good. And I and I have an opportunity to read to you uh Kyle's testimony. (37:00) He said, "I want to dedicate this day and the rest of the ages to the one true God, judge, and savior, Jesus Christ." Like the parable of the sheep and shepherd, it is written, "Heaven will rejoice louder for one repented sinner over 99 righteous disciples, and the sky shakes with cheer from the kingdom of heaven. (37:19) " I hope the power embedded in all of us through the resurrected Jesus is brought forth into the light for all of us to walk in full unwavering faith. displayed by our actions and words. May Jesus bless us with the strength to our bodies, love in our hearts, wisdom in our minds, and grace in our spirit. And he he uh uses these verses, Mark 5:36, do not fear, only believe. (37:44) And then in Isaiah 6:8, he writes, "And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? And who will go for us? Then I said, here am I. Send me." Amen. Amen. Kyle, have you committed your life to Christ? I have. Is it your desire to fully surrender and follow him the rest of your life? Yes, it is. (38:10) Then it is my privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. And Kyle, Kyle, we have selected Isaiah 40 uh 28-31 for you. And it says this. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary. And his understanding no one can fathom. (38:38) He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall. But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will not They will walk and not be faint. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right. Kevin Robinson. (39:13) Good to see you, brother. Uh share his testimony himself. But before he does that, I want to ask you a couple of questions. Absolutely. So, um, many of you have heard me talk about, uh, my gym bros and, uh, my experiences at the gym. Well, Kevin is one of my gym bros and I am blessed that you're here. So, thank you for allowing me to be a part of this. (39:52) And you wouldn't know this, but from the time I started at the gym, I was have been praying that God would just allow me not I'm not there for the exercise as much as I am to be used by God. And I am thankful that in one small way that led to this this morning. So I'm thankful. You can't cry. You're going to make me lose a bed with my daughter. (40:13) I'll I'll try to maintain um what uh why don't you share your testimony? tell us how you got here and share your testimony with us. Well, as uh Joel shared, um my path I think came via the gym. Um as I got here today, but uh I grew up in the church. Um I was, you know, at the church Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. (40:38) Uh I have a sister here that can attest to that. Um, and so I I Joel and I have talked a lot at the gym and um it wasn't maybe a couple years ago that I found my way um back to the Lord Jesus Christ. Um and of all things it was via Instagram. Um you know, typical late night doing your doom scrolling and everything. (41:13) And um I just found it funny that a lot of the reels that were coming up um were hymns and uh people singing and sharing stories of Jesus. And it just kind of brought me back to my roots of growing up in the church. So um I'm a single dad. I have a teenage daughter. Uh so my testimony is a little different. Um I want to be a man of Christ. Uh I stand before you humbled uh and honored the fact that I'm here today and you guys I have my whole family right here and I'm honored that you guys are here uh to help share this uh very special day today. So Amen. That's really all I have. Amen. Amen. Can't ask for more. (42:02) You lied. It's cold. Well, let's just put it this way. It was a lot colder on other times that this one got Hey, you know what does that say? It's 70° in there. It can't complain. If it's blue, that's bad, right? Oh, Kevin, it gives me great joy to be part of this with you. Um, have you committed your life to Christ? I have. (42:28) Is it your desire to go forward living for Christ? Very much so. Amen. Then it is my privilege to baptize you in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Amen. Is going to read a verse for you here. And Kevin, uh we have selected Matthew 5 13-16. Um this is so you. (42:52) It says, "You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. (43:12) In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify the father in heaven. Amen. Love you, brother. Yeah. Yeah, if you don't mind, Kevin's going to hang out with me for a minute just so I have an extra hand if needed. And Deb Peterson, ask you just a couple of questions here before we get in there, Jeff. Just what you were hoping for. (43:51) You didn't tell me we were going to do that. Surprises are good for us in life. Deb is the youngest being baptized today. Uh youngest at heart. So I am thankful that you are here and I love you very much and it's a privilege to be part of this with you. Um just real briefly for those that don't know, how do you end up here today? Just in in brief, what what's going on with you? Well well well well I always I grew up in a church. (44:24) I've always had faith and uh um uh the last four or five years um brought me to a new relationship which brought me to Portland which brought me to this sweet church into all these sweet people that I've really grown to love. Good. Good. Amen. Amen to that. Yep. Well, I will and I will read what Debbie wrote. One summer when I was sailing with a girlfriend, our conversation turned to religion. She asked me if I believed in God. I said, "Of course I do. (44:48) Look around. Clear, calm water, blue cloud, the sky, quiet words, geese overhead. What more proof could a 10-year-old need? That childhood conversation never left me. As my faith grew and my understanding developed, stories of the Bible were always interesting. (45:08) But how did they apply to me and my life? I had so much to learn. As my walk with Christ moved along, I gradually went from how could you not believe in God, growing to tr truly have faith in Jesus and his messages that he taught us. Looking back on my life, I have realized that he has been walking with me through good times and heartache. (45:33) The process has not been an aha moment, but the gradual realization of peace and comfort and where that peace has come from. It is a journey that I hope to share through prayer and actions. When I became a member of my church as a child, Matthew 7:7 was the scripture that had been chosen for me. Ask and it will be given. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. (45:52) These verses have helped me to develop an ongoing relationship with Jesus. By getting baptized today, I am publicly proclaiming my commitment to Christ and to my ongoing spiritual growth. Thank you, Deb. Amen. Deb, it's it's beautiful to have you here today. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of that. And uh we have talked on a number of occasions. I am so excited that you've committed your life to Christ. (46:23) And so is that true? Have you committed your life to Christ? I have indeed. Is it your desire to walk with him this day forward? Absolutely. Amen. All right. If you will lean just forward a little bit. I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. You look beautiful. (46:49) And Debbie, uh, we have chosen for you Ephesians 2:8-9. And you don't have to remember this right now. I will give it to you later. But it says, "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and it is not from yourselves. It is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one could boast. (47:12) For we are God's handywork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Amen. Amen. Thank you, Deb. Love you. Well, this has been exciting. Uh, God is good.