Steve Gentry
[0:00] Good morning. Welcome to the Village. My name is Steve. I’m one of the pastors here. [0:05] Things are a little different. You’re not used to seeing me so early probably. [0:08] But we are having a baptism celebration today and you’ll learn more about that. [0:13] We’ve got a couple of people here at the Village that are going to be baptized. [0:17] Welcome to the Village again. Just so you guys know, this is a place that we try to [0:23] make as safe as possible for you. And what I mean by that, if you come here and you have
[0:27] no experience in church whatsoever, we aim to make you as comfortable as possible. [0:32] We realize that some of you may not believe. Some of you may have believed most of your [0:37] lives. We want this to be a place where both sets of people can learn about Jesus and [0:43] safely investigate the claims of Jesus just in a safe environment where we will not hassle [0:50] you, we will not try to embarrass you, nor will we condemn you. But we want you to know [0:55] the hope that’s found in Jesus. And today we’re going to be proclaiming that through
[1:00] the sacraments, through baptism. And a little bit later I’m going to talk a lot about baptism.
[1:10] I am the first to get baptized this morning. So I’m going to share with you, and I actually [1:14] had to write something down because I talk a lot for those of you that know me. And I [1:19] could end up going in many different directions. So I have to have good parameters for what [1:24] I want to say. So good morning, my name is James McLean. I’m one of the pastors here [1:29] at Village Church. And I just want to come to you this morning and share a little of [1:33] what God has done in my heart to bring me to where I am today. I grew up in a Christian
[1:38] family and I had a somewhat normal upbringing. We were in church every Sunday and we made [1:43] sure that we appeared moral and good around other people. I could be described as someone [1:50] who, like in the book of Timothy, had a form of faith but denied its power. I was a Christian [1:56] because my parents were Christians and it really hadn’t become real to me. And at some [2:04] point at the age of 18, God really opened my heart and it occurred to me that Jesus [2:08] did not want my empty prayers or my shallow commitments to attend a service, but he wanted
[2:13] my whole life and he wanted every single part. I began to pray for a chance to use the talents [2:19] and the gifts that God had given me to serve him and his purposes and not my own purposes. [2:25] Shortly after that, God brought a character-based ministry program into my life and I traveled [2:30] for a couple years around the U.S. doing some shows in public schools that were talking [2:36] about character values and singing in churches on the weekend. At this point in my life, [2:41] I met a girl and I became deeply involved in that relationship. I made this girl ultimate
[2:46] in my life and God quickly became a footnote in our plans for the future. I got engaged [2:52] and God opened a door for me to go to college by singing on a ministry team that covered [2:56] my tuition. I should pause here for a minute to mention that my story isn’t unlike many [3:02] stories in the Bible. We see all the time in the Bible, God comes down, he puts us on [3:08] a path, we stray and we try to make it on our own and God has to come back down and [3:13] extend his mercy and guide us back to himself. That’s sometimes through painful circumstances.
[3:19] I think of the Israelites who wandered through the desert for 40 years and complained against [3:23] God even though he had rescued them from the oppression and slavery that they experienced [3:28] in Egypt. [3:29] Back to my story, shortly after I had gotten engaged, I discovered that there was someone [3:34] else in her life and that she was leaving me. At that point, I was devastated. I had [3:40] so much time and effort invested into this relationship and now I felt like it was wasted.
[3:45] I felt betrayed and worthless and I immediately turned to God because I knew, as C.S. Lewis [3:51] has said before, that pain is God’s megaphone. I knew that he was talking to me, that he [3:56] was calling me. During this time, God restored me through this circumstance and he taught [4:03] me a whole new level of dependence on him. I had much to learn still. [4:09] Two years later, I met a girl in college who flattered me and made much of me and we [4:13] began a relationship. During this time, once again, I made her ultimate and my relationship
[4:18] with her began to guide my life more than my relationship with God. I had seen how this [4:24] had gone before and what it could lead to and for some reason I felt like I knew better [4:29] than God and that I could control things and guide the relationship. [4:33] After two and a half years of dating, I was engaged again. A few months after that, I [4:38] discovered that this girl had left me for another guy. At this point in my life, I [4:43] left the church, I questioned God, I became angry that he seemed to be keeping me from
[4:50] marriage and from happiness and from being able to enjoy that. I was really disappointed [4:56] during this time. A few months later, I came across this passage [5:00] in Hebrews 12, 6-7. It says, My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, [5:07] nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the ones he loves and chastises [5:13] every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you [5:18] as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
[5:23] I realized that it was because God loved me that he had prevented these relationships. [5:29] Loving God gives you what he knows is best for you, which is not always what we want [5:33] or desire. At this point in my life, I began to really ask God what it looked like to [5:37] start again and to actually live according to his mission. I realized I had been living [5:42] my story and asking him to bless my story rather than living his story as someone who [5:48] has already been blessed and sent out by him. God showed me during this time that
[5:53] the gospel is the power of Christ that saved me and that the local church is the primary [5:57] way that Jesus has established to get his message out. I understood that Jesus is my [6:02] treasure and that nothing else satisfied me more than to know him and to live out a redemptive [6:08] life. God has used the village church to help me stay close to him and to accomplish his [6:14] I know that my life will not be perfect and that Christ is still making me whole, but [6:19] I’m glad I have this community to grow with. Before I end here, I just want to share this
[6:24] verse with you. It has really come to define my life. In Acts 20, 24, Paul says,
[6:43] of the grace of God. James, because you have trusted Jesus and you have trusted in him [6:50] for the repentance of your sins and for faith in Jesus for new life in Christ, I baptize [6:55] you in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, and the likeness [7:00] of his death, raise new life in Christ. If you have your Bibles, you can get them in [7:14] the book of Acts. I’m going to ask you to hold your thumb there and also turn to Colossians [7:22] chapter 2. Baptism is one of these interesting things. It’s something that most people, especially
[7:31] in the U.S., we know about because we’ve heard about it. We’ve seen it on TV. We’ve seen [7:36] it in movies. We’ve been to church services where we’ve seen people baptize and we’ve [7:40] heard baptism talked about. But quite often, it becomes nothing but a dead tradition and [7:49] a dead ceremony to us that we enjoy seeing because we know that it involves a person [7:57] taking a large step into religion or into a deeper meaning in their life. But often [8:05] we see it as nothing more than that and we know we’re supposed to do it, but we don’t
[8:09] ever search for deeper meaning. Communion is also like that. Communion is something [8:16] that we see in churches. We see it in many denominations and we see everybody doing it [8:22] and quite often it’s reduced to nothing but also another dead tradition that is a ceremony [8:29] in which we go deeper in some type of faith, but quite often we never look any further [8:36] to see what is it that we’re actually doing. What is it that these things actually stand [8:43] for? In baptism and the Lord’s Supper, we have two things that Jesus himself told us
[8:51] that we were to do until he returns. What’s sacrament, which these two have often been [8:58] referred to as sacraments. Sacrament is not a word that’s in the scripture, but what [9:03] sacrament is. Sacrament is a visual sign of an inward grace. Baptism is an outward [9:13] sign of an inward reality. It is a step in our faith in Jesus that we take in order [9:20] to obey Jesus. The question I quite often get from people, especially when I was a [9:27] teacher, what I would often get about baptism is do you have to be baptized in order to
[9:33] be saved? The easy answer to that is no. The more complicated answer to that is yes, [9:41] because both are in one way or another correct. Now before you throw a pitchfork at me and [9:47] proclaim me a heretic, give me a few minutes to explain what I mean by that. No, you do [9:51] not have to be baptized to be saved. Salvation is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross [9:57] and through his resurrection alone. Jesus asked that we have faith in him and we have [10:02] faith in him for the redemption from our sins and for new life through his resurrection.
[10:07] That is all that is required of salvation. Jesus plus anything is dead legalism and [10:14] is religion that will not lead you anywhere. But yes, I believe that baptism is something [10:22] that cannot be divorced from our salvation in that it’s a beautiful representation of [10:29] what takes place in our life in Christ. I explain it this way, and I didn’t come up [10:34] with this, it’s been explained by this, like this by many people. Here’s my wedding band. [10:40] When I wear this on my finger, what do you assume? You assume that I’m married or that
[10:47] I come from a weird background where I have to wear a ring so I stay pure until I’m married, [10:52] but beyond that. A wedding band does not keep me married to my wife, does it? If I [11:02] lose this, I don’t panic and say, oh no, we’re not married. No, this is just a ring. [11:11] It’s made out of precious metal, it’s nice, I don’t want to lose it because I don’t want [11:14] to buy a new one, but it’s just a precious metal. But what it symbolizes is far more [11:20] than just any other ring I would wear on my hand. This ring, when my wife placed it
[11:27] on my finger in 2005, what this symbolizes is a deep love and a deep commitment and [11:34] a deep union that I share with no one else on this earth. I share it with my wife and [11:42] my wife alone, and that’s what this ring represents. I would never say this ring is [11:51] just a meaningless tradition. This ring embodies one of the most precious and dear things [11:59] that I have in my life. This ring is a sign and a seal of a commitment between myself [12:10] and my wife, but also a covenant between us and our God. This ring is very special. Baptism
[12:21] is a lot like that. Baptism identifies us with Jesus and His church. You see, Jesus [12:34] proclaims in Matthew chapter 28, if you have your Bibles there, go ahead and look at verses [12:38] 18 through 20. It says, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore [12:48] and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the [12:53] Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. [13:00] Behold I am with you to the end of the age. Baptism is a step that moves us from a simple
[13:08] agreement with the facts of the Gospel. It moves us from a simple, yes, I believe, I [13:18] believe, in the Gospel and it moves us to a vocal proclamation and into active discipleship. [13:28] See, it connects us with Jesus. It connects us because number one, He commanded us to [13:35] do this. And it connects us number two, because it identifies us with His church. In 1 Corinthians [13:43] chapter 12, in talking about baptism, Paul says that we are baptized with one baptism [13:50] that brings us into the body of Christ. So in that sense we see that baptism is this
[13:58] symbolic union between us and the universal church, which is referred to in Scripture [14:04] as the body of Christ. In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul writes that the church is the fullness [14:12] of Christ who fills all in all. God has made the Gospel and has made redemption from our [14:20] sins in such a way that He has made the decision that through our union with Him we become [14:27] His fullness. That’s how special we are. And baptism is a sign of that. [14:34] In Acts chapter 2 verse 41, we see it in a more localized sense though. We see that it
[14:40] also connects us not just with the universal church spiritually speaking, but also with [14:45] the local church, tangibly speaking. You see, when you see these people baptized today, [14:51] it is a proclamation to you that they believe the Gospel, but it is also a proclamation [14:55] to you that they desire to live a life glorifying God through discipleship with other members [15:04] of the body of Christ. Not in a spiritual, universal, invisible, mystical sense, but [15:10] in a real, local, community sense where lives are connecting through the hope that is in
[15:18] the Gospel. Baptism also portrays the death, burial, and [15:25] resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. You see, we are connected with Jesus and we are
[15:36] not connected with the [15:36] water. What does that mean? What does that portray? In the Old Testament, what we see [15:42] is when a Gentile would convert to Judaism, they would come and before they were circumcised [15:48] if they were a male, they would come and they would be baptized which represented purification. [15:55] Water has always been this symbol of purity. Water has been given to us by God to give [16:03] us life and sustenance. You don’t drink water, you will dehydrate, you will die. It is a
[16:09] source of life, a source of pureness. What it represented was a repentance of sin and [16:17] a purification so that they could go into the religion of Judaism. [16:22] But little did they know that God had given this to them as a prophecy of His own Son [16:32] coming and paying the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. As you see someone lowered [16:38] into the water, God has designed it so that it represents the death of sin and the death [16:44] of His Son Jesus Christ as He was lowered down into the grave. But then they come up.
[16:55] In Romans chapter 6 says, have you not been baptized and risen up in newness of life? [17:03] Colossians chapter 2, if you had your finger there, go ahead and turn there. In Colossians [17:07] chapter 2 and verse 11 we read, in Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision [17:13] made without hands, saying that God did something spiritually to you by putting off the body [17:20] of flesh by the circumcision of Christ. In other words, God has come into your life [17:26] through the work of Jesus and He has redeemed you unto Himself. He has forgiven you of
[17:31] your sins. Jesus has taken your sins unto Himself. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 puts it this [17:37] way, He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf. But then it says, having been buried [17:47] with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith and the powerful [17:56] working of God who raised Him from the dead. You see, when you see that person come up [18:03] out of the water, what you are seeing is an identity in Christ, a security in Christ, [18:12] a sureness in Christ, a belief in Christ, a love in Christ, and finally a new life
[18:20] in Christ. God has given us this beautiful picture of the old passing away and the new [18:28] coming by the washing and the repentance and the purification that water symbolizes. [18:35] But also, we don’t have to stay down in that water. We don’t have to continue in that [18:40] water. We come up out of that water, pure, clean, redeemed, forgiven. [18:51] You see, God has given us this amazing picture of a life that is brand new, that has been [18:56] forgiven. And we never have to go back in that water again. Because the water isn’t
[19:03] what does the work. God does the work through His Son Jesus. And they are proclaiming to [19:10] you their trust. Not in themselves, not that they are going to go back into life and stay [19:17] pure now, but a trust that Jesus has earned their purity. That Jesus has given them this [19:25] new life, that they walk out of that water and they proclaim the Gospel, the death of [19:30] Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus. And then they walk out of that water to a brand new [19:35] life, where never again do they have to bear the burden of guilt. Never again do they have
[19:41] to bear the burden of being good enough. Never again do they have to bear the burden of [19:46] regret. But Jesus has taken that onto Himself. And Jesus has died for that. And Jesus has [19:55] won the victory because He did not stay dead. He rose to new life. He rose from the dead. [20:02] And He sits now at the right hand of the Father, giving us new life.
[20:13] See, we baptize today and we baptize as a church because the amazing truths of dying [20:20] and rising with Christ and of having our sins washed away are truths of momentous and eternal [20:27] proportion that are not to be looked at in somber humility and boredom of ceremony and [20:34] tradition, but rather they are to be celebrated. See what we are doing today is we are having [20:39] a party for three people. We are praising God. We are glorifying God because Jesus [20:46] is alive. And He is God. And He redeems. We celebrate baptism today because of that. And
[21:00] that is what you are watching when you watch people be baptized. This is not a dead tradition.
[21:09] Let’s pray. God, we come before You. We praise You. Oh God, we thank You for the redemption [21:17] that You have worked in the lives of these people today. God, we ask that as they go [21:24] into the water and come out of the water and walk out of this place today, that they would [21:29] not look back and find their redemption in the water, but rather they would find their [21:33] redemption in You through the work that You have done. And they would look back on this [21:38] day and say, this is the day when I proclaim to the world that I believe and I trust in
[21:45] Jesus for my redemption. This is Laura. And this is her father Bill. He is going to help [21:56] me. Laura, because you have trusted in Jesus and you have repented of your sins, you have [22:03] trusted in His work and His work alone for your redemption, I baptize you. In the name [22:13] of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, in the likeness of His death, [22:19] raised to new life in Christ. Hi. Bear with me because I don’t really have that great [22:33] speaking ability that our pastors have. For those who don’t know me, my name is Kelsey
[22:39] and I’d like to tell you my story about how I came to trust in Jesus. I grew up in a [22:46] home that was somewhat religious. We went to church. We said we believed in God, but [22:52] that wasn’t a very active part of our lives. Even still, I had a desire to know God. When [23:00] I was 16, I met a guy and I completely fell for him. He was older and cool and I was [23:08] young and inexperienced and had a that wouldn’t happen to me mindset. That mixed with a blind [23:18] puppy dog love that I had for my boyfriend led to me getting pregnant. I can’t even
[23:28] describe what that felt like. Scared and shocked. My boyfriend did not want a baby, [23:37] nor anybody else knowing about it, so he told me we had to take care of it. So I had an [23:44] abortion. After that, things just really went downhill for me. We broke up, my boyfriend [23:57] and I broke up. I started feeling like the world’s worst person and biggest screw up. [24:03] I felt that I couldn’t tell my parents because I thought they would hate me. I stopped going [24:09] to church because to me, a Christian was perfect. Since I had done the world’s worst sin, there
[24:17] was no way that God could love me anymore. The self-hate and depression really just grew. [24:25] I started drinking alcohol every chance I could. I cried when I was alone and I made [24:34] sure to smile and act happy when I was in company. I was desperate for love and approval, [24:43] but I looked for it in the wrong places, which led to two more pregnancies and two more [24:52] abortions. That just really fueled the hate I felt towards myself. I thought, hey, God [25:01] already hates me and I’m already going to hell. One day I met a random stranger and
[25:10] sent drunks who liked to tell their whole life story. I decided to tell him everything. [25:17] He decided to tell me about Jesus. He told me about how Jesus loves and how he forgives [25:25] and his mercy. That was such a life-changing moment for me to hear that God could forgive [25:35] me and still love me. I wanted to know more, so I very hesitantly started going to church [25:44] again. I went to a few churches and then I finally found the village. These people [25:50] here really very shortly after I started coming here became a part of my life. They
[25:56] talked to me and got to know me and my story and continued to love me and to help teach [26:03] me. God has saved me. He took me messy and miserable and broken and I’m just so happy [26:14] that he redeemed me and showed me his love and he is still redeeming me. Someone shared [26:22] a verse with me and I really love it. It’s really encouraging and I’d like to share [26:27] it with you. It’s Isaiah 61 verses 10 and 11. I will rejoice greatly in the Lord. My [26:34] soul shall exalt in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has
[26:40] covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decks himself like a priest [26:45] with a beautiful headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth [26:52] brings forth its sprouts and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord [26:58] God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all nations. Thank you. This [27:07] is Kelsey. Kelsey, because you’ve trusted in Jesus for the repentance of your sins [27:13] and for a new life in Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son
[27:19] and the Holy Spirit, lowered in the likeness of his death, raised to new life in Christ. [27:26] Thank you. Jesus saves. Our life and our salvation and our redemption do not depend [27:44] on us. That’s liberating. That’s redemption. And there is no other name under heaven by [27:56] which man must or can be saved. And I think the stories that you’ve heard today are stories [28:04] of people finding security in all sorts of different places in life. But then at some [28:15] point God steps into their life and says, I want to be your security. And he redeems
[28:26] not based on us, but based on the work of his Son. There is nothing that keeps us so [28:35] far from God. And I think that’s the greatest lie of the devil, is that many of us feel [28:41] that we are so far gone that we can never come back. And God says, no, that would be [28:47] true if it was based on you. But it’s a lie because it’s based on the work of God the [28:53] Son. It’s based on the work of Jesus on the cross in which he took our sins onto himself [28:59] and then he freely gave his life to us. So that we can come out of that water and live
[29:08] in the newness of life. But I think the greatest thing about this is that we come out of that [29:14] water and we are still human. We come out of that water and as we walk in that newness [29:23] of life we must constantly come back to the gospel. We must constantly come back to the [29:29] word of God. We must constantly come back to remind us that even though the redemption [29:34] is going to continue to work in us, it’s going to continue to change us, it’s going to continue [29:38] to give us more and more love, more and more passion for God, our life is still not dependent
[29:45] and secure in that. We continue through life finding our security. And we continue through [29:53] finding our identity in Christ, in Christ alone. Because as we just said, he is our [30:01] solid rock. If you are not secure in Jesus, if you are not standing on him, if you do [30:08] not have life in him, you are finding it in very wrong places. In places that will not [30:16] ultimately satisfy. In places that will not ultimately give you the security that you [30:21] seek, the life that you need as life in Jesus. You have heard some interesting stories today.
[30:29] Everybody is different. All stories are different. We all come to Jesus in a different way and [30:38] it’s not so important how, it’s just important that we do. For some of us, we struggle to [30:46] come with Jesus because we want these human relationships that fill us up. Find our security [30:53] in that. For some of us, we are holding on to our regret and our guilt and it’s keeping [30:57] us from understanding that Jesus saves us from that. He washes that guilt away. And [31:03] he wants to be the most significant relationship in our lives. Because through him, he will
[31:08] give us other relationships. Through him, he will connect us to the beauty of the gospel. [31:17] So we can live life together. Through the gospel. As we move from one sacrament to [31:28] another. I am reminded today so abundantly of the beautiful pictures in each of them. [31:36] Now as we respond to the proclamation of the gospel through baptism today, we respond [31:42] by proclaiming it ourselves. Through the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus for [31:50] the remission of our sins. Because that is what this represents. It represents Jesus
[31:55] taking our sins and paying the penalty through the sacrifice of being beaten and bruised [32:03] and pierced, his body broken on our behalf. Through shedding his blood, which symbolizes [32:10] life leaving the body. That is what this represents. It sits on the Lord’s table.
[32:19] But we are going to come forward, those of us who believe, we will come forward and [32:23] we will eat the bread and we will drink the cup. That symbolizes that he didn’t just [32:31] simply take our sins away and say now you don’t sin. No. He went further. What that [32:37] symbolizes is the life of Christ and the righteousness of Christ coming into ourselves [32:44] symbolically. And Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, he says do this, and as often as you do this, [32:55] you proclaim the Lord’s death until he returns. He says we all come forward if you believe.
[33:04] Come forward and take and eat and take and drink and realize that what you are doing [33:13] is proclaiming the gospel to each other. You are finding unity with each other through [33:20] communion. In the Old Testament they had this thing called table fellowship. Meals were [33:28] very important in Jewish culture. In table fellowship what it represented was that you [33:33] were united in God and you would share meals together with others who were united in God [33:43] and you would call it table fellowship. And then the Passover representing the ultimate
[33:49] portrayal of union with God in table fellowship. It was a very special thing to them. But Jesus [33:58] at the last supper redeemed it to himself and said now this table fellowship is something [34:07] between you and God. And not just anyone can have table fellowship with God. If you have [34:12] sin, you can’t have table fellowship with God. But through this Jesus said you can come [34:17] to God’s table because sin is no longer a barrier because I am taking it to myself. [34:26] And so now we come to table fellowship with God not because we are good enough but because
[34:33] Jesus is. And he says come one come all through me. Because he died for our sins and he rose [34:43] again on the third day. And if you are sitting in here today I would be making a great error [34:48] if I did not give you an opportunity. If you do not believe the gospel or you have never [34:52] believed the gospel and you are sitting there and you are saying I want table fellowship [34:56] with God. I want new life in Christ. What do I do? You realize that you are a sinner.
[35:05] You are a pen of your sins and you trust in Christ. So if you are not a believer today [35:11] you can be a believer today. For all of you that are believers as we sing this next song [35:18] come forward. Come to the Lord’s table freely because of Jesus. If you want to become a [35:24] believer and you do not know that you are. Do not come to the table because you are [35:29] embarrassed. But come back and I will be in the back and I want to talk with you and [35:35] I want to pray with you. I do not want you to walk out of here with false hope. I want
[35:38] to make sure that you are getting it right with God today. And then you can come to the
[35:50] Lord. Father, oh God thank you so much. You have taken us from death and our sins to [36:01] new life in your son Jesus. God as we obey you and as we proclaim the gospel together, [36:09] as we proclaim the death of your son. God may we walk out of this place experiencing [36:16] new life in Christ as he is alive. In the name of Jesus, amen.