Steve Gentry
[0:00] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. [0:03] If this is your first time here, I just want to say thank you so much for being here. [0:08] And I hope and pray that you are here to celebrate what God is doing in the lives of people at Village Church. [0:17] If this is your first time here though, my name is Steve. I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:21] And I’m just always thankful someone shows up so that I’m not talking to myself. [0:25] That would be awkward.
[0:27] No, but today we are here and we are going to celebrate some baptisms in each service today. [0:34] And I just wanted to, before we get to that, go ahead and talk a little bit about what God does when He saves someone. [0:41] What God is doing in their lives and even give a charge to them about what God wants to do in their lives as they follow Him now. [0:49] As they make this statement that they desire to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, that they desire to obey Him in this way. [0:57] And they desire to go in their lives and learn and grow in relationship with God and in relationship with His church that He is building on this earth. [1:07] And so I desire today to go to Ephesians chapter 2. I want to start reading in verse 8 this morning.
[1:12] And I just simply want to talk about the grace of God. [1:15] And the reality that salvation comes by grace through faith in God. [1:21] And so I want to start reading in verse 8.
[1:50] I’m so thankful that you sent your son to pay a price that I was not willing nor was I able to pay. [2:05] Lord, that you have counted my sin against him and counted his righteousness towards me, giving me the undeserved gift of life.
[2:16] And even eternal life, eternal life in you, eternal life with you, eternal life experiencing the joy that you know as God. [2:25] And desire for each and every one of us to have or grant us faith. [2:31] And if anyone in here does not know you, may they repent of their sins today and turn to know you. [2:38] In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. [2:42] Grace is a beautiful and amazing thing. [2:47] Like I said, today we’re going to see a few people who have accepted God’s great gift of grace by placing their faith in Jesus.
[2:54] And what I want to do over these next few minutes is I want to talk to you about that. [2:57] And I want to talk to you about the reality of do you know the grace of God? [3:02] Have you trusted in Christ for your sin to give you life, to give you a new life, to give you an eternal life? [3:11] A life with him that will never be taken away, a life with him in which you can worship him forever, [3:16] a life in him in which you can live for eternity as you were originally created to by God himself. [3:23] As he breathed life into our nostrils, he created us in order that we would be a people who could show his glory to the whole world,
[3:31] to the whole universe by our relationship with him, by our following him, by our obeying him, [3:37] by our trusting in him above anything else in this world, above any other message that this world could possibly give us. [3:45] But unfortunately for us, we have all rebelled against that purpose. [3:51] We have all trusted in things and some of us currently trust in things and struggle with trusting in things other than God, [3:58] more than we trust in God. [4:01] We trust in the things that God has created rather than trusting in the creator himself to give us satisfaction.
[4:09] I don’t know what it is in your life. [4:11] I don’t know if it’s that you trust in money or you trust in fame or you trust in the security that’s given to you by this world [4:18] or you trust in the love of another human being or you trust in the 401k plan that you’ve been building or you trust in your job [4:26] or you trust in the power that you have in this life or you trust in your friends, you trust in your relationships, [4:32] you trust in your children to give you ultimate satisfaction in their success, if you trust in your academic success [4:39] to give you everything that you’ve ever needed, if you trust in some type of material possession that you can get in your life.
[4:45] But we all struggle in some way with trusting in the things that this world has rather than the things that God desires for us to have, [4:53] the promises that he has made for us. [4:57] And that is the gift that faith in Jesus Christ can return to us. [5:02] Not a satisfaction that this world can offer us for a short time and then it will fade and rust and go away, [5:08] but rather an eternal satisfaction that is as sure as God. [5:14] God is sure.
[5:16] In this text that we just read, we saw the reality that God desires to save people. [5:24] And if you’re anything like me, maybe you understand this morning that the biggest thing that you need salvation from is from yourself.
[5:31] Because the person that preaches to me the most, the person that talks to me the most is me. [5:37] I can never leave myself. I’m always here. I’m always thinking. I’m always lying to myself. [5:42] That I’m going to find the hope that I want. I’m going to find the satisfaction that I want. [5:46] And all sorts of things that have nothing to do with God. [5:50] I don’t really need anyone to lead me astray because I lead myself astray all the time. [5:56] But God comes in and he gives us this amazing message this morning.
[6:02] And that message is number one that we all need to be redeemed. [6:06] And that redemption is the work of God. [6:10] See, God does not look to us and say, you’re in a tough spot. You’re in a bad situation. [6:16] Look at what you’ve done to yourself. Look at the place that you’ve gotten yourself in. [6:20] Now do something to reverse that. [6:24] Pick yourself up. Clean yourself off. Make yourself holy for me. Make yourself righteous for me.
[6:30] I’m so thankful that God doesn’t say that. [6:34] Because if he did, we would all be hopeless. [6:37] Because as soon as I clean one thing up in my life, I find that I have ten more that are just as dirty or dirtier than that one thing. [6:46] As soon as I find hope in myself, or I’m doing pretty good, I’m a pretty good guy, I love my wife really well. [6:53] Then I have an argument with her and I find out what a selfish person I really am. [6:58] As soon as I do something right with my kids, as soon as they look at me in loving eyes and say,
[7:05] Daddy, I love you, the next day I disappoint them in some way and I find selfishness in my heart.
[7:13] See, as soon as I find one good thing about myself, I see the reality that very close at hand, very nearby, [7:21] is sin to remind me of who I truly am left to my own. [7:30] But the scripture tells us in verse 8, it speaks to us, it proclaims to us, it begs for us to understand that for by grace you have been saved through faith. [7:40] Grace is an undeserved gift that God gives us. It’s not something that we can do for ourselves. [7:46] It’s not something that we can clean up. It’s not something that we can make right because then it would not be grace any longer. [7:53] Because grace is God giving us something that we do not deserve.
[7:58] And that is the gift of himself. That is the gift of salvation. That is the gift of redemption from sin. [8:04] That is the gift of hope. And that we don’t have to look inside of ourselves for hope. [8:11] Because God freely desires to give each and every one of us the hope that we need in and of himself. [8:21] To start the New Year off, I’ve started going through the scriptures and I’ve been reading the Old Testament in large chunks currently. [8:27] And it’s one just this thread that keeps jumping out to me the more and more I read of the Old Testament. [8:33] And that is that we are sinful. That we do things that don’t make any sense.
[8:41] That we run away from God rather than run to God. [8:45] And we are people in need of salvation. [8:49] We need God to do something. Because we can’t do it ourselves. [8:55] I want you to see just a few phrases throughout these three verses. Here’s a few of them. [8:59] By grace, not of your own doing. Gift of God, not a result of works. [9:06] We are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. God prepared beforehand.
[9:12] Each phrase drips with the work of God for us and not the work of ourselves. [9:20] For ourselves or for God. [9:23] You see salvation is something that God desires to get all of the credit for. [9:27] And salvation is something that God desires to do completely himself. [9:32] Because only he is perfect. Only he is capable. Only he has the power to save.
[9:39] And friends he desires to save each and every one of us. [9:44] And he gives us that way in this text. [9:46] Number two this morning, God gives grace through faith in Jesus. [9:52] You see grace is the gift of saving people from sin. [9:56] And God desires to do that. Note that he says in verse eight that grace comes through faith. [10:05] You see what is faith?
[10:07] And why is it so necessary for us to attain, understand, and treasure the gift of grace that God desires to give us? [10:16] Faith is the realization that there is a God who we have sinned against. [10:22] Who loves us enough to sacrifice his own son for us. [10:28] And he did that on the cross. And he did that through his son Jesus Christ. [10:32] You see God gives grace to those who know that they need it. [10:36] And the reality this morning is that if you don’t know that you are a sinner, grace is not a great gift.
[10:41] If you don’t know that you have sinned against a God who saves and a God who loves.
[10:47] Then you won’t want his gift. [10:49] It will be offensive to you. [10:52] Because it looks to you as if someone is trying to give you something that you can’t give yourself. [10:58] And we try to be our own gods each and every day. [11:02] But the reality is that when we come to this realization that there is a God. [11:06] That there is a God more powerful than anything we could ever imagine.
[11:09] There is a God more capable of anything that we could ever imagine. [11:12] More sufficient than anything or anyone we could ever find in this world. [11:17] It is only at that point when we see that we have sinned against him and him alone. [11:22] That we understand that we need salvation.
[11:27] We need redemption.
[11:30] There is nothing that we can do to get it. [11:34] And it is only when we look to that God.
[11:39] Say God I need hope that can only come from you. [11:41] That we will ever understand how great, how wonderful, and how beautiful the grace that he offers us is. [11:52] Because it is a grace so great. [11:55] And a love so powerful.
[11:59] That he stepped out of eternity. [12:02] He stepped down from his very own throne. [12:06] From eternity past. [12:07] From a vantage point in which he spoke and everything existed. [12:12] A power that we can never comprehend. [12:15] He stepped down from that and became one of his very own creation.
[12:21] And in love pursued us even in our sin. [12:24] In love sacrificed himself even in our sin. [12:28] And in love he went to the cross. [12:31] He who knew no sin. [12:33] He who was perfect. [12:34] He who is almighty.
[12:35] He went to the cross and willfully and gladly took your sin onto himself.
[12:45] God himself paid the penalty for you and for me. [12:51] God himself hung on a cross and died. [12:55] So that we would not have to know the pain of God’s wrath for eternity.
[13:02] But Jesus, when he gave his life, when he took our sin, he gave something else. [13:10] And that is his righteousness. [13:13] He gave it to you. [13:16] He gave it to me. [13:18] Lived a perfect life. [13:20] Not just on this earth, but for eternity he has lived a perfect life.
[13:25] Holy. [13:26] Righteous. [13:28] And in taking our sin, he looked to us and said, you can have my obedience as if you did it. [13:37] But Jesus didn’t just die because that’s not what God does. [13:42] Jesus defeated sin and death by three days later rising from the dead. [13:47] If I’m going to have faith in a God, it will be the God who has power over death and sin.
[13:53] It will be the God who death cannot defeat. [13:56] It will be the God who can die and then get up and live again. [14:01] And that is who we have in Jesus Christ. [14:05] We have an unmatched feat. [14:08] Someone who suffered, someone who died, someone who was buried, and then got back up three days later and said, [14:15] I do this for you.
[14:17] I defeat sin. [14:18] I defeat death. [14:20] Because we are going to die and the kind of God that we need is the kind of God that can look to us [14:25] and say, once we are die and say, live again. [14:29] That’s the kind of God that we need. [14:32] And that’s the kind of God that we have.
[14:37] More powerful than we could ever imagine. [14:41] And finally, this morning, faith is shown by following Jesus in obedience. [14:48] You see, when we come to God, when we come to Jesus Christ, when we see the beauty of his salvation, [14:54] when we see our sin in comparison to his holiness, there’s this moment of dread. [14:59] There’s this moment where we think that we are hopeless before him. [15:02] And then he shows us the cross.
[15:07] And we see not just holiness, not just righteousness, but we also see love.
[15:13] We will freely give him our life. [15:16] We will freely give him our hope. [15:18] We will trust in him for everything because he’s the great God. [15:24] So why baptism?
[15:27] It’s very interesting that God calls us when we trust in him. [15:30] He says, trust in me with your life and then follow me in believers baptism. [15:35] You see, in verse 10, I think we have a very important key when it says that for we are his workmanship. [15:43] You see, first he shows us, he says, you’re not going to be saved by your works. [15:46] There’s nothing you do to redeem yourself. [15:47] I’ve done it. But then he says, it’s not your works because you are going to be my workmanship.
[15:56] See, God wants to do something in your life you can’t do for yourself so that you can now point to him and say, [16:02] look at the work that he’s done. [16:04] He says, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. [16:15] You see, the Bible says that when God saves, he gives a new life. [16:21] He takes us through faith and makes us new. [16:24] He recreates us in redemption.
[16:27] He takes us out of sin and gives us a new life that he is going to form. [16:33] You see, baptism is a symbol that he’s given to represent that change. [16:39] You see, baptism is the first step in which we give over and we say, [16:43] God, I desire to be your workmanship and I will obey you. [16:46] I will follow you. I will live for faith. [16:49] I will live away from the sin that so easily distracts me.
[16:53] And I desire to follow you. I desire to live for you. [16:57] And God gives us this symbol of trust. [17:01] You see, when you’re baptized, it’s a picture of the work of Jesus. [17:06] In Matthew chapter 28 verses 19 through 20, after Jesus has risen from the dead, [17:11] he looks to his disciples and he says, Go, make disciples of all nations. [17:16] In other words, go and tell the world what I’ve done.
[17:18] Go and get them to follow me. [17:20] Go and give them this good news that I have salvation. [17:23] And he says, Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [17:27] teaching them to observe all that I’ve commanded you and behold, [17:31] I’m with you always at the end of the age. [17:33] You see, baptism is a step in discipleship.
[17:36] It’s a step in following Jesus, a step in obeying him. [17:40] And I think that in baptism, we learn something. [17:44] It’s a process of him teaching us. [17:46] You see, it’s the picture of what Jesus does on the cross. [17:50] You see, when these people come up and they’re lowered down, [17:54] it represents Jesus being lowered down into the grave,
[17:58] taking a death that we should have died for us, [18:03] lowered into that grave so that we would know the cost, [18:06] so that we would know the wage of our sin. [18:09] But he didn’t stay that way. [18:12] Because when the person comes up out of the water, [18:15] it is representative of the new life that Jesus gives us in resurrection.
[18:21] That we are a hopeful people. [18:23] There’s nothing worse than death. [18:26] There’s nothing that steals hope away more than death does.
[18:32] But the resurrection of Jesus Christ says that even death should not steal our hope [18:38] because we have a God more powerful than death. [18:42] And when they come up out of that water, it represents that resurrection, [18:45] it represents that hope. [18:47] But then we have water.
[18:50] You see, hopefully most of you in the past few days have taken a shower, [18:53] a bath or something. [18:55] Especially the person next to you, they hope that. [18:57] I’m far enough away, it’s not bothering me. [19:00] But the reality is that water represents cleansing. [19:04] Water represents washing the dirt away.
[19:07] And we go down into the water because it represents God himself [19:12] taking the dirt and the grime of our sin off of us [19:16] and washing it completely away. [19:18] We’re no longer bound by our guilt. [19:21] We no longer need to carry the baggage of our sin. [19:23] We no longer need to carry the guilt of a life that’s not worthy of God.
[19:27] Because Jesus says that because of what he’s done, you’re worthy. [19:31] As worthy as Jesus. That’s grace. [19:35] You tell me you don’t deserve it? [19:36] None of us do. You do not deserve it. [19:38] That’s why it’s grace. [19:41] And the water represents God saying,
[19:43] I will no longer count your sin against you. [19:46] I look at you and see the perfection and the righteousness of my son Jesus [19:50] who loved you, who lived for you, who died for you, who rose again for you, [19:56] so that you would not have to live with your sin weighing you down. [20:03] With your guilt keeping you from God. [20:05] And God says, worship me as if you’ve never sinned
[20:09] because that’s how God sees you in Jesus. [20:12] God says, live for me as if you have no sin because that’s how he sees you in Jesus. [20:18] Grace is greater than any sin you could ever have. [20:21] Grace is greater than any doubt you could ever have. [20:24] Grace is greater than anything in your life that would ever keep you away from God. [20:29] And God throws the door wide open and he says,
[20:31] In Jesus come. In Jesus run to me because I have nothing but grace. [20:36] I have nothing but love for you because the price has been completely paid in full. [20:43] And he says, now I’m going to do something in grace that you will not believe. [20:47] I’m going to take you. [20:50] He’s going to mold you. [20:52] And he’s going to make you.
[20:53] And he’s going to work in your life. [20:55] And he’s going to grow you. [20:56] And he’s going to develop you. [20:58] He’s going to put a church around you. [20:59] He’s going to put people in your life. [21:01] But greater than that, he’s going to put himself in your life.
[21:05] And say, live and work for me because you believe it. [21:10] Because you trust it. [21:12] Because you have the very grace of God. [21:17] Who should be baptized? [21:20] Anyone who has faith in Jesus. [21:23] The scriptures tell us a story in the book of Acts, chapter 8 of the Ethiopian eunuch.
[21:28] A man who’s returning to Africa and he’s reading the scriptures. [21:31] And he doesn’t understand and God brings another man named Philip into his life. [21:36] And the man explains the scriptures, points him to Jesus. [21:40] And the man believes and he trusts and he hopes in God through Christ. [21:44] And the Ethiopian eunuch looks to him and says, [21:46] What prevents me from being baptized?
[21:49] There’s water right over there. [21:50] And the scripture says that immediately Philip took him and baptized him.
[21:59] Friends, the people we’re going to baptize today, they’re not perfect. [22:03] None of us are.
[22:06] The people that are going to be baptized today, trust Jesus.
[22:12] And God says, that’s all that’s required.
[22:20] First, we’re going to baptize a guy named Kurt Anderson. [22:23] And his friend Doug Peterson is going to come and he’s going to baptize him today. [22:27] We love for friends and family, those who are influential in the lives of those being baptized. [22:33] To be a part of that baptism today. [22:35] But I tell you, last year we baptized his wife Jill. [22:38] And Kurt sat in here and I knew he needed Jesus.
[22:42] I knew he did, as much as I know I do. [22:46] And I just prayed. [22:48] I said, God, put people in his life to point them to you.
[22:56] And God did. [22:58] And I’m so thankful for what God’s doing in Kurt’s life. [23:04] I’m so thankful for the reports that I hear. [23:06] And I’m so thankful for the community group, excuse me, village group. [23:10] I still mess up, if you do, it’s okay. [23:13] I’m so thankful for the village group that God put him and Jill in.
[23:19] If you could just realize the work that God could do through you and discipleship of someone else, it’ll change your life. [23:29] Lives are being changed in our village groups because we’re being the church. [23:35] And God has put people in his life, has put faithful men in his life, in friendship. [23:41] In relationship to speak the gospel into his life. [23:44] He’s put his word in his life. [23:46] And Kurt has trusted Christ for salvation.
[23:49] So I’m going to ask Doug and Kurt to come up. [23:51] And nothing prevents you from being baptized today because you’ve trusted, you’ve had faith in Jesus Christ. [23:57] The water’s warm, I think. [24:00] I’ve not gotten in the water. [24:03] I thought about it, but then I thought it might be weird.
[24:07] So, so Doug, baptize your good friend Kurt.
[24:14] Kurt, it’s been a breath of fresh air watching you in the last five months. [24:19] I’m just seeing what God’s done in your life.
[24:22] I’m just joyful to call myself your brother in Christ. [24:25] And I can’t wait to see what God has in place for you. [24:28] I’ll work with you. [24:29] I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, [24:34] lowered in the lightness of his death, and raised in the life of Christ.
[24:56] Oh God, so good. [24:59] If that doesn’t get you excited, there’s something wrong with you. [25:03] I think it could be that you need to get saved. [25:06] But I do want to tell you that that’s not possible. [25:08] [25:08]
[25:08] [25:08] what I said about Acts chapter 8 I truly believe that and that’s why we [25:16] plan to baptize three in this time but if you’re sitting there and you’ve [25:21] trusted Christ and you say I need to be baptized we’ll do it today nothing [25:26] prevents you just tell me you trust Jesus and I’ll get you wet I’ll throw [25:30] you in the water I won’t drown you but we will give you a towel you don’t have a
[25:38] help Doug Peterson’s wife Christy and and her friend Tanya Meredith this [25:44] morning and Christy is going to share just a few words of what God has done [25:48] in her life today
[26:08] bringing close to the Christ my husband Doug and I came to village two years ago [26:13] in search of a church where we felt comfortable and welcome where we could [26:16] build relationships and grow spiritually we felt an immediate joy when we visited [26:20] village we were approached very early about a village group to join I promise [26:25] I wrote this before he came up Doug and I were very interested but thought we [26:30] would give it a try later since we were so busy with work we’re gonna have a
[26:38] we get nervous we feel outside of our comfort zone
[26:45] after a couple of Sundays we began to get convicted over that because we were [26:49] asked again to come try out the group we went that next Thursday and haven’t [26:53]
[26:58] I was asked to bring up one person with me today and then a huge accountability [27:04] partner and friend that I meet with each week to reflect and study with but [27:08] I also realized that I could fill this whole stage with the people that have [27:11] helped me in my walk of Christ it began with that village group and has grown so [27:16] much more from women’s groups in the summer to three of us that meet every [27:21] Sunday night to study the word thank you Donna and
[27:24] finally I can’t complete my story without letting Doug know how much he has
[27:39] loved me and my relationship with Christ
[27:44] he is the leader of our house the one that asked those hard questions like how [27:49] was your prayer life and what are you reading about in the Bible supporting me [27:53] in every ounce of life and walk with Jesus all of these events have helped [27:58] deepen my personal relationship with Christ through prayer studying the word [28:01] continuing to grow in my mission life so as I continue in my journey and [28:07] moving the mission I know that so many people help guide encourage and hold me
[28:12] accountable and to love me every step of that bumpy road of life and living for [28:16] Jesus and I’m excited to see all the relationships that will continue to grow [28:20] in and outside of church so here’s a little plug for Steve Nate and James join [28:26] a village group that is where I developed and grew in my relationship [28:32] and walk
[29:13] Oh God’s good I have had the privilege of getting to know Scott and Aaron Mason [29:22] over these last months and Scott has trusted in Christ and he’s requested [29:27] today to be baptized and he’s going to come up and share a few words and and [29:32] my good friend Rob Brewer is going to come up and baptize him today
[29:43] so my name is Scott
[30:08] I do have a slow journey in 2009 I was 23 I don’t know why I tried to break up [30:16] with my girlfriend at the time is my life now thankfully she wasn’t willing [30:23] to run away and give up on it so easily we decided to get more involved with [30:27] church you know I would got to be part of I realized that you know the [30:36] representation what Christ was doing in my life [30:39] have compassion something I didn’t have much and I discovered that without a
[30:45] relationship with Christ I was destined for an eternity away from God [30:51] I just wanted to have my good friend Rob here today baptizing he on he introduced [30:55] me to the church and also I’ve seen in his life how God how his faith in God [30:59] has gone closer come to the village it’s really opened my eyes to the thought that we have [31:06] the power to this
[31:09] the past couple months have been really tough for us [31:13] they’re fun and I just can’t thank everyone here enough for welcoming us [31:19] sharing with love and support is there an uniting suffering [31:23] we love you guys so much
[31:27] Scott it’s such an honor and a privilege to know both of you and Aaron you guys are just as much of a blessing to us [31:34] and to our family and we love you guys so much and it’s such an honor to do this so thank you for asking us [31:39] so Scott I baptize you in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit
[31:46] Lord of the likeness of this death and raised to new life in Jesus
[32:08] I have a great privilege privilege of baptizing my niece I didn’t know about this till this morning [32:15] but I’m gonna ask my niece Katie McLeod to come up her her I think her mom’s gonna do something [32:21] but Katie go ahead and step into the water I’ll make sure you don’t fall or not [32:31] see there teenagers what are you gonna do [32:34] this is my niece Katie she has professed faith in Jesus Christ as her Savior Katie [32:41] because you’ve professed faith in Jesus Christ because you trusted him as your Savior
[32:46] I baptize you in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [32:50] Lord in the likeness of his death raised to new life in Jesus Christ
[33:09] I didn’t plan ahead arms are wet now thanks somebody else gets to use that after I’ve dirtied it [33:18] I tell you what a privilege it is to see God working in the lives of the people of our church [33:25] and this morning we’ve got three more lined up to be baptized this morning [33:29] three people that I’ve had the privilege to get to know some better than others [33:33] but I’ve had the privilege of hearing from each person in the testimony of how God has used relationships [33:41] inside of this church with you guys to bring them to faith in Jesus Christ
[33:48] to bring them to a place where they’re not just kind of wanting to leave sin [33:52] but rather they’re just desiring with joy to repent of sin and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior [33:57] and I tell you God’s working in the Garnet group because there’s two guys here from Alan Garnet’s group [34:03] to be baptized this morning and they’re gonna share testimonies this morning [34:06] and I’m so thankful to hear from people the story of how they came to faith in Christ [34:10] and first I’m gonna ask Anthony and Alan to come on up
[34:14] and Anthony’s gonna share with you how God is working in his life and then Alan will baptize them [34:19] Good morning everybody [34:21] Well first of all I would like to thank everyone here at Village Church [34:26] for helping me along my spiritual path really [34:30] I’ve been to many churches and this one has been thought by far the most supportive [34:35] and I’ve definitely met a good group of people among y’all that have really helped me out
[34:38] so I’d like to thank y’all for that first as well as Steve and Alan [34:42] It’d take the whole service to explain my journey to find Jesus Christ so in short [34:48] unfortunate circumstances prevented me from graduating basic training last fall for the Navy [34:53] but in my time in Chicago I was cut off from my bad habits, my friends, and my family [34:59] As the stress of my isolation grew I took comfort in reading the Bible [35:04] and then after a while I started really learning what repenting really was
[35:08] and realized that I could in fact be saved even after the things I’d done in my past [35:13] and so after years of living, lawless and sinful, I saw the light and found Jesus Christ
[35:21] Amen
[35:34] You have to sit down [35:36] Yeah
[35:39] Lord have mercy [35:43] Anthony it has been a joy to watch God’s activity in your life [35:47] and it is my pleasure to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit [35:53] Lord with him I baptize you [35:56] and raise to new life in Christ
[36:10] Amen [36:11] Praise God [36:12] Man if that doesn’t get you excited, there’s something wrong with you [36:16] You probably need to get saved, alright? [36:18] That’s all I’m gonna say [36:20] Alright, now I’m gonna ask one of my neighbors, man awesome, James Russell
[36:24] Why don’t you come up?
[36:28] Applause
[36:32] Hello everybody [36:34] I’m not much of a public speaker so here I go
[36:39] Alright, I grew up as a Christian [36:42] attending a Baptist church and will say before I really knew what it meant [36:48] before I really knew what it meant [36:50] As I got older I stopped attending church and reading the Bible [36:54] My wife had a similar background [36:57] God was always an important part of our lives
[37:01] but he wasn’t the center of our lives [37:04] We always hoped that we would one day find a church that would help us and our children following God [37:11] After visiting a few churches and not finding anything we liked we eventually stopped looking [37:18] One night my wife prayed that God would help us find a church we could call home [37:24] The next day we found a cow tipping postcard from Village Church in our mailbox [37:35] We held onto it for several weeks before deciding to attend
[37:39] On our first visit everything felt so comfortable [37:43] and we’ve been back almost every week since [37:47] Thanks to the welcoming members and the talented band and pastors [37:52] Sunday worship has become something we look forward to every week [38:00] We are grateful for Steve for always having a message that speaks to us [38:06] For not being afraid to say what others are and for challenging us to be better at everything we do for the glory of God
[38:15] Allen and Summer Garnett were the first couple to sit down and talk with us that first Sunday [38:23] My wife and I now attend their small groups and I have been attending a small men’s Bible study group with Allen [38:33] We are so grateful to God for bringing them into our lives and for their support [38:41] For the guidance and friendship [38:44] God has really made my wife and I look at our lives and made some changes over the last few months [38:51] And we continue to make changes every day
[38:53] I know that I am on a path to be a better husband and father thanks to God’s grace [38:59] Not only is God changing my life and the lives of my wife and children [39:07] But he is also changing the lives of our family members and friends through us [39:11] I am proud to say that God is no longer just an important part of my life [39:16] He is now the center of my life
[39:23] Applause
[39:29] Laughter
[39:36] It’s been a joy too to watch God’s activity in James and Jennifer’s lives and how he’s changed them over the last few months [39:42] It is a privilege and a joy to be able to baptize you as my brother [39:48] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit [39:51] Lower it with him and baptize him [39:53] And raise to new life in Christ
[40:00] Applause
[40:07] Awesome [40:08] Thank you, thank you brother [40:10] Awesome, well we got one more scheduled [40:13] A good friend of mine, somebody I’ve had the privilege of getting to know over the past few months [40:16] If I could just get Alex Eagle and Kathy Brundage to come on up
[40:22] Hello, very nervous
[40:26] So those of you who know me know that I get very nervous when talking [40:31] So bear with me on this one [40:34] I have never actually been confident enough to speak on this stage [40:38] So I’m going to imagine you all as little kids right now [40:41] Laughter [40:43] So the Lord has brought me up here today
[40:45] And through him he has given me the courage and strength to talk to you guys [40:50] This is pretty big that I’m right here talking to you [40:54] So summer of 2012 I was baptized for my first time [40:58] It was shortly after that, I mean shortly before that I was saved [41:03] I was saved in May and then right after that I was baptized [41:06] It was beautiful but I truly didn’t understand the point of it
[41:14] When the, sorry, okay [41:19] Okay, so when I asked myself last week [41:22] Did I really get it, was I really saved, did I really trust in him [41:26] The answer was no
[41:29] So I’m here today to show my faith in him [41:33] And trust in him and give him all of me [41:38] I’m ready
[41:43] Applause
[41:50] I am so honored and privileged to be with you [41:54] And to just represent everyone here that just loves you so much [41:58] And to see how much you have grown [42:01] So Alex, I baptize you in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit [42:06] Lowered in the likeness of his death [42:10] And raised to new life and glory
[42:23] Applause
[42:29] I am so grateful and thankful for the work that God is doing [42:37] It’s not a work that I’m doing, it’s not a work that even we’re doing [42:41] It’s a work of just realizing more and more every day [42:47] The wonderful grace of God [42:49] And more and more every day [42:52] Just giving life over to that wonderful grace
[42:56] God is good
[43:00] I want to worship him, I want to thank him, I want to love him [43:04] But here’s the reality of this morning [43:07] God doesn’t simply just want to work in the lives of the three that you’ve seen today [43:12] He desires to work in your life [43:15] Wherever you are, whatever’s happening in your life [43:19] I want you to know that God loves you
[43:24] I want you to know that Jesus wants to save you [43:29] And I want you to know that God desires to do a work in your life [43:33] That I know you are not capable of doing it [43:38] And I know that you are not capable of living up to the holiness and righteousness of God [43:45] But friends, that’s what’s so remarkable about grace [43:50] God never looks to us and says, save yourself
[43:56] God looks to us and says, look at what my son did [44:00] That’s enough [44:02] It’s more than enough [44:04] It’s more than sufficient [44:07] And if you don’t know God, I pray today that you’ll trust him [44:15] If you’ve not followed him in the obedience of baptism
[44:18] I pray today that you’ll understand why [44:22] It’s such a beautiful experience, it’s such a beautiful testimony [44:26] Because it’s one of two ways that God gives us to just physically preach the gospel to everyone around us [44:36] To physically preach through our lives [44:39] This is what I believe [44:41] That’s why believers do this because it’s a signal, it’s a symbol of what I believe
[44:47] It’s a symbol of what God is doing inside of me [44:50] It’s an external sign of an inward reality [44:53] My wedding band doesn’t make me married [44:56] My love for my wife and my covenant with her and God do [45:00] But I wear this ring as a symbol to the world [45:03] Stay away ladies
[45:09] As a symbol to the world that my heart is taken [45:15] My life is for my wife [45:19] And friends, baptism is the same thing [45:21] It’s a message to the world of what God is doing and desires to do in your life through his grace [45:31] And so anytime today over these next few minutes if God’s working in your heart as we sing [45:37] Just come and grab me
[45:40] Nothing prevents you from being baptized if you trusted Jesus [45:44] But while we’re singing today I want to take part with you in the second sign and symbol that God has given us [45:52] And that is the Lord’s Supper Communion [45:55] The bread represents the broken body of Jesus [45:59] The cup represents his shed blood [46:02] As Jesus poured his life out on the cross
[46:07] He gave it to us [46:09] When you take that bread, when you take that cup and you drink and you eat [46:15] What it is symbolizing, what it is representing again is the work that God is doing in your life [46:20] It is a proclamation to everyone around you [46:23] I trust in the gospel, I believe in Jesus Christ [46:27] I have faith in him for my life
[46:30] And over these next few moments as we sing together [46:34] James and the band are going to start playing and I invite you when you’re ready [46:39] One of these six stations around here, if you’re a believer in Jesus Christ [46:43] Come, proclaim the gospel by eating and drinking of his meal of communion [46:53] If you’re in here and you don’t know him, trust him today [46:57] When you’re ready, come