(This transcript was generated by AI. Apologies for any inacuracies)

We have decided to kick off a brand new teaching series as we move out of 2024 into 2025.

And we're gonna be doing this throughout January.

And so we wanna go ahead and invite you back for the first part of the new year.

And we are titling this new series, Thrive in 25.

And it's gonna be all about how to thrive with your spiritual life in 2025.

Sometimes we can get a little dull on life's journey, but I do believe that God is wanting to sharpen us up so that we can do more for his kingdom in 2025.

Anybody receive that today?

Come on.

Yeah.

And we're gonna talk today a little bit about what water baptism is all about.

And following each service today, we're gonna be baptizing people out in the atrium.

And so if that is something you wanna participate with and you haven't signed up for baptism, I do want you to know that we have the t-shirts, the shorts, and all the things you need in order to change if God so moves on your heart during the service today to be water baptized.

As we talk about the meaning of that a little bit today.

And we're gonna try something a little bit different as we move into 2025.

At each service throughout January, we're gonna be baptizing people out in the atrium during the worship services, come on.

And so, yeah, if you don't get baptized today or you wanna be baptized one of those weekends during January, again, you can just sign up for that.

And there's a way to do that.

There's a little QR code right in front of you on the seat back.

And if you're sitting on the front row, it's behind you.

Come on, somebody.

But there's a QR code on the seat back and you can simply scan that QR code or tap that thing, hold your phone up to that sticker, and it will pull up an information page.

And there, it'll talk about upcoming events.

And you can go to the upcoming events page and you can sign up for the weekend that you wanna be baptized throughout January if you choose to do that at any time during the service that is there for your convenience, or you can simply stop off and let somebody know the old fashioned way through the connect card or out, you know, in the atrium today as you leave.

But I wanna talk a little bit today about what is the significance of baptism?

And I love to talk about this idea.

And we typically baptize well over 100 people a year since 2008 in the life of our church, come on.

And I love to talk about the significance of baptism.

And we do them down at the beach in the summertime, but we'll be doing them in the atrium today.

If you have your Bibles with you, I'm gonna invite you to open it up to Philippians chapter three.

I wanna read a couple of verses here to take off as we move into this subject of baptism.

The Apostle Paul writes to church at Philippi, and he says, I focus on this one thing.

He says, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

He says, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Paul says, look.

He says, I focus.

Look at your neighbor and say, it's time to get focused, come on.

He says, I focus on this one thing.

Forgetting some things.

Look at your neighbor and say, that ain't no problem for me.

Go ahead and tell him.

I'm getting older.

I forget some things sometimes.

But he says, I don't only forget some things.

He says, I actually look forward to what lies ahead.

He says, I look forward to the calling I have in Christ Jesus.

And literally, that's what I want you to do as a Christ follower, as a person, to look forward to the life that Christ Jesus is calling us to.

That's why we're doing this series called Thrive in 25.

Because he doesn't only call you out of a lifestyle of sin, God calls you into a lifestyle of following him and a new life that is infused with his spirit to move forward for what you're created to be and do.

And we wanna encourage you to step fully into that as a Christ follower.

Baptism is a way to begin to remember some things about the future, but it's also to forget about some things in the past.

And the Bible says we're to be water baptized.

And we're gonna look at the whole significance of that today, but even Jesus told his first followers as they were moving out of one season into another season to go and baptize people.

Look what he says in Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 to 20.

This is after he's resurrected from a grave and before he ascends into the heavens.

Jesus makes this statement.

He says, I've been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

Come on, somebody.

He says, therefore, go and make disciples.

That word translates, go and make students.

He says, go and make disciples of all nations.

Look what he says, baptizing them.

This is water baptism.

Dipping them under the water, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And also teach these new students to obey the commands I have given you.

And be sure of this, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age.

He wasn't just preparing followers for a new year, he was preparing them for a new era.

Come on, somebody.

A new time period.

He had resurrected from a grave.

And he says, now you need to go and baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Not just the Father, not just the name of the Son, not just the name of the Holy Spirit.

He says, but all three have come together.

And I got a message for the world.

And you need to go and dump people underneath the water.

They are to identify with this message.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit has significant power in their life.

Go and make new disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And the Bible says that this is what He commands them to do.

And so here we are, after the ascension of Christ, and before the return of Christ, doing what Jesus commanded those first disciples, baptizing people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

That's significant because before the ascension, or before the resurrection and the ascension of Christ, they used to just baptize people as maybe to a certain identity.

Was it to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

See, see, baptism wasn't just a religious thing, it was a cultural thing in that day and age.

In other words, what someone would do is someone would go in, if they were identifying with a messenger's message, they would go into the water and they would dip themselves underneath the water and say, you know what, I am identifying with that messenger's message.

What that messenger is saying, what that messenger is teaching.

Jesus is on the scene, he's been teaching some new things, come on, somebody.

And they had already baptized people of repentance baptism, people had gone into the Jordan River and got baptized for repenting of their sin, but now Jesus makes a declaration.

He says, you know what, these new believers, they need to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And so when you and I make a decision to get baptized as a human being, what we're truly doing is we're identifying with Jesus's message, what Jesus said.

All authority has been given to him.

I'm being baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, because I believe that Jesus is who he says he is.

I identify with his message.

My old way of thinking is gone.

My new way of thinking has come.

Come on, somebody.

And I'm gonna go underwater to declare that the old life is gone and the new life has been raised, and I put my faith in the messenger Jesus's message.

Come on.

So I invite you, if you've never personally been baptized, identifying with the messenger Jesus's message, that maybe you should take a step and go through water baptism.

Be baptized to identify with King Jesus's great message.

It's not just a religious thing that we do at Valorous Church.

It's truly a way for you to signify to yourself, to the church, and to the world around you of whose message you identify with.

Do you identify with Jesus's message?

Let's take a look at what baptism does, what water baptism does.

Water baptism makes or creates a good memory for me personally when I go through the baptism waters.

It creates a good memory for me personally.

Anybody have photo memories on their phone?

Come on, yeah, yeah?

Few of you?

Does anybody just some, randomly when you look at your phone, does a photo pop up from a few years ago?

Come on.

Well, you got photo memory on your phone, come on.

And it's reminding you of something that happened a while back.

You know, a photo memory of myself popped up on my phone today.

And when I looked at myself, I said, praise the Lord.

That ain't where I am today.

Because when I looked at that photo memory, I had this big old honking neck brace on.

And it was showing me a picture during this season last year.

And it brought back this memory to me that during this season last year, I was just coming out of neck surgery, just getting back on my feet.

We had just done our first Christmas service out in the atrium here in our new building.

And you know what?

I was in a lot of pain and a lot of hurt.

And when I looked at that picture, I'm like, praise the Lord that I'm not where I was last year, physically, I'm in a different place.

Come on, somebody.

And so that photo created a good memory for me.

Understand water baptism is to do that for you personally.

It's to create a good memory for you.

It's to remind you of the messenger, Jesus's message.

It's to remind you of what he come to do.

It reminds us, you know what?

Personally of that Jesus has swallowed up my old life and I've been raised to new life in Christ Jesus.

And so right after the service today, there's gonna be some people that get dressed, they're gonna put on the baptism t-shirts, the baptism shorts, they're gonna crawl over in that pool and Pastor Richard's gonna be out there and he's gonna walk them into the pool and say, are you putting your faith in Jesus today?

Yes, I am.

You know what?

Well, today I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Bury to your old life, raise to the new life in Christ Jesus.

Everybody's gonna cheer out in the foyer today, okay?

Out in the atrium.

And that person is gonna have a memory etched in their mind today.

What is that memory about?

Well, let's look what the scripture says in Romans six verses one through six.

Paul says this to the church at Rome, he says, he says, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?

He goes, of course not.

He says, since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

Or have you forgotten that when you were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?

We put the past behind us, is what he says.

When we join Christ Jesus in baptism, we join him in his physical death.

Says, for we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.

We're not physically dead, but it symbolizes something.

We died and we were buried with Christ.

Just like Christ was buried in the grave, we're buried by baptism.

And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live these new lives, run towards the promises of God.

Since we have been united with him in his death, we have also been raised to life as he was.

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ on that cross, come on somebody, so that sin might lose its power in our lives.

Goes on to say, we are no longer slaves to sin.

Just like when Moses took those Israelites who had been held in objection captivity for 400 years, and God came to Moses and said, I want my people to leave bondage, captivity, slavery, and I want them to go to a land that I am going to take them to, it's called the promised land.

And he comes to Moses and he says, I'm gonna deliver the people by my strong hand and I'm gonna take them into this promised land, this land flowing with milk and honey, this abundant life, let's call it.

And he says, you know what, Moses, I want you to take them there, and by my powerful hand, I'm gonna deliver you from the hand of Pharaoh, the Egyptian army.

The Bible says God, or Moses begins to take them out of Egypt, and then they're at a place where they have the Red Sea in front of them and they have the enemy behind them.

The Bible says that they put their faith in God and God parted the Red Sea and the Hebrew people were able to cross the Red Sea, but then what happens is the Egyptian army tried to chase them.

The Red Sea came in on top of the army and swallowed up the enemy, and the Hebrew people were delivered from slavery by God's mighty and powerful hand by parting the Red Sea and swallowing up the enemy.

It was a miracle.

And the Bible says, you know what?

Baptism is basically a symbolic way to show us the miracle in the hand of God in our own life.

It's God swallowing up the enemy, swallowing up the past, swallowing up the sin.

Come on, somebody.

So you and I can move forward to his great promises and living the abundant life here on earth.

And so baptism makes a good memory for me if I'll truly come up out of that water and remember that God paid the penalty for my sin through Christ Jesus on that cross.

I don't have to pay it for myself.

And he came to give me power over sin because he swallowed up the enemy.

Come on, somebody.

At my baptism and I can move forward with my life because of God's strong and powerful hand.

I didn't do anything when I went through those baptism waters, but God did a lot.

I put my faith in Jesus.

And when I went down in that water, the water didn't do anything, but etch in my memory about who God is.

And my friend, I need you to know as a believer in Jesus Christ, it needs to etch that same thing in your mind today, if you get publicly baptized.

And if you've been water baptized, it needs to etch that in your mind.

That the old life is gone and the new life has come.

It's a visual reminder that God has swallowed up the enemy and you can move forward with his voice and his power in your life.

And so when I think back to my baptism, 1998, come on somebody.

Well, my first one was when I was like six years old.

I don't know what year that was, probably like 1972 or something.

But I got baptized because everybody else was getting baptized.

And all my friends were, my cousin got baptized, my mom and dad said, you need to get baptized.

I got baptized in whatever it was, like 1972, when I was six years old, because everybody else was doing it.

But it didn't have any significance in my life.

I didn't recognize what that was all about.

And guess what, I just kept on living the way I wanted to live.

But at the age of 32, when I got water baptized, in that little bitty country church over in Thomaston, Georgia, come on somebody, it etched in my memory forever, the power and the love of my great God.

Because I was being baptized to declare I was a believer in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and His power in my life, and I come up out of that water.

And the water changed nothing, but I was forever changed.

Because what was etched in me from my belief in who Christ Jesus is.

Understand, baptism serves as a great memory for you personally.

Do you cherish that snapshot in your own life?

Did you make a personal faith decision to be baptized?

And again, it's really important for us to trust who Jesus says He is, and us to put our personal faith in what He's done for us personally on that cross.

Water baptism simply signifies, I put my past behind me, and I've been raised to new life because of Christ Jesus, and I'm moving forward.

Come on, somebody.

I'm gonna keep on keeping on because of who Christ Jesus in my life.

Does it mean I've achieved perfection, but I'm running the race?

As if one day I'm gonna meet my great Savior because of His ascension and who He is.

Baptism also communicates commitment to the church.

That's the other Christ followers.

It communicates something to me and you and those who have already put their faith in Jesus Christ when somebody goes through the baptism waters.

It's like they're saying, I'm a part of the team.

I'm putting on my God jersey, we like to say it around Valorous Church.

I'm joining the team.

I'm not getting in the transfer portal.

Come on somebody.

I'm committed to Christ and his kingdom.

I'm not gonna wait till, or I'm not gonna look for an NIL deal and just transfer whenever it's time to transfer.

Come on.

Some of you don't even know what I'm talking about because you don't watch college athletes, but anyway.

But the reality of it is when you get publicly baptized, you're telling the church, those who belong to Christ Jesus, who were sharing his kingdom in this world, that you're a part of the team now.

You're committed to the team.

You're in God's kingdom.

Come on.

No longer in the world's kingdom.

Look what it says here in Ephesians chapter four, verses four through six.

It says, truly there is only one body and one spirit.

Just as you've been called to one glorious hope for the future.

There is one Lord.

Everybody say one Lord.

One Lord.

There is one faith.

Everybody say one faith.

One faith.

The writer goes on to say, there is one baptism.

Everybody say one baptism.

One baptism.

And one God.

One God.

And father, who is over all and in all and living through all.

The writer here, as he writes the church at Ephesus, he reminds them of oneness, that they're a unit.

They've all been called out by the same Lord, the same God, the same Jesus.

They've all been forgiven the same way, by the blood of Christ Jesus.

They've all been saved by the power of one resurrection, the resurrection of Christ Jesus.

He reminds them that there's one spirit, there's one Holy Spirit.

Oh, there's a lot of spirits, we know that.

Come on, but there's one Holy Spirit that will guide them to life and the reality of who God has made them to be.

There's truly one true God is what the writer is saying.

There's one faith, there's one church, a church that are following Jesus with their life and making disciples in this world and passing on who the Lord Jesus is to the next generation, the next generation, and the next generation until he returns again.

There's one mission and it's to make disciples that make disciples that make disciples.

And you know what?

We as a church, we're on the same mission, we're on the same team, we're going in the same direction.

We're here for one reason, because Christ Jesus brought us out of darkness into the wonderful light and we're here to shine his light into the world through the various gifts that he gives us as a church.

Come on.

And when you go through those baptism orders, I'm looking at you and I'm saying, you know what?

Whoever just went through those baptism orders, they're saying that God brought them out of darkness into the wonderful light and they belong to the team now.

And I'm going, what position you gonna play?

Come on.

What gift did God give you so that we can win the world to Jesus?

Come on, somebody.

How you gonna step up and do something with your life?

Because Christ Jesus just saved you and brought you out of bondage into victory.

And we're going into the promised land.

We're going into victory.

Come on, somebody.

We're walking in the way that God called us.

And you need to release all that baggage and get on mission with God.

Because this ain't a human's mission.

This is the mission God set for the church.

Come on, somebody.

And when you come out of those baptism orders, I'm licking my chops.

We just got a star recruit for the kingdom.

And you never know, no matter how young or how old they are when they come out of that water, what difference God's gonna make through their life in this world to impact the kingdom.

It's not about bloodline.

It's not about age.

It's not about gender.

It's not about skin color.

It's not about your dialect or the language you even speak.

That baptism signifies one church and one language and one mission.

And when you come out of that water, I know that we're on mission together.

We're going in the same direction and we're about the same thing.

And I'm inviting you to do your part, step up to your part, and even challenging you to not just sit and watch, but God's called us to a mission and to do great things for him.

When you go through those baptism waters, you're saying, I'm committed.

I'm committed to Christ and I'm committed to his mission.

And I'm on board with what he's calling me to be.

And so again, baptism is a way to create a good memory for you personally.

It communicates commitment to the church.

And then lastly, I wrote it down this way.

It's a snapshot for the rest of the world of God's amazing power.

Listen to what the scriptures say in Romans six, verses three through four.

It says, don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too, look what it says, we may live a new life.

Here it declares that you know what?

The way we're able to live this new life, the way we're made new is by what Christ did through his death and his resurrection.

It identifies me to the world around me and says that I'm under new management.

I got a new leader.

I'm following Jesus.

Jesus is the one that I'm choosing to follow with my life.

And what it represents to the world around, it's a testimony of God's great forgiveness and God's great power.

That's what water baptism communicates to the world around us.

That God is a God who forgives my sin, all the sin of the world.

He went to a cross to forgive humanity's sin and I'm going underneath that water, come on somebody, as a representation that all my sin has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

But Jesus, three days later, came up out of that grave because of God's great power.

And that same power that raised Him from the grave is available to you and me, for what?

To live this new life in Christ Jesus, to move life forward, come on.

And so every time somebody goes through the baptism water, it communicates God's forgiveness and the powerful hand of God.

But if by faith, you don't walk with God in this new life, you're not really communicating well on behalf of your great God.

Again, it's signifying that you have the power of the living God in you, the Holy Spirit in you, the great coach in you.

And the same power that resurrected Jesus from the grave is gonna coach you in trying moments, difficult times, and circumstances of life.

I didn't do it on my own.

How do I make the decisions that I make?

It's all because of God and His power.

How do I have any kind of wisdom?

It don't come from the world.

It comes from my great God and His amazing power.

And when you go through the baptism water, you're telling the whole world that I wouldn't be anything without the forgiveness of sin through Christ Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit that is represented through His resurrection.

My friend, I believe with all of my heart, there's some people in here that may have gotten baptized as a kid because somebody else made a decision for them.

But it's God calling you today to go through water baptism, not to disregard what somebody else meant for good for you, not to do away with that, but to do what the Bible says water baptism is all about, to etch a memory for yourself, to communicate to the church that you're committed, to communicate to the world the forgiveness and the power of Jesus.

You're being baptized into Christ Jesus, not as just a religious thing to do, but to signify that you're identifying with a messenger's message, the message of Jesus.

He came to save people from their sins.

He came and poured out His spirit on men and women alike.

He came so we could operate by His amazing power.

He could be forgiven and operate in this world by His power.

Don't you wanna tell the world who your Jesus is?

And so again, if you need to make that decision, there's gonna be some people that are gonna be baptized right after this service, right out in the atrium, but you can join them if you want to.

Just go out there, let them know, tap that little thing on the back of your seat, and we'll baptize you too.

And if we don't have time to baptize you before the second service today, we'll baptize you after the second service today.

We got plenty of time, plenty of clothes, plenty of places for you to change out there if you need to do it.

Don't matter if you're a man or a woman, you know, male or female, we baptize people.

And again, here at Valorous Church, we dedicate families, we dedicate babies, and we have family dedications that say, hey, as a family of believers and as a family, we're coming around them and we dedicate them to the Lord up here on the platform throughout the year.

But we believe that the scripture teaches that when someone comes to an age to make a faith decision for themself in who Jesus is, that they are then to go through the baptism waters and declare him as their Lord and Savior.

And so if you have little ones, we're not gonna baptize them in the water if they haven't been able to make that faith decision by themselves.

We'll dedicate them to the Lord and say, we're gonna surround them, and when they get old enough to make that decision for themselves, we'll be glad to baptize them in the water.

Remember, the water doesn't save anybody.

The water just declares who your Savior is.

Come on, somebody.

And his almighty power at work in you.

And so again, if you need to make that decision today, feel free to let somebody know.

If you need to make it for any Sunday in January, we're gonna be doing baptisms, water baptisms, throughout the month of January.

Let me pray for you.

God, I thank you so much for us being able to put our faith in Jesus Christ.

I thank you so much for this teaching on water baptism.

And God, I pray today that we would believe what your scripture says.

We would trust, God, what this really represents.

God, it etches a good memory for us personally.

God, it communicates to the church that people are committed to be a part of what you're doing in the world to make the disciples.

And God, it declares to the world at large around us of your forgiveness and your power through the blood and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And God, if there's one here today that hasn't put their faith in the finished work of Christ on that cross and his resurrection, God, may today be the day of their belief.

May they trust you by faith.

And God, may they not hesitate.

May they be baptized immediately because they have put their faith in you, Jesus, the finished work on the cross and the power of your resurrection.

And God, may they declare that even this very day through public baptism.

My friend, if you've never made that decision to follow Christ, I invite you to surrender and believe who Jesus is.

I invite you to know that he came, he stretched out his arms on that cross, he gave his life's blood for everyone who would ever believe in him would not perish but have eternal life.

He resurrected from a grave to demonstrate that God has the power over sin, over death, over the grave and over our future.

I pray you to trust in his glorious power and begin to watch what he can do in and through your life.

I invite you to take this first step of obedience to be water baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We ask this prayer in Jesus' name.

Amen.