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

Well, it is good to be back with our church family this weekend.

Kim and I were gone last weekend, but we are glad to be back and we rejoice in being here.

And as I've been away over the last several weeks, my heart has been preparing on possibly doing a teaching series on the subject of heaven in the upcoming months.

And I still do plan to do that, but as all the events unrolled yesterday in Israel, and I just kind of begin to meditate on who God is.

God led me to Psalm 23.

So I'm just gonna unpack Psalm 23 over the next couple of weeks.

I do plan to do a message today about what water baptism is all about, since we're gonna be doing those.

This afternoon at 4.30 p.m. down at the end of Main Street.

And again, it's a time when we as a church celebrate, we come together, we're gonna invite everybody out for that.

Today, there's several people who are gonna be going into the water to be water baptized, to announce Jesus as the Lord, the Savior, the Master, the CEO of their life.

It's gonna be an amazing, amazing day.

And so come out this afternoon at 4.30.

But I do wanna start with Psalm 23.

And again, we'll unpack this a little bit more over the next several weeks.

But may we all remember what David penned in this Psalm.

The Bible says this, the Lord is my shepherd.

You know, I don't know about you, but that's a very comforting thought.

Whenever there's chaos in the world, you know what, to begin to think about, you have a shepherd.

You have one who cares for your soul, cares for your spirit, cares for the very essence of who you are.

And not only does he care for you, he will guide you, he will lead you, he will be an authority over you if you will so dare be a person to respect him as the shepherd and begin to follow him in all the days of your life.

God's goodness is always there.

Come on, somebody, give him a hand clap.

All right.

Woo!

Woo!

David goes on and says this, since he's my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul, and he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil, my cup, my life runs over, David says.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

There's a whole lot to unpack in that Psalm that was penned by a shepherd boy named David, and we're gonna be doing that over the next few weeks.

But today, you know, what I wanna kinda emphasize is what David is doing here in this Psalm is he is painting a picture with words about the goodness of God and how when the goodness of God fills your life, like a cup being full of something, full of liquid, how when it fills your life, the goodness of God, it begins to overflow out of your life.

And when it begins to spill and overflow out of your life, it begins to touch other people's life and transform their life.

And so David's painting a picture about how good God's authority, God's leadership, God's hand is on him.

And you know, we as Christ followers, we're to paint that same picture too.

God's goodness is to be so good with us that it fills us up and it overflows out of our life into other people's life, and it transforms them.

Come on, give God a hand clap if he's been good to you today.

I invite you, I invite you to fill up with the goodness of God each and every day.

Because what David says in this passage is though there's an evil one in the world.

There's an enemy in the world, but there's a God who still sets a table for you in spite of the enemy being there.

Keep your eyes on the table, keep your eyes on the prize, keep your eyes on sitting down with a God who wants to sit down with you and host you at his amazing table.

He's a good shepherd.

He's a good shepherd.

So again, David is painting a picture.

He's painting a picture with words.

And today, what we do down at the beach is really like a picture being painted when people go underneath those baptism waters.

You know, it's amazing because whenever psychologists meet with young children, oftentimes what they'll do is they will sit a young child down that's maybe troubled, and though the child won't talk about it with words, they can give them a paintbrush or some crayons and put a piece of paper out in front of them and let them begin to draw.

And as the psychologist pays attention to the picture that's being drawn, oftentimes the child will reveal to the psychologist through drawing certain pictures about what's going on on the inside of their heart and inside of their mind and inside of their life.

And sometimes if they're sad, maybe they'll draw a smile, like a little face, like an emoji type face, I guess we call it today, and with a little frown on it and tears will begin to drip out.

Maybe they're afraid and they draw a stick man as that's the best they can do, and they draw a stick man doing a sprint or something, and they're like, I'm fearful, I'm trying to run from something.

But they can draw all kinds of things in order to express what is going on on the inside.

Well, truly, what are baptism in a believer's life is just that.

It's an expression, it's a picture to the world around us about what's going on on the inside of us as a believer.

And Jesus says something remarkable in Matthew 28 about baptism, and I wanna read it to you.

You probably, if you've been around church at all, you've probably heard this passage of Scripture read before.

But Jesus, he says this in Matthew 18.

Now keep in mind, this is after Jesus had lived on the earth after he'd been crucified, after he had been buried in the grave, after he had resurrected, but he had not yet ascended into the heavens.

And this is what Jesus tells those first people before he ascends into heaven.

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

And again, I tend to sometimes meditate on words and not just read it as a sentence because what is brought out here to me is Jesus isn't only been given authority on earth, he's also been given authority in the heavens.

And I find that amazing because Jesus is the authority over everything, because he is God in the flesh.

But he reminds them, I've been given authority here on earth.

I've defeated death, I've resurrected from a grave, and I've been given authority in the heavens too over all spirits, evil spirits, whatever it is, I've been given authority.

He says, therefore, I need you to go and make disciples, make students of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Baptizing them, other words, putting them underwater in the name of not only the Father, not only the Son, not only the Holy Spirit, but put them underwater in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And you need to teach these new disciples to obey the commands I've given you.

And Jesus says, and be sure of this, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.

And I would like to say that age would be what we know today as the church age.

We're in the church age.

And Jesus reminds them that he's gonna be with them all the way through the end.

And so Jesus is with us.

But what Jesus commands them to do through water baptism here is remarkable if you'll begin to unpack what it really means to be buried or baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Because that's what we're gonna be doing down at the beach today when we do water baptisms.

We're gonna be baptizing people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

So what does baptism, what kind of picture does baptism paint?

And the first thing I wrote down is it paints a picture of God's amazing power, his goodness, and his mercy.

How does it do that?

Well, let me show you.

Romans chapter six, verses three and four says this.

The writer told the church there, he 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 may live a new life.

So every time someone goes under the water and water baptism, they're expressing what Jesus did for them on the cross.

It's a reminder to all of us, whether we've been baptized before and we belong to the church or we don't belong to the church, it's a way to remind us of what Jesus did on the cross as he forgave our sins and how he defeated sin and death and rose from a grave.

And so it's a great, great picture of what Christ did for humanity on that cross.

That's why we as a church do it by immersion.

The word baptizo in the Greek actually means to dip or to dunk under.

And we dip and dunk people under, we do water baptisms simply because of, not only because that's what the word means, but also it's a clear picture of what God is doing in a person's life.

Because what the Bible says is that if you're in Christ, you're a new creation.

And so when you get baptized and you go under that water, it's like you're saying my old life is gone, who I used to be before I met Christ, before Christ came into my life, before I understood what Christ did on that cross and what his resurrection means in my life, I'm putting that away.

I'm turning away from that.

It's going under the water and I'm gonna leave it there just like a grave.

And then when I come up out of that water, it's a representation of what this cross and this resurrection in Christ has done in my life.

It's a picture.

Now I'm operating in a new life because I've put my faith in Jesus Christ.

And so it's a great reminder of what God has done.

But understand this also, it's not just a great reminder of God's amazing power of what he's done to forgive us on the cross, but it's also a great reminder to us that God comes in and makes us a new person through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I literally believe the reason Jesus said, don't just go and baptize in the name of the Father, is simply because he wanted them to get the message out, not only about the Father, but about the Son and about the Holy Spirit.

Because this is where a lot of people don't live life to the full.

Is because they think, they understand that Jesus came to forgive them of their sin, missing the mark of God's glorious standard, missing the mark of who God created them to be.

God, thank you.

I recognize I missed, I screwed up, I messed up.

However you wanna phrase it, you know, I'm not as holy as you.

I'm not honoring to you in my life.

I sinned.

God, thank you for Jesus.

Thank you for the forgiveness.

But what a lot of people don't understand is Jesus, as he ascended back into heaven, the Bible says he poured out the Spirit of God on men and women alike, so that they could begin to move forward with their life.

And so God sent the Holy Spirit as Jesus ascended back into heaven.

He sent the Holy Spirit to live with a believer, to coach you, to guide you, to help you become everything you're designed to be.

And so not only are you being forgiven of your sin, you have access to the God of the universe and he's come to live in you.

That's why you're a new person.

The old life is gone.

And I've been raised to new life in Christ Jesus.

Has Christ Jesus just forgiven you?

Or has Christ Jesus forgiven you and poured out his Spirit on you?

And are you operating in the power of the Holy Spirit?

Is your cup truly running over with the goodness and mercy of God in spite of evil and the hardships you face in life?

Because how we move forward in life is not only by receiving the forgiveness Jesus offered, but by being attentive to the voice of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says we're to keep in step with the Spirit.

We're to keep moving forward with the Spirit.

We're to keep advancing with the Spirit.

But the challenge with the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit is not the only Spirit that speaks to you.

There's all kinds of spirits speaking to you right now.

But the reality of it is which one of them's voice do you recognize and which one of them will you follow?

And do you really believe the Holy Spirit is good and his goodness and his mercy is chasing you down all the days of your life?

He is for you and he is not against you.

He is not coming to harm you.

He is coming to build you up.

He's coming to encourage you.

He's coming to build you into all you're created to be.

He's coming to do exactly what he says he's coming to do.

He's the comforter.

He's the teacher.

Walk in the fullness of the Spirit.

People are painting a picture through a public baptism today that old life is gone, the new life has come of who God is and his amazing power.

The second thing it does is it paints a picture of what's going on inside of a person.

Again, you're born anew.

You're not just born of the flesh, now you're born of the Spirit if you've trusted in who Christ is.

He's made your spirit come alive.

And the Holy Spirit comes and he communes with your spirit and he teaches your spirit, he helps you become all you're designed to be.

And so it begins to paint a picture of what's going on in a person.

Baptism is an expression of who your heart is connected to.

You know, I've used this example many times.

It's just a symbolic way to basically say what's going on the inside.

God's at work on the inside of me.

And it can be a lot like a wedding ring on your finger if you're married.

You wear a wedding ring often when you're married to say that you're in union with someone, you're in a relationship with someone.

So you put a wedding band on your finger to let everybody know that you're in a special relationship with somebody else and so you wear that wedding ring.

Well, the wedding ring don't make you married.

The wedding ring just says you are married.

Baptism don't make you a Christ follower and a one that's a tenor to the Holy Spirit, but it is an outward expression that that's who you're saying you're declaring you are gonna be through public baptism.

In other words, baptism don't save you, Jesus does that.

And again, it's an outward sign of an inward change like a wedding ring.

You can wear a wedding ring and not be married.

I don't know why in the heck you'd wanna do that unless you just don't want nobody, you know what I'm saying?

You're not married, but you could wear a wedding ring and not be married.

But the reality of it is, typically when you wear a wedding ring or when you get baptized by water in the Christian faith, you're saying that I believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

I'm repenting from doing life my own way when I go underneath that water.

It's telling a story about you.

I'm putting that old self to death just like Jesus died in the grave.

And when I come up out of that water, I'm gonna live the new life that he forgave me to live and poured out his Spirit on me to walk in.

I'm gonna begin to walk in the fullness of who God says that I am.

And what happens a lot of times when you begin to talk about baptism, people say, oh, well, I was baptized as a kid and my parents had me baptized and all that kind of stuff.

And I get all that, but here's my question to you this day.

Have you been baptized, water baptized as a believer because you put your faith in Jesus Christ, not somebody else made that decision for you, but you decided that you have put your faith in Jesus Christ and you've made the personal decision to declare the old is gone and the new has come through public baptism to the world around you.

If you haven't done that, then that would be a first step of doing what Christ calls you to do as a believer.

It doesn't mean what happened when you was a kid is a bad thing because the people who made it happen probably had good intentions whenever they did it.

They wanted you to maybe live in a godly family and all that kind of stuff.

But I'm here to declare to you that a believer's baptism according to Jesus, he said, go and baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and make disciples of all nations.

And so it is a decision that you make yourself.

And some people say, well, can I get baptized more than once?

Absolutely, absolutely.

And again, the question is, did you get baptized because Jesus has forgiven you of your sin, you've turned away from your sin, you've put your faith in Jesus Christ, and you're gonna choose to walk by the power of the Holy Spirit all the days of your life?

If that is why you're getting baptized, that's probably the reason that that is the right reason to get water baptized.

The other reasons are great, they may help you on your journey.

But today, I wanna show you in Scripture where some people got baptized more than once.

Because I think sometimes people are like, well, am I negating what happened before?

No, you're not negating what happened before, you're just declaring what's happening now.

Come on, somebody.

And that's found in Scripture, Acts chapter 19.

The Bible says, after Jesus had ascended to heaven, this man named Paul, he went and started churches and began to share the good news about Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit everywhere.

He didn't just go share the good news about Jesus, he went and shared about Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.

And he was going everywhere, sharing the good news about Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit and how people are to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh and all these kind of things.

And then, and he's going back around in some areas he had been, and he run across some guys out in the middle of nowhere.

And the Bible says this in Acts chapter 19, verse 10, I mean, verse two.

He asked them a question, he said, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

This is what he asked these particular guys.

No, they replied, we haven't even heard there is a Holy Spirit.

We didn't even hear that.

And then Paul asked another question.

He says, then what baptism did you experience?

He asked.

If you didn't know there was a Holy Spirit, what baptism did you experience?

This tells us something, there's more than one baptism going on in that particular day.

And then the Bible goes on to say this in the last half of verse three.

And they replied, well, we received the baptism of John.

What John are they speaking of?

John the Baptist who was baptized in water in the Jordan River.

They'd been baptized once.

And they'd been baptized by John in the Jordan River, the same one that baptized Jesus.

And Paul looks at them and says, well, if you didn't know there was a Holy Spirit, then what baptism did you get?

And they replied, John's baptism.

And then Paul said, well, John's baptism called for repentance from sin.

But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.

So Paul didn't say anything was wrong with them being baptized by John, John's baptism of repentance.

But what he began to do with them is simply share the message with them about Jesus and the good news about what Jesus came to do.

And it's not only to forgive sins, but it's also to empower us with the Holy Spirit.

And the Bible says in Acts chapter 19, verse five, as soon as they heard this, that they had received the baptism of only repentance, and Paul began to talk about this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

I find that fascinating.

Because it was a progressive thing for them to learn who Jesus was, and then learn about the Holy Spirit.

And the Bible says once they believed in the fullness of who God is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that they said, baptize us now in the name of Jesus.

In other words, they wanted to be baptized again.

And so what I like to say sometimes, baptism isn't just a ritual thing that we do in the church world.

And the baptism, the water baptism we do today, isn't the same baptism that John was doing in the Jordan River when he was telling the Jews, you know what, repent of your sin.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

The kingdom of God is at near.

The baptism we do today, repent of your sin.

The King has come.

The King has forgiven sin.

The King has resurrected from a grave.

His name is Jesus, and He has poured out His Spirit on men and women alike, so that they can begin to move forward with their life.

Now be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

It's a beautiful thing, my friend.

See, that's the good news.

It's not only that Jesus came to forgive you of your sin.

He came to give you the Holy Spirit, to guide you, to comfort you, to walk with you every day of your life.

The forgiveness of Jesus is good for all mankind, once and for all.

But you have to fill your cup with the Spirit of the living God each and every day.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit if you wanna walk in the fullness of who God says you are.

But my friend, when you go into the baptism water, what you're announcing is I am not in charge of my life.

My old self is gone.

I've been raised to new life in Christ Jesus, and because I've been raised to new life in Christ Jesus, now I'm gonna be empowered, and I'm gonna walk by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So it says something about you.

So when you go down and you get baptized in the baptism waters today, that's what you're saying.

You're not just doing a cutesy religious activity.

The water, and I don't care if it's salt water or pretty waves, the water ain't gonna do nothing for you.

It's Jesus Christ, Christ alone, and what he did on that cross, and when he ascended to heaven and poured out his Spirit on you, that is what will help you walk in the fullness of life.

It's not what you do.

It's what Christ has done.

So some of us need to make a decision to be baptized, water baptized, because we put our faith in who Jesus is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The last thing I wrote down is baptism paints a picture of God's goodness, his mercy, his grace, of who Christ is and what he did on that cross.

Baptism paints a picture of what's going on in the side of you, but it also paints a picture to the church.

Church, we should celebrate every time somebody gets baptized, because it should remind us of what God's done in our life.

It paints a picture of the world, and it paints a picture to all of heaven around us.

Heaven stands in applause whenever someone goes to the baptism waters as a believer in Jesus Christ and being empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Heaven stands in awe.

All of heaven stands in awe.

It's like being in a great stadium.

It's like being in that arena over there that we're building across the way over there, and you're standing in the middle of it, and God has done something amazing in your life, and God's glory is shining off of you because of what he's done in his life, and all of heaven is standing around watching this and saying, God could save him.

God could save her.

God could pull them out of the bottom of the barrel.

That wicked person?

Absolutely.

And whenever God does it, heaven knows.

And when heaven sees the wickedness of your sin and there's a God that can come and save you in the midst of your sin, and you're declaring it to the world around you, when you come up out of that water, heaven stands in awe.

See, God is awesome.

That means we should stand in awe of God.

We should be in awe of God every time someone steps out of those baptism waters.

And this week, I was thinking about this a little bit, and I was thinking about the power of God and how he cheers us on as his children.

And I wanna show you this in the Bible when Jesus was baptized, Matthew chapter three, verses 13 through 17.

Bible says that Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.

Remember, John's baptism was for repentance.

Why did Jesus come to be baptized by John?

He didn't really need to repent of nothing.

He'd come from God, he was God, and he was God among the people.

And the Bible says, but he came to be baptized by John, and John tried to deter him saying, Jesus, you're crazy.

I don't need to baptize you, and you don't need to come to me.

I recognize who you are.

So why are you here, Jesus?

Because I'm calling for baptism of repentance.

And Jesus replied, let it be so now.

It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.

And then John consented.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water, and at that moment, heaven was open, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

And a voice from heaven said, this is my Son whom I love, and I'm well pleased with him.

See, that's amazing to me, because John was baptizing people and saying, repent of your sin.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Jesus comes to John to be baptized.

John's like, you don't need to be baptized for repentance.

Jesus says, do it anyway, because it's gonna fulfill all righteousness.

And then the Bible says the Spirit descends like a dove on Jesus' shoulder and says, this is my Son, this is who I'm well pleased in.

And again, I want you to know today, God was well pleased in his Son coming to do what he came to do, but he's also well pleased in you whenever you trust what he came to do, what Jesus came to do.

And so every time somebody comes up out of that baptism water, it's like God is saying, that's my Son, that's my daughter.

You know what?

They have believed, they've turned from their sin, they've turned their heart towards me, and they're gonna be empowered by my Spirit.

That's an amazing, amazing child of God, and heaven stands in all of that.

This week, I was thinking about this again.

And yesterday, I got word that a dear friend of mine passed away.

He had had cancer for some time, and he passed away, and we're doing his services in Columbia today at 2 p.m.

And that particular friend was one of the people who sowed the seeds into this church for this church to be launched, to be started, to be planted.

His name was Sam Reynolds.

And Sam Reynolds and another family, Sam and Norma Reynolds, and another family, Billy and Crystal Wallace, before we ever moved to this region, they began to sow seeds in our family and help us move here and plant the church.

They were the first people to ever give financially to Valorous Church back in the day, before it was ever a group of people.

And they said, hey, go and start a church and win people to Jesus.

It had been 20-something years ago.

But they sowed into this church for three solid years.

And all their request was is go share the name of Jesus with people so people are saved, and people become to know who God is and begin to walk in the fullness of Him.

And can I tell you, the family's been built greatly ever since then.

But as they called and said, look, you know, his funeral's at two o'clock.

I'm trying to figure out how am I gonna preach, how am I gonna get there?

We got baptisms this weekend.

I'm up contemplating this yesterday morning.

So I called his wife yesterday, Ms. Norma, I said, I'm not coming.

I said, I can't come to the funeral.

I won't be there today.

And she's like, well, you can stream it online, all this good stuff.

And I said, Ms. Norma, but God laid this on my heart.

It's today while y'all are celebrating the homegoing of Sam going to be with Jesus.

And as he is in heaven, we're gonna be down at the beach baptizing people who are stepping into the family.

And I thought about those seeds he sown.

And as him and Jesus sit and watch, all those people walk through the baptism waters today, there's nothing that would bring his heart any more joy.

My presence at a funeral ain't gonna bring him no more joy than him sitting in heaven, watching us baptize people today.

And man, I just want that to resonate with your heart.

There's people in heaven, there is people in this earth, there's people in this community, there is spiritual things all around, watching what God is doing.

Let us be amidst his awe and his wonder as we watch people publicly baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

People ask sometimes, what are you gonna do to me when I walk out in that water?

Well, first of all, we're gonna be there.

It's gonna be a couple of us there.

We're gonna stand you there.

There's gonna probably be some big waves down there.

And we're gonna say, look, that wave might hit you in the back, just stand steady.

We'll hold you tight and all that good stuff.

And then we're gonna look you in the eye.

And we're gonna say, my brother, my sister in Christ Jesus, because of what Christ has done for you and him pouring out of the Spirit on you, you know what, and your profession that you're turning from your old self, being raised to new life in Christ Jesus, today, we baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ to your old self.

And if you've been real bad, I'll hold you there a long time.

Just teasing.

And then raised to new life in Christ Jesus.

Come on, that's what we're gonna do today.

Come on, church.

Let me pray for you today.

God, I thank you so much for the life of Jesus.

I thank you so much for you sending your one and only Son to die on a cross for our sin, for the forgiveness of our sin.

It's something we couldn't do for ourself, but God, you did it for us.

But you did so much more, God, than just forgive us of our sin.

You've poured out your Spirit into our lives so that we can say yes to you and we can begin to walk by this new nature.

God, I pray today for many baptisms.

I pray today that all of the people that walk through those baptism waters would recognise, God, that they're saying, thank you, Jesus, for the forgiveness of my sin.

I bury myself under this water to my old life.

I'm raised to new life by your resurrection power.

And Jesus, I wanna walk with you all the days of my life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

My God, Father, as we celebrate with them today on that beach, may it remind us all of your power in our lives and what you're doing in and through the local church.

And God, may you continue to be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

And may you continue to do amazing things in and through your church.

Jesus, it's all because of you, and it's in your name we pray, amen.