Dead to Sin, Raised to Life: The Danger of Decisional Regeneration

• Baptism [00:29:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines baptism not as a means of salvation, but as a public declaration of faith, obedience, and identification with Christ's death and resurrection.
• Salvation by Grace [00:29:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor clarifies that baptism does not save; rather, the blood of Jesus, faith in Christ, and repentance are what justify and reconcile a person to God.
• Unity in Christ [00:25:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that baptism levels the playing field between Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, uniting believers with Christ and each other.
• Salvation and Discipleship [00:39:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between a childhood decision influenced by peers and a genuine, adult decision to follow Christ, linking baptism to obedience and the Great Commission.
• Evangelism and Invitation [00:43:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor extends an invitation to those who do not know Jesus, providing a specific prayer for salvation and encouraging public commitment.
• Baptism and Profession of Faith [00:58:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor conducts a series of baptisms, asking each candidate to repent, trust in Jesus, and commit to following Him as Lord, followed by the liturgical baptismal declaration.
• Christian Leadership and Discipleship [00:59:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies baptized individuals (like Matthew) as leaders and encourages them to lead their households and the church community.
• Public Witness and Obedience [01:00:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor encourages online viewers and those in the room to consider their own obedience to God's call, using the baptisms as a prompt for personal decision.
• Church Community and Encouragement [01:17:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor exhorts the congregation to reach out to those being baptized, emphasizing that the church feels small when members support one another in their spiritual journey.
• Faith and Obedience [01:14:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights individuals like Emily and Reed who made immediate decisions to obey God's leading despite not expecting to be baptized that day.
• Church Affirmation [01:28:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites the congregation to embrace the special work of God and affirm the meaning of the church to those being baptized.

• Sermon Illustration [00:30:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares an anecdote about a person from the Northeast who was 'immersed' in South Carolina humidity, comparing the feeling to a wet, warm wool blanket to explain the concept of going 'all the way under' in believer's baptism.
• Sermon Illustration [00:33:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of looking in a mirror to explain how baptism reflects the reality of the believer's union with Christ, specifically his death, burial, and resurrection.
• Sermon Illustration [00:35:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a recent trip to California where he had to show his identification to board a plane, using this to illustrate how baptism serves as a public identification to the world and the spirit world that one belongs to Jesus.
• Sermon Illustration [00:39:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares his personal baptism story: he was dunked in water at age 7 because he didn't want to be left out, but it wasn't real salvation. At 14, he genuinely gave his life to Jesus but delayed baptism for five years due to fear and embarrassment. At 19, he attended a revival where an evangelist invited unbaptized believers to come forward. The pastor entered the freezing cold baptistry in his jeans and shoes, was baptized by the church pastor (who recognized him), and experienced a profound sense of new courage and obedience.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a story about Matthew, who chose to get baptized and invited his cousins, who then also got baptized right in front of him, illustrating the ripple effect of faith.
• Sermon Illustration [01:03:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor mentions Madeline's simple motivation for baptism: she wants to tell everyone that she follows Jesus.
• Sermon Illustration [01:06:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights Stephanie's story of wrestling with the decision to be baptized for 30 years before finally making the public decision.
• Sermon Illustration [01:08:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor notes that Nicole and her husband are getting baptized together, highlighting a household decision to follow Jesus.
• Sermon Illustration [01:14:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares that Emily was not expecting to be baptized that day but grabbed some clothes outside to be obedient to what God was asking her to do.
• Sermon Illustration [01:15:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor notes that Reed was also not expecting to be baptized that day, highlighting the spontaneous nature of his obedience.
• Sermon Illustration [01:25:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor mentions Denise, who decided to save her shorts and shirt specifically to be baptized immediately, showing her excitement and readiness.

• Pastoral Charge [00:37:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > Inviting those who have believed but not been baptized to participate in immediate baptism.
• Pastoral Charge [00:37:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > Direct invitation for unbaptized believers to be baptized immediately.
• Pastoral Charge [00:44:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites those who do not know Christ to pray a prayer of salvation right where they are sitting.
• Pastoral Charge [00:45:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asks those who prayed the prayer of salvation to raise their hands as a public affirmation.
• Pastoral Charge [00:43:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites Christians who have not been baptized to come forward and be baptized immediately.
• Pastoral Charge [01:01:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > Drive to a nearby church campus
• Pastoral Charge [01:17:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > Raise hands to acknowledge connection to those being baptized and commit to encouraging them.
• Pastoral Charge [01:17:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Step forward to have a conversation about baptism if hesitant.
• Pastoral Charge [01:28:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > Retrieve children from Kidspring.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:03:07] all designed for an everyday relationship with Jesus. And Romans is packed with truth and hope that helps us deepen that relationship. But reading it on our own can leave you with questions. To deepen our understanding of God's word, let's open Romans together. As we journey through this book, we'll uncover fundamental theology about sin, salvation, and sacrifice. We'll discuss complex concepts like justification and predestination and talk about topics Paul noticed in the first century church that are still relevant to us today.
[00:03:37] like politics, race, and disagreements with fellow Christians.
[00:03:42] Each week, you'll hear from different voices through short videos that highlight key themes from Romans and unpack what Paul is teaching.
[00:03:49] Each week will help you move from learning what Scripture says to understanding what it means and ultimately to living it out in your everyday life.
[00:03:58] Discipleship was never meant to happen alone, and Romans has so much for us to discover.
[00:04:03] So let's dive in together.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:04:05] Hey, good morning, my friends.
[00:06:07] Listen, everybody, can I get you all to stand up?
[00:06:10] And I'm gonna ask some of y'all to do something that's gonna make you mad.
[00:06:13] If you're on the aisle and there's room towards the middle of your row, would you scoot in?
[00:06:17] Because if you'll look around, the room's very full.
[00:06:20] And I see people coming in and looking to see if they got a spot to sit.
[00:06:24] And they see the aisle filled, there's gonna be a church about making room for people.
[00:06:27] So if you wanna scoot in, say hello to somebody around you.
[00:06:31] As our lead pastor, Lee McDermott would say, pass the peace of Christ to somebody around you.
[00:06:37] Good morning, Y-Man.
[00:06:38] Good to see you over there.
[00:06:44] Man, this is incredible.
[00:06:49] Hey, as you are getting situated, let me just take a moment and introduce myself.
[00:06:54] My name is Alan.
[00:06:56] I'm the campus pastor here at the Anderson campus of New Spring.
[00:06:59] And I just want you to know how honored I am that you would choose to worship with us on this Sunday morning.
[00:07:04] I know we have so many new people here to celebrate baptism with families.
[00:07:08] I was talking to Grandpa just a moment ago.
[00:07:11] Praise God for generational legacy and the fact that he works through families to see one generation pass the peace of Christ to the next and the next.
[00:07:20] I'm so excited.
[00:07:20] We get to see that on hand multiple times this morning through baptism and you are in for a treat.
[00:07:27] So if you're new, you walked in on the right Sunday.
[00:07:31] We get to celebrate so many baptisms this morning and I'm believing that there are a lot of people in the room who are gonna realize that that's your appropriate next step.
[00:07:40] There may even be somebody watching online that comes to realize, man, I have not been baptized after salvation. And last year we had somebody watch at 9.15, drive to the campus at 11.15 and get baptized here. Same thing happened
[00:07:54] in Florence. And so we're believing that God's at work, not just in this room, but he's at work all over. And so if you're stepping into that welcome, we're so honored you're here. We would love to
[00:08:05] meet you at the new here area, right out this door and just have a conversation with you.
[00:08:10] So I'm thankful that you're here.
[00:08:11] I'm thankful for what we're gonna be able to experience today.
[00:08:14] I'm expectant that God is gonna do something in this space that helps us all recognize that he is still at work in truly miraculous ways.
[00:08:24] So I'm glad that you're here to participate in that.
[00:08:27] We're gonna spend some time in worship and giving now.
[00:08:30] So I'm gonna ask our ushers to go ahead and get in place so that we can pass the baskets.
[00:08:35] We wanna clear the way for the rest of the day.
[00:08:37] and when we give here we pray collectively and the reason that we pray together is we realize that God can do so much more through all of us than he could ever do through any one of us alone
[00:08:50] so that's why we pray together so if we want to throw that prayer up on the screen before we give pray this with me now almighty God everything we have comes from you you are our source our
[00:09:03] strength and our provider with open hands and expectant hearts. We bring our tithes and offerings not out of duty, but out of delight. Use them to bless others, to fuel your mission, to shine your
[00:09:15] light in dark places and to move your kingdom forward. You are worthy of our trust, our resources and our praise in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Excited to worship with you guys this morning. If you are

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:09:34] thankful for the free gift of salvation bought with the with the blood of jesus christ you just raise your hand this morning can we all just acknowledge where we would be without jesus while we were still sinners christ dies for us so now is our time to remember and remind each other

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:09:51] what he did for us on the cross so i want to invite everybody if you're watching online from the front to the back to the balcony let's all lift our voices and our hands this morning remember

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:10:02] what he did for us. Come on, y'all. It's getting harder to recognize the person I was. Encounter Christ. I don't want you still, you still. I've been washed from the inside. I've been washed

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:10:33] from the inside. Come on, sing this out. It's true this morning. Let's just take a few moments

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:16:39] right here to pause. We've been celebrating a lot this morning. What a gift it is to gather together. And I just want to put this in front of all of you. Maybe I don't know each one of you by
[00:16:52] name, but I know this, that the ground at the foot of the cross, it's level. We're all in need of a savior. And what a gift this morning is to remember that. I was in need and he came after me. None of
[00:17:05] us are perfect, but yet a perfect Savior came and saved us. And so he is our hope this morning.
[00:17:11] So we're going to keep singing this next song. I just want to encourage you. Where are you putting your hope this morning? There is only one. So Jesus, right now, we put our hope in you and you
[00:17:22] and you alone. Hallelujah. That's right, Ty. So everybody this morning, let's sing.

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:17:29] there is a day coming when the old will pass away every wrong will be made right

[00:17:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:17:47] no darkness no night the sun will light there is a king coming one who conquered death and grave

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:18:07] thank you lord no more pain and no more sorrow this hope for tomorrow is our hope for today you are our hope with the crown his head with anyone more worthy than jesus come on everybody

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:20:21] do this with me maybe you've never done this before can we lift our hands just putting our hope in christ and christ alone this morning as we sing this next part surely coming he is
[00:20:32] surely coming. Oh, can you feel it too? All this tension growing stronger. It's just a sign he's

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:20:46] getting closer. He's already on the move. And our story has been written. And our story has been written. Let me tell you what you're feeling in the room right now at your campus. It's not just

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:22:42] human emotion. It's not just excitement. It's not just hype. What we feel together right now is the tangible presence of the living God. He is here with us. He is here for us.
[00:22:57] And if you know Jesus today, he is here inside of us, dwelling in our hearts by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit. Lord, we welcome your presence today. What a day to gather together
[00:23:12] in the name of Jesus for the glory of God as we celebrate this beautiful reflection of your salvation, Baptism Sunday. We now anticipate what you are going to do in us, what we'll get to
[00:23:28] witness today, and the lives that will be changed by the power of the gospel. We honor you today, Heavenly Father, for the love you've lavished on us. Jesus, for the blood you shed for us.
[00:23:42] Holy Spirit, for the way that you guide us and live in us.
[00:23:46] And we bless you, beautiful, triune, three in one, holy God, we are yours.
[00:23:54] And now speak to us through your word and through baptism.
[00:23:58] In Jesus' name we pray, amen, amen.
[00:24:01] Have a seat, have a seat.
[00:24:03] Man, y'all picked the right day to come to church today.
[00:24:06] You picked the right day.
[00:24:08] Today is like the Masters combined with the Super Bowl, combined with WrestleMania, combined with the World Series, combined with a trip to the jockey lot in Anderson on a Saturday.
[00:24:23] This is Baptism Sunday here at New Spring Church, and I know we've got many guests with us today.
[00:24:30] Let me again welcome you to our gathering today.
[00:24:33] we've got college students back from a summer vacation across all of our campuses. My name's Clayton King, one of the pastors here. We're preaching through the book of Romans right now.
[00:24:44] And today we're in Romans chapter six. And today we are going to see what Paul had to say about baptism. And then not as an addition to, or a tag on to our worship gathering, but as a central part
[00:25:00] of our worship today, we're going to watch and witness people being baptized, going public in their faith. So because our time is important and we want to honor the text, go ahead and turn with
[00:25:14] me to Romans chapter six. I want to show you what Paul has to say to the church in Rome about baptism. Little bit of context here, as we've already learned through the book of Romans and
[00:25:25] our series. This was a cultural moment in the life of the church where Jews and Gentiles were learning what it meant to identify themselves primarily as Christians more than anything else.
[00:25:39] And baptism is one of those things that levels the playing field. So whether you come from this region of the country or another part of the country or another country, whether you were raise rich or poor, whatever faith tradition you came from, or maybe even no faith tradition at all,
[00:25:57] what we can learn about baptism is that in the church in Rome, both Jews and Gentiles were united with Christ and with each other in baptism. It's a unifier. It's a powerful symbol, but also
[00:26:12] has effectual power in us to unite us with Christ and to give us power over sin and temptation.
[00:26:21] So I'm gonna read about 15 verses from Romans chapter six, and you can follow along.
[00:26:27] And then you may never hear me do this again.
[00:26:29] I'm gonna preach a one point sermon.
[00:26:33] You think I can do it?
[00:26:34] If you believe I can, say yes, Jesus.
[00:26:37] That was 33% of y'all.
[00:26:38] All right, Romans chapter six, we'll start off in verse one.
[00:26:43] What shall we say then?
[00:26:45] Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
[00:26:48] By no means.
[00:26:49] How can we who died to sin still live in it?
[00:26:56] Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
[00:27:06] We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
[00:27:21] For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
[00:27:31] We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
[00:27:42] For one who has died has been set free from sin.
[00:27:46] Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
[00:27:51] We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again.
[00:27:56] Death no longer has dominion over him.
[00:28:01] For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.
[00:28:07] so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
[00:28:18] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions.
[00:28:23] Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
[00:28:39] And I love verse 14, for sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under the law, but under grace.
[00:28:49] And verse 23, the gospel in a nutshell, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
[00:29:03] Paul takes us to a theology of baptism today, and I want to give you one simple point to explain to you from Romans 6 exactly what baptism is. One point with three essential words. Baptism is an
[00:29:24] immersion, a reflection, and an identification. That's what baptism is. Baptism is an immersion, it is a reflection, and it's an identification. So to put it simply, baptism does not save you.
[00:29:44] It does not make you a Christian. The blood of Jesus saves you from sin. Faith in Christ makes you a Christian. Repenting of your sin and inviting Jesus to take control of your life, humbling yourself before God and receiving the free gift of what he did on the cross
[00:30:02] in your place and my place is what justifies us and reconciles us to God. But baptism is that public identification with the world. I've made a personal decision. Now I make a public declaration.
[00:30:19] So when you make a personal decision to give your life to Jesus, baptism is your public declaration that something has changed inside of you and you want the world to know.
[00:30:31] It's also an act of obedience.
[00:30:33] First of all, it's an immersion.
[00:30:35] It means that you go all the way under, but it also means that you go all the way in.
[00:30:42] Somebody told me a couple of weeks ago at the Y when I was working out that they moved here from up in the Northeast. And they said, I was immersed in South Carolina humidity when I got
[00:30:53] here. Okay, that's true. It's like a wet, warm wool blanket thrown over you, right? Now you can imagine what that feels like with humidity. Think about baptism as an immersion. First of all, the word baptism literally means, baptizo means to go all the way under, to be immersed. And so as a
[00:31:12] conviction here at our church, we believe in believer's baptism by immersion. Now, let's just address this. Some of you have come from a different faith tradition, and maybe as a child, you were baptized after you got saved, like I was as a Baptist kid growing up. Or maybe you came
[00:31:31] from like a Roman Catholic or a United Methodist or a Lutheran background where you were christened or you had infant baptism, and we want to honor your parents and their wishes to dedicate you to
[00:31:43] Christ. And what I want to say to you, though, is that once you gave your life to Jesus and you made your own decision for Christ, or if you do that today, then we can honor that decision your
[00:31:54] parents made for you to be dedicated as a child, but as an adult, or maybe even as a child that has put their faith in Jesus of any age, when you go all the way under and you are immersed,
[00:32:07] you're actually following the example of Jesus. He was baptized by John the Baptist's cousin.
[00:32:12] And we're following what Paul says here in Romans chapter six, going all the way under simply means going all the way in. I have been fully cleansed by Jesus, not by the waters of baptism, but by
[00:32:25] the blood of Christ shed on the cross. I have fully put my faith in Christ. Every part of me is now consecrated as an instrument of righteousness and the members of my own physical fleshly body
[00:32:39] now all belong to Jesus. All of me has been saved. All of me has been sanctified. All of me is being transformed and all of me will one day be united with Christ forever in eternity. Baptism is an
[00:32:54] immersion. Baptism is also a reflection. Like looking into a mirror, baptism reflects something back to you and to me. When you wake up in the morning and you shave or you brush your teeth or
[00:33:07] you put on your makeup, you look in the mirror and the mirror reflects back to you the real you.
[00:33:14] And that's what baptism does. It is a reflection. What does it reflect? It reflects the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus that we get to participate in. So when you become a
[00:33:26] Christian, you are united with Christ by faith through his grace. And now that reflection, you may not always feel like it, but baptism is a reflection that you are now one with Jesus.
[00:33:39] So imagine it this way. In a few minutes, all of these baptistry pools will be filled in our campuses. And when the people that are going to be baptized stand up in the water and we'll be
[00:33:49] their witnesses. When they're standing up in the water, that is symbolic of Jesus hanging on the cross. When the whole world got to watch Jesus publicly, lose his life, be humiliated and shamed for our sin. And when you were lowered down into the water of baptism, that's like them burying
[00:34:06] Jesus in the ground. He was in the earth for three days, buried in the tomb. And when you're brought up out of that water, that is symbolic. That is a reflection of Jesus' resurrection from the dead
[00:34:19] And it's also a promise of what's to come for us, that if we are united with Christ in his death and his burial, we will be united with him and like him in his resurrection. That means that
[00:34:32] the bodies that are baptized will one day be resurrected. Those of us who have been saved are reflecting the reality of the gospel and the ultimate promise that as broken as we are right now, as divided as we are right now, as freaked out as our world gets right now, as angry as our
[00:34:53] world seems to be right now, as crazy and unpredictable as our world is right now, we have an anchor and a promise, the tangible reality that one day Jesus Christ will return and make everything
[00:35:07] right. And we will be with him forever. And baptism is a reflection of that promise.
[00:35:15] But baptism is also an identification. This past week, Shari and I went to California to preach.
[00:35:23] I was preaching for a pastor out there. When we got to the airport, I had to show my identification to board that airplane. That identification said to that TSA agent, Clayton King is who he says he
[00:35:36] is. Baptism is an identification. We are telling the world, family, friends, co-workers, classmates, I'm different now. I'm not who I used to be. I'm not perfect. I'm still a sinner who struggles, but I have a friend and a savior who is helping me. I am still a human being, not better than you,
[00:36:02] but different. This is an identification not only to humans, but to the spirit world. Baptism identifies to the spirit world. Angels in heaven rejoice, Luke says, when one sinner repents. Did you know that every demon in hell takes notice when a person lifts their hands in worship,
[00:36:21] when a person opens their Bible to read, when a person bows their head in prayer, and especially when a believer says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, and I'm going to go public in my profession
[00:36:31] of faith with baptism. That is an identification. It says, I have been bought with a price. I am not my own. The me you see right now is not who I used to be, and it's not who I will be, but I'm on a
[00:36:46] journey, and I'm getting there. This is an identification. I belong to Jesus. It's public.
[00:36:55] You're letting the world know, and it's also a testimony to those around you that don't know Jesus, you can have the same change I've had. You can have a relationship with Christ. Today at all
[00:37:08] of our campuses, we're going to be baptizing many people who have already put their faith in Jesus that have never gone through this public identification with Christ. But some of you that came today to celebrate a baptism, or maybe you're visiting our church for the first time
[00:37:22] because you're new to the area or you're a college student that just heard about New Spring, we also want to invite you today to be baptized. Now hold up. Let me make sure y'all understand what we're
[00:37:32] talking about here. This is what we call immediate baptism. So if you've never been fully immersed in baptism, meaning all the way under and back up like the resurrection of Jesus, then we want to
[00:37:45] invite you to be baptized today. Maybe you gave your life to Jesus as a kid or as a teenager and you're an adult now and you've never been baptized after your conversion. We have everything prepared
[00:37:56] for you today. No excuses. I know some of y'all are thinking, well, I didn't come dressed for baptism. This is my only outfit. My hair is already done. My makeup's done. I put on cologne
[00:38:10] today to come to church. Can I just tell you, we have thought through every single reason you might give if you've never been baptized to say no. We have t-shirts. We have shorts. We have them in
[00:38:25] every size from super duper extra scooby-doo small to big, large, extra large for those big muscles that you guys have. We've got every size. We've got them prepared and ready for you. If you've never given your life to Jesus, we would like for you to give your life to Christ today and then
[00:38:46] follow Jesus with immediate baptism right here. Can I tell you my baptism story? This is so nostalgic for me on a day like today because I became a Christian when I was 14. When I was
[00:39:01] seven years old though, first grade, all my friends at church were going forward during the altar call and getting saved and then getting baptized. And I didn't want to be the odd man out. So I walked
[00:39:14] forward and I got dunked in a pool of water the next Sunday night, but it wasn't real baptism.
[00:39:21] and here's why. Because it wasn't really salvation. I didn't understand what I was doing. I didn't know the gospel. I was just doing it because all of my friends were doing it. Somebody else was
[00:39:31] influencing me. When I was 14 in the eighth grade and I gave my life to Jesus at a little church in Greer, South Carolina, that was the night that I really made my own decision to follow Christ and
[00:39:44] become a Christian. But because I had been dunked in water when I was seven, I knew I was supposed to get really baptized, but I was embarrassed. I was afraid. I was ashamed. I didn't want my mom
[00:39:59] and dad to be ashamed of me. They wouldn't have been, but that's what I told myself.
[00:40:03] I also didn't want to publicly admit that when I was seven years old, the decision I made wasn't real because I didn't mean it and I didn't understand it. So from at 14, I really give my
[00:40:14] life to Jesus for the next five years. I felt the Holy Spirit convict me every single time someone would talk about baptism. I knew that I had not been publicly identified with Jesus after my
[00:40:27] salvation experience. And I would resist and I would push that feeling aside until I was 19 years old. I was a freshman in college. And it just so happens that the evangelist who was preaching the
[00:40:40] night I got saved when I was 14, he was from Florida and he was coming back to South Carolina to preach a revival at a little church in Cowpens, South Carolina, just up the road.
[00:40:52] I heard he was coming, so I drove over to the revival that night.
[00:40:55] I just wanted to say hello to him because I had not seen him in five years.
[00:41:00] And I walk in fully dressed, blue jeans, long sleeve shirt, Sebagos.
[00:41:06] This is 1991, y'all.
[00:41:09] And I was ready to go.
[00:41:10] I was looking forward to it.
[00:41:12] And he mentioned that night, For all of you that have given your life to Jesus and haven't been baptized, we've got the water in the tank and it's warm and you need to come and publicly identify yourself
[00:41:24] as a Christian.
[00:41:27] And that was the night, five years after I got saved, that I decided to be baptized.
[00:41:33] Let me tell you what they didn't have.
[00:41:35] They didn't have shorts and they didn't have T-shirts and that water was not warmed up, by the way.
[00:41:43] He didn't know he was telling me a story, but he was fibbing.
[00:41:46] That water was freezing cold.
[00:41:47] I'll walk up there and I remember kicking off my sabagos as I got into the baptistry.
[00:41:52] And the pastor of that church that baptized me that night, it wasn't the evangelist.
[00:41:56] I had preached at that church and I get in the water in my blue jeans, leather belt, long sleeve shirt.
[00:42:05] He looks up and sees me.
[00:42:07] He goes, Clayton?
[00:42:08] I said, hey.
[00:42:10] He said, I'm baptizing you.
[00:42:14] I said, yep.
[00:42:16] I've been waiting five years.
[00:42:19] I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in a newness of life.
[00:42:27] When I came up out of that freezing cold water, I'm telling y'all, it was more than a symbol.
[00:42:35] Something happened in my heart.
[00:42:39] Something gave me a new courage, a new confidence that I have now been obedient.
[00:42:46] This is part of discipleship and the Great Commission.
[00:42:49] When Jesus tells his disciples, go into all the world, make disciples of them, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:43:01] So the invitation for you today is, if you are a Christian, but you have never gone all the way under and all the way in, in a few moments, a leader from your campus is going to come and instruct you. I want to invite
[00:43:14] you to come and be baptized just like you are today, along with those who have already committed to be baptized. But I also want to invite those of you that have come today, and maybe you just
[00:43:26] don't know that you're really a Christian. And maybe you've never heard it explained, or today is the first time the Spirit of God made it click in your mind.
[00:43:38] Can I ask you, would you close your eyes with me across all of our campuses and open your hearts?
[00:43:44] And I just trust we believe as a team that God has brought dozens of people, maybe even hundreds of people to our church today who are searching for answers, for faith, for meaning, for forgiveness.
[00:43:57] And I've got good news for you today.
[00:43:59] His name is Jesus.
[00:44:02] And he can save you right now if you'll open your heart up to him.
[00:44:06] So if you wanna give your life to Christ, Pray this to him right where you sit, just as you are, in your heart.
[00:44:17] Jesus, I want to be saved.
[00:44:21] I wanna be a Christ follower.
[00:44:25] I give you my life and I give you my sin.
[00:44:33] I repent, I put my faith in you.
[00:44:38] I believe in you, Jesus.
[00:44:40] I wanna be raised to new life today.
[00:44:45] So I am going all in with you.
[00:44:52] Thank you for saving me.
[00:44:56] I'm all yours.
[00:44:59] Now, with your eyes closed and your hearts open, on your campus, if you prayed that prayer to Jesus right now, and you meant it, and it was real, would you quickly just lift your hand
[00:45:08] straight up above your head right now?
[00:45:10] Every campus, if you just prayed those words to Jesus, just raise your hand straight up above your head.
[00:45:17] Children, teenagers, college students, adults, praise God.
[00:45:22] You can put your hands down.
[00:45:24] I'm gonna ask everyone to open their eyes and look up here at me, we are about to enter into a time of baptism at your campus. And we're going to celebrate people going public with their faith. And one of your campus pastoral leaders is
[00:45:38] going to come out and give you next steps. Because if you just gave your life to Jesus and you just prayed that prayer to Christ, we want to have a conversation with you. And we would love to invite
[00:45:47] you to be baptized as well as those of you who came today as a Christian, but have never been baptized. We're going to welcome out a campus pastor right now from your campus, who's going
[00:45:57] to help us walk through those next steps as we prepare to celebrate this amazing sacrament of

[00:46:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:46:04] baptism. Thank you, Clayton. I'm going to invite you all to your feet. What a beautiful opportunity and response teams. If you could go ahead and get in place, we're going to respond in the way that
[00:46:21] we normally do. And listen, I want to challenge you guys with something. You're going to see some volunteers heading out the back of the room, and if you're one of those people that slid your hand
[00:46:30] up, I'm going to invite you right down here to the cross just to begin a conversation knowing that there is a next step for you. Our verse was founded on God doing a new thing. He's always
[00:46:42] doing a new thing. There's something new on offer for you. Do we perceive it? Do we perceive it today? So if you're one of those folks and you slid your hand up or you know you need to have
[00:46:55] a conversation, I'm going to invite you right down here to the cross. If something was pricked in your heart about baptism, and you recognize, I've never stepped into that, you can walk out either of these doors, and there will be somebody back there ready to have a conversation with you,
[00:47:12] and we want to celebrate. And then finally, for everyone else, for the next few minutes, just like always, we're going to pray, we're going to receive communion, we're going to celebrate the body and blood that we have been baptized into and raised into a new life. So as I say, amen,
[00:47:30] you feel free to respond as you feel led and stay to see what God does. Father, go before us now, Lord, do the work that only you can do in the hearts of those you love. In Christ's name,
[00:47:40] amen. Feel free to respond as you feel led.

[00:48:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:48:28] I hear the Savior say, The Savior say, Jesus paid.
[00:49:26] He washed it white as snow Indeed I find Thy power And Thine alone And change the leper's spawn Sing Jesus paid Jesus paid it all to Him To crimson stain He washed it white as snow
[00:50:17] Before the throne I stand in Him complete Jesus died my soul to save, this shall still repeat.
[00:50:46] Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.
[00:50:57] Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white.
[00:51:05] Can we sing that again, Jesus paid.
[00:51:06] Jesus paid it all All to Him I owe I left a crimson stain He washed it white Jesus washed it white as snow Jesus, praise His light Just every voice sing, oh praise the one
[00:53:16] Praise the one Praise His light Let me pray for us, church.

[00:53:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:53:45] Father, as we enter into the time where we celebrate baptism together, as we recognize your kindness to generations, your kindness to us, we remember our own story.
[00:53:56] We affirm what you're doing in your church, Lord.
[00:53:58] Let us not take this for granted.
[00:54:02] Buried with Christ through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may have new life.
[00:54:10] God, thank you for this privilege.
[00:54:12] In Christ's name we pray.
[00:54:13] amen amen all right church we're going to step into baptism now see if you clap you're going to think it's the end so don't think it's that nobody it's not the end I need y'all for all my
[00:54:24] friends that are being baptized and the stories of family and generation and the beauty that we're about to experience so listen if you waited and you still feel like you need to have a conversation
[00:54:36] or you thought man I want my kids to see it we will facilitate that for you we will take care of getting your kids here so that they can see you be baptized.
[00:54:45] So don't let anything keep you from starting a conversation with somebody if you feel prompted to step into baptism.
[00:54:52] So with that, I'm gonna throw it to my good friend, Darcy with Kyle in the pool, ready to go.
[00:54:59] Y'all put your hands together as we begin to celebrate all that God's doing through baptism.

[00:55:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:55:03] Yes, let's celebrate.
[00:55:05] You guys, y'all are ready for this.
[00:55:07] We've got 12 people over here ready to get baptized today.
[00:55:11] so can we give the Lord a hand for that? Yes. Thank you, God. And this isn't going to be a short time. We're going to be doing this for a while. So I would ask y'all to take a step in,
[00:55:24] lean in and celebrate like this is your own moment too, of what Jesus has done in your life.
[00:55:30] So here we have right and right. I have a couple of questions for you. You ready?
[00:55:36] My first question, have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
[00:55:42] Yes.
[00:55:44] Do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life?
[00:55:48] Yes.
[00:55:49] Strong.
[00:55:51] Who is your Lord and Savior?
[00:55:53] Jesus Christ.
[00:55:55] Well, right.
[00:55:55] It is based upon your profession of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, that we baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in His death, and raised to walk in the anus of life.
[00:56:10] Yes.
[00:56:16] Thank you, God.
[00:56:18] Now, Wright is getting baptized with, I believe, two of his cousins.
[00:56:23] So Wright is actually, he's eight years old.
[00:56:25] We've got a couple of eight-year-olds stepping in.
[00:56:27] So we're excited about that.
[00:56:29] So we've got our next guy coming into the pool.
[00:56:39] This is Ballard.
[00:56:40] And Ballard, we have a couple of questions for you.
[00:56:42] Same questions.
[00:56:43] You ready?
[00:56:44] Ready.
[00:56:45] Okay.
[00:56:46] Ballard, have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?

[00:56:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:56:51] Yes.

[00:56:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:56:53] do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life? Yes. And who is your Lord and Savior? Jesus Christ. Well, upon your profession of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and
[00:57:07] Savior, Ballard, we baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Buried with Christ in death and raised to walk a newness of life. Right. We're
[00:57:29] going to be doing this for a while. Why don't everyone, why don't you take a moment? Remember the time that you got baptized, maybe the feeling, maybe the thing that you did after the people who
[00:57:39] were there. And that's happening for lots of people here today. So with that in mind, would you celebrate this next one? So we got Eli here. Hey, Eli. All right, Eli, got a couple of questions
[00:57:54] for you. Eli, have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
[00:58:00] yes do you commit to follow jesus as lord all the days of your life yes who is your lord and savior jesus well upon your profession of faith your mom gets to baptize you in the name of the father
[00:58:16] the son and the holy spirit buried with christ in his death grace to walk in newness of life celebrate thank you god thank you god thank you god next we've got matthew coming in and i was
[00:58:41] talking to Matthew just a second ago and Matthew, correct me if I'm wrong, but you just had two of your cousins get baptized, right? And so when Matthew decided, I'm going to choose to get
[00:58:54] baptized, you know what he went and did? He went and he told his cousins. And you know who just got baptized right in front of him? Two of his cousins. Yes. Thank you, God. I was telling Matthew,
[00:59:06] Matthew, you are a leader. You're a leader and God's going to do big things with you.
[00:59:12] big things with you so Matthew I have a few questions for you have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation yes yes and do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life yes who is your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ well it is
[00:59:35] based upon your profession of faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that we baptize you my brother in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit buried with Christ in
[00:59:45] his death and raised to walk in newness of life. Wow. Wow. Matthew, our church looks to you, looking to you. You're a leader here. All right. We've got Brian stepping into the pool. Hi, Brian. Good morning. I have a couple of questions for you, Brian. Ready? Ready.
[01:00:10] Okay. Have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? Yes.
[01:00:16] Do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life?

[01:00:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[01:00:20] I do.

[01:00:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:00:21] And who is your Lord and Savior?

[01:00:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[01:00:23] Christ Jesus.

[01:00:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:00:25] Yes, well, upon your profession of faith and Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, we baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in his death
[01:00:35] and raised to walk in newness of life.
[01:00:44] Yes.
[01:00:45] We're not going anywhere.
[01:00:49] We still got a lot more.
[01:00:50] So y'all lean in here.
[01:00:53] And Alan mentioned this earlier, but I wanna mention if you're watching online, maybe God's stirring your heart.
[01:00:58] Maybe it's time for you to drive to a campus near you.
[01:01:01] All right.
[01:01:02] Hey, Sydney, you excited?
[01:01:05] Yeah, I can tell.
[01:01:07] All right, Sydney, I have a couple of questions for you.
[01:01:09] So Sydney, have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
[01:01:15] Yes.
[01:01:16] And do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life?
[01:01:22] Who is your Lord and Savior?
[01:01:24] Christ.
[01:01:26] Well, it is based upon your profession of faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that we now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[01:01:35] Buried with Christ in His death and raised to walk in newness of life.
[01:01:41] We're so proud of you, your faith.
[01:01:49] Him, I feel like we've got a whole lot of 8 to 12-year-olds in here.
[01:01:53] So if that's not prompting you to be obedient to what God's asking you to do, now we got Kimber Kimber is 8 years old and she's excited to get baptized today alright Kimber got a couple questions
[01:02:08] Kimber have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life who is your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
[01:02:25] well Kimber it is based upon your profession of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, that we baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in his death and raised to walk in newness of life. Wow, wow. I'm thinking about
[01:02:50] who are we that God would be mindful of us to do this move of God in our church today.
[01:02:57] And this is just the beginning. And God picked you to be in this room to witness this today.
[01:03:04] Oh, this is a sweet one. I was talking to Madeline. I said, why do you want to get baptized?
[01:03:10] she said, I want to tell everyone that I follow Jesus. I said, yes, yes you do. She's like, come on, give it up for Madeline, her faith. Yes, Madeline. Yes, you are a leader too. Madeline, I have a couple
[01:03:26] questions for you. Have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ to learn for salvation?
[01:03:32] Yes. Do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life? Yes. Who is your Lord and Savior?

[01:03:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:03:40] Jesus Christ.

[01:03:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:03:41] Well, Madeline, it's based upon your profession of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, that we baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in His death
[01:03:51] and raised to walk in newness of life.
[01:03:56] Woo!
[01:03:58] Thank you, God.
[01:04:02] Years of these parents asking God, I'm sure, to do a work in their daughter, and here she is getting baptized today.
[01:04:12] Now we've got Alexa stepping into the pool.
[01:04:16] And Alexa, yeah, y'all already know.
[01:04:18] So Alexa stepped into our church just a couple months ago.
[01:04:21] No, you've been around our church for a while, but you really started to lean in a couple months ago.
[01:04:26] Alexa went through membership.
[01:04:27] She joined a group.
[01:04:28] And she, if you talk to her, find her after and talk to her.
[01:04:31] She is full of joy and excitement for what God's doing.
[01:04:35] And she has a pure heart.
[01:04:36] Yes, you are.
[01:04:38] You have a pure heart.
[01:04:40] God is so proud of you.
[01:04:44] Yes.
[01:04:45] Alexa, we're excited for you.
[01:04:46] So I have a couple of questions for you.
[01:04:50] Okay, Alexa, have you repented of your sin and trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
[01:04:56] Yes.
[01:04:57] Do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life?
[01:05:01] Yes.
[01:05:02] And who is your Lord and Savior?
[01:05:04] Jesus Christ.
[01:05:05] Alexa, it is based upon your profession of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, that we baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[01:05:14] buried with Christ in his death and raised to walk in newness of life thank you God Alexa you your joy is contagious and God is going to use you for something big in this church I just
[01:05:34] believe that and in his church all righty we got our next girl stepping into the pool we got Raquel in here she's getting baptized by her mama so Raquel if y'all talk to her she's got
[01:05:50] a joyful spirit too. She's going to be great for the kingdom of God too. So Raquel, I know you're really excited. I got some questions. So have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? Yes. And do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord
[01:06:07] all the days of your life? Yes. And who is your Lord and Savior? Well, it is based upon your profession of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior that we now baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in
[01:06:25] his death and raised to walk in newness of life. Yes. Thank you, God. All right. We got a couple more. Y'all still with me? And I see some people coming in on the other side too. All right. So
[01:06:45] next we've got Stephanie. Stephanie, her story is similar to Clayton's. Yeah. Stephanie was saved when she was in her 20s and 30 years later is reminded and says, I need to make this decision, make this public. So this is something Stephanie wrestled with. Maybe you're feeling
[01:07:06] some wrestling. Let Stephanie's story be a witness and an encouragement to you. Maybe this is for you. So Stephanie has been talking with God for 30 years about this. And now here you are getting baptized today. I'm so proud of you. Stephanie, have you repented
[01:07:24] of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? Yes. Do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life? Yes. Who is your Lord and Savior? Jesus Christ. Stephanie, it's
[01:07:38] based upon your profession of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, that we baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in
[01:07:48] his death and raised to walk in newness of life. Yes. Thank you, Stephanie, for your faith. Your faith that encourages us all. All right. Got two more on this side and we're going to keep going. So this is Nicole and Nicole's getting baptized right before her
[01:08:09] husband. There's something over y'all's household that both of you choosing to say, I follow Jesus today. So Nicole, I have a couple of questions for you. Have you repented of your sin and trusted in jesus christ alone for salvation yes do you commit to follow jesus as
[01:08:25] lord all the days of your life and who is your lord and savior jesus christ nicole it's based on your profession of faith that jesus christ is your lord and savior we now baptize you my sister
[01:08:37] in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit buried in christ with his death and raised to walk in newness of life thank you god we celebrate you guys nicole and now campson this
[01:08:54] is the miller family campson campson you are a leader in your household too you and your wife doing this today together capes and i have a couple questions for you have you repented of your sin and trusted in jesus christ alone for salvation yes and do you commit to follow jesus
[01:09:14] says, Lord, all the days of your life. Yes. Who is your Lord and Savior? Jesus Christ.
[01:09:19] It's based upon your profession of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior.
[01:09:24] We know baptized you, my brother, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[01:09:29] Buried with Christ in his death and raised to walk in newness of life. Yes, celebrate. Thank you, God. Thank you, God, for what you're doing. Well, we've got some people who just decided to get baptized. So I'm going to toss it over to Sylvia. I am wired this morning. If you are not

[01:09:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:09:52] so excited, take some of mine because I got more to go around. Here we have our friend Lydia and she's going to get baptized this morning by her friend River. Lydia, I have a few questions. Are
[01:10:03] you ready? Amazing. Lydia, have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation yes beautiful and do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life yes who is your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen upon your profession of faith in Jesus Christ as
[01:10:25] your Lord and Savior we baptize you our sister in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit you are buried with Christ in his death and raised to new life amen amen I'm in
[01:10:41] the splash zone right now and I don't want to be anywhere else this is so fun coming up next we have our friend Alden get in here bud look at this awesome shirt with our friend Chris in tow
[01:10:59] Alden we're so excited for you I have a few questions are you ready awesome have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation yes beautiful and do you commit to
[01:11:13] follow jesus as lord all the days of your life yes who is your lord and savior jesus christ beautiful and upon your profession of faith in jesus christ as your lord and savior we get to
[01:11:25] baptize you my brother in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit you are buried in his death oh get him under and raise amen amen alden wow so cool up next we have our friend garrett
[01:11:50] Garrett give it up for Garrett everybody yeah Garrett this is so cool we're so proud of you this is amazing and your shirt matches your blue eyes so great I have a few questions okay
[01:12:04] have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation yes beautiful do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life yes who is your Lord and Savior
[01:12:18] Jesus Christ I love it that was strong upon your profession of faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior we get to baptize you my brother in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
[01:12:29] Holy Spirit you are buried with Christ in his death and raised to new life amazing so cool up next we have our friend Mackenzie welcome to the pool Mackenzie I love it was that your
[01:12:50] husband that just oh my goodness I love just over there now we got one over here I love this well Mackenzie we're so proud of you uh I agree with what Darcy said over there this is changing your
[01:13:02] household in a completely new way and the two of you doing this today will forever be a memory in your brains you'll get to share it with family and children and grandchildren and nieces and
[01:13:11] nephews and all of the above and we're so excited to share this with you Mackenzie have you repented of your sin and trusted in jesus christ alone for salvation yes awesome do you commit to follow
[01:13:24] jesus as lord all the days of your life who is your lord and savior jesus christ amen well upon your profession of faith we get to baptize you as in christ jesus in the name of the father the son
[01:13:38] and the holy spirit you were buried with christ in his death and raised to new life man mckenzie Amen. It looks like we still got some, some friends that are ready over here at Darcy's

[01:13:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:13:52] pool. So I'm going to go pass it over to her. All right. Here we have Emily and Emily. I was just talking to her and she said, I just needed to make the decision and do it. So here she is.
[01:14:04] So Emily, I have a couple of questions. Have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? Yes. Do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life? Yes,
[01:14:15] ma'am. And who is your Lord and Savior? Jesus Christ. Well, it's based upon your profession that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, that we now baptize you, my sister, in the name of the
[01:14:26] Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried in Christ in his death and raised to walk in newness of life. Yes. Yes. Emily wasn't expecting to do that today. She grabbed some clothes outside and
[01:14:45] here she is being obedient to what God's asking her to do. So I think we've got a couple more jumping in the pool. Yeah, y'all come on. This is Reed. Hey, Reed. How you feel? Good. You excited?
[01:15:01] You weren't expecting to do this today either, were you? He said, no, ma'am, was not. Okay, Reed.
[01:15:07] Have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? Yes. Do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life? Yes. And who is your Lord and Savior?
[01:15:19] Jesus Christ. Well, read it's based upon your profession that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, that we now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in his death, and raised to walk in newness of life. Thank you, God. Y'all
[01:15:39] should have heard the laughing up here. Joy-filled laughter up here. That's for sure. Well, I think we still got some people having conversations. So if y'all just take a moment and pray for them who are out there, maybe someone's heart's racing a little. Would you say a prayer and pray for them
[01:15:54] too? And I think we've got some more people coming into the pool. Lace, you got some people who believe in you. Yeah, you do. Okay. Well, I have a few questions for you. Have you repented of your
[01:16:13] sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? Yes. Do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life?

[01:16:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:16:22] Yes.

[01:16:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:16:23] And who is your Lord and Savior?
[01:16:25] Jesus Christ.
[01:16:26] Well, Lace, it's based upon your profession of faith and Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior that we now baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, buried in Christ with his death
[01:16:36] and raised to walk in newness of life.
[01:16:43] Yes.
[01:16:44] All right, I'm gonna pass it to you, Allen.

[01:16:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:16:47] So good.
[01:16:48] And my man, the brother down here, that's the kind of brother we're trying to raise up.
[01:16:52] Get right in there with it.
[01:16:53] you are in this together. That's my boy. Do it like that. Hey, we still have people having conversations. I want to ask a question as we are about to sing together. How many of you had
[01:17:05] some connection to some person being baptized or a family member? Would you put a hand up?
[01:17:10] Put a hand up if you had any connection to any person. Are there hands all over the room? You have a role in this. Your role is to encourage them as they seek to become more like Christ
[01:17:22] every day. A church like ours can feel big, and what makes it feel small is when you reach out to the person or the mom or the dad of the person being baptized and say, I'm in this with you.
[01:17:34] What can I do to help? And so we are building a church that cultivates that kind of relationship.
[01:17:41] So as we sing together, think of ways that you can encourage people that are stepping into that next step. And if you feel like, man, I have been hesitant to step into this, we still have time for
[01:17:52] you to step out and have a conversation. So John, if you'd step up here and lead us in a song, we'll worship together. Then we're going to baptize some more, go into our days.

[01:18:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[01:18:04] Yeah, come on, everybody. Let's remember our story this morning as we sing this again.

[01:18:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[01:18:07] I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided To follow Jesus No turning back Come on, can we sing that again?
[01:18:43] I have decided To follow Jesus Come on, spit it for me.
[01:19:15] Your voice.
[01:21:05] To follow Jesus I have decided To follow Jesus No turning back

[01:21:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:21:36] So I know we have more people ready to be baptized.
[01:21:38] Chris, Sylvia, I'm going to hand it off to you guys.
[01:21:41] We're going to continue to celebrate this.

[01:21:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:21:44] Amazing.
[01:21:45] Well, here we have our friend Mike.
[01:21:47] And we are so excited to celebrate with you this morning.
[01:21:50] I have a few questions.
[01:21:52] Mike, have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
[01:21:57] Do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life?

[01:22:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:22:03] Yes.

[01:22:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:22:03] Who is your Lord and Savior?

[01:22:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:22:06] Jesus Christ.

[01:22:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:22:07] Amen.
[01:22:08] Upon your profession of faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, we baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in his death and raised to new life.
[01:22:20] Amen.
[01:22:24] What a beautiful morning, everyone.
[01:22:28] We're going to continue celebrating.
[01:22:32] So, so cool.
[01:22:33] So cool.
[01:22:35] Amazing.
[01:22:36] We're gonna pass it over to another one of our friends over in Darcy's pool.

[01:22:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:22:41] Yes, well, here we have three AU sophomores, Anderson University.
[01:22:47] And so, oh, some support for AU.
[01:22:50] And I was just talking to each of them and I can just tell in all of them that this is a move of faith, that they all deeply love God.
[01:23:00] And this is a move of God asked me to do this, so I'm gonna do this.
[01:23:03] So Ansley, have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
[01:23:09] Yes.
[01:23:10] Do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life?
[01:23:14] I do.
[01:23:15] And who is your Lord and Savior?
[01:23:17] Jesus Christ.
[01:23:18] Well, it's based upon your profession of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, that we now baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried in Christ with His death,
[01:23:30] and raised to walk in newness of life.
[01:23:33] Yes.
[01:23:39] Ansley, we're so proud of you and your faith.
[01:23:42] There's something about the three of y'all doing this together.
[01:23:45] Just an encouragement of believers that's happening.
[01:23:50] Scarlett, have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
[01:23:56] Yeah.
[01:23:58] And do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life?
[01:24:01] I do.
[01:24:02] And who is your Lord and Savior?
[01:24:04] Jesus Christ.
[01:24:05] Scarlett, it's based upon your profession of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, that we baptize you, my sister, In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[01:24:15] Buried with Christ in his death and raised to walk.
[01:24:21] Yes.
[01:24:25] So proud of you.
[01:24:28] All right.
[01:24:29] And our last girl from AU.
[01:24:31] Sophia, right?
[01:24:34] Well, Sophia, have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
[01:24:40] Yes.
[01:24:42] And do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life?
[01:24:45] I do.
[01:24:47] And who is your Lord and Savior?
[01:24:49] Jesus Christ. Well, it's based upon your profession of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior that we baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
[01:24:59] buried in Christ with his death and raised to walk in newness of life. Yes. All right. Well, Sylvia's got some more at her pool, so we're going to send it over. And oh boy, do we have some. Miss

[01:25:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:25:14] Denise. We're so excited. Denise said, save the shorts, save the shirt, because I'm doing this now. No time to change. We're so excited. Denise, you were saved in 2019. Is that true?
[01:25:30] 2019. We are so excited that you're taking this next step here. I have a few questions.
[01:25:37] Denise, have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
[01:25:41] absolutely absolutely do you commit to follow jesus as lord all the days of your life absolutely absolutely i love this who is your lord and savior jesus christ amen well upon your profession of faith in jesus christ as your lord and savior we get to baptize you our sister
[01:25:59] in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit buried with christ in his death and raised to do life. Amazing. I love this. So cool. Yeah, thank you. We've got a few more
[01:26:21] friends getting ready. Give it up for Denise, y'all. That is amazing. She got the two-piece set on and everything. I love that. I love it. I love it. We've got some more friends coming in
[01:26:40] here. Here we've got Ava Grace. Yeah, Ava Grace, your braid is so beautiful. Well, it is warm just for you. Ava Grace, I have a few questions for you. Are you ready? Okay. Have you repented of
[01:27:01] your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? That's so sweet. Do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life? Yes, ma'am. Who is your Lord and Savior? Jesus
[01:27:14] Christ. Wow. Upon your profession of faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, we get to baptize you, our sister, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Buried with Christ
[01:27:25] in his death and raised to new life. We're so proud of you. We're so proud of you. Come on, Lord.
[01:27:39] Wow. We've got some more friends coming in here. Skylar. I know Skylar. Skylar, we're so excited.
[01:27:49] this is so cool awesome okay Skylar are you ready amazing I love it your eyes are so beautiful Skylar have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation yes love it do you commit to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of your life yes who is your
[01:28:11] Lord and Savior Jesus Christ well upon your profession of faith as Jesus Christ of Jesus Christ. As your Lord and Savior, I baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptized instead and raised to new life. So amazing. I love it. I love it.
[01:28:34] I love it. I'm going to pass it back to my friend, Alan, and we're going to keep going.

[01:28:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:28:39] Hey, I don't want to blow past, like, this is not typical or normal. Like, God is doing something special. And I want us to embrace that today. So listen, if you have kids in Kidspring,
[01:28:50] you're welcome to go get them. We still have conversations going on, and I still want us to affirm for these people what we as the church mean to them. So we have a couple more conversations.
[01:29:01] I'm going to invite John to sing a song for us quickly, and then we're going to baptize one or two more. And then we as a church are going to affirm what God is doing in their lives. So John,

[01:29:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[01:29:10] Let's all declare this together.
[01:29:26] Christ is my firm foundation.

[01:29:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[01:29:40] The rock on which I stand.
[01:29:43] When everything around me is shaking.
[01:29:48] I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus.
[01:29:59] Because He's never let me down.
[01:30:03] He's faithful through generations Now, come on.
[01:30:14] I need your help.

[01:33:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:33:19] We need to say this loud enough for all the damp people in the atrium to hear it, okay?
[01:33:23] So I have a question for you.
[01:33:25] Do you as a church agree to love, support, and encourage all of the people that we have seen baptized all of the days that they seek and choose to serve the Lord?
[01:33:38] If you do, please respond so that they can hear you by saying, we do.
[01:33:43] That's good.
[01:33:45] Well done.
[01:33:46] Hey, what a great day.
[01:33:46] Put your hands together, please.
[01:33:49] If you are one of the people that chose to be baptized today, we are so proud of you.
[01:33:55] If something bubbled up in you and you just couldn't take that step today, you can text baptism to 30303.
[01:34:03] Finally, friends, I would love to bless y'all as you go out in the room.
[01:34:06] Also, happy birthday, London.
[01:34:08] Happy birthday.
[01:34:09] We appreciate you and your family, London Kring.
[01:34:11] If we could throw that blessing up on the screen, let's just take a moment to be thankful.
[01:34:18] God, thank you.
[01:34:19] And now may you be reminded of the good news of the gospel.
[01:34:23] How could we not, right?
[01:34:25] How Jesus gave his life and overcame death and the grave that you might have life and relationship with God.
[01:34:31] May your life declare this hope and life of the gospel.
[01:34:34] Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
[01:34:37] Love you guys very much.
[01:34:38] Men, see you back here tonight.
[01:34:40] Everybody else, we'll see you Wednesday for Fuse.