The King’s Kingdom: Repentance, Grace, and the Call to Reign

• Infant Baptism and Covenant Theology [00:18:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the theological basis for baptizing infants, arguing it is God's action rather than human action, rooted in the Abrahamic covenant and New Testament promises to children.
• Parental and Corporate Spiritual Responsibility [00:26:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor charges parents to prioritize their own spiritual intimacy and genuine faith over providing the 'best' Christian resources, citing the Shema and the command to impress faith on children.
• The Nature of God's Grace [00:18:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor illustrates that God begins working in a person's life before they are aware of it, using the analogy of an 'NPC' (non-playable character) to describe an infant's state before personal faith.
• Kingdom of God and Self-Reflection [00:49:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that the Kingdom of God is specifically for outsiders and those who recognize their need for help, urging the congregation to have the courage to look inward.
• Matthew's Gospel and Jesus's Lineage [00:48:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > Discussion of Matthew's inclusion of flawed ancestors (adulterers, tax collectors) to show that Jesus's lineage includes outsiders, establishing Jesus as a king for such people.
• Jesus as King (Davidic and Universal) [00:50:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > Analysis of 'behold' moments in Matthew 1-3, highlighting Jesus's Davidic lineage and his recognition by Gentiles (Magi) as King of the whole world, characterized by shepherd-like care.
• Empire vs. Shalom [00:52:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > Introduction of the theological conflict between building personal 'empire states of mind' versus building the Kingdom of God through shalom.
• Kingdom of God vs. Empire [00:51:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the pursuit of personal status and 'empire' (Herod, Saul, Pharaoh) with seeking 'shalom' and the kingdom of God, citing the Magi and Jesus as the shepherd-king.
• Repentance and Baptism [00:58:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines John the Baptist's baptism as preparatory and distinguishes true repentance (returning to covenant obedience) from mere apology or moral self-righteousness.
• Personal Growth and Reflection [00:55:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor encourages evaluating 'key moments' (birthdays, moves, hardships) as opportunities to look inward, recognize past immaturity, and grow in Christ.
• Confession of Sin [01:01:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about failing to repent for years due to insecurity, using it to urge the congregation to identify and confess their specific sins to clear the way for God's love.
• Confession and Repentance [01:05:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor urges the congregation to confess their biggest sins, emphasizing that no sin is too big for God to forgive and that holiness is their identity in Christ.
• King Jesus and Authority [01:07:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines Jesus as a King with all power and authority who requires all obedience, contrasting him with other kings and highlighting his commissioning at baptism.
• Imputed Righteousness [01:10:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that Jesus was baptized to fulfill righteousness, taking on the sins of his people so they could be covered in his perfect standing.
• Christian Adventure [01:12:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using an anecdote about military enlistment, the pastor reframes living for the King as an exciting adventure rather than a stale obligation.

• Sermon Illustration [00:18:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the video game term 'NPC' (non-playable character) to describe an infant's lack of agency, illustrating how God can work in a child's life before they are aware, turning them into a follower over time.
• Sermon Illustration [00:24:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references King Solomon's reflection in Ecclesiastes 2, noting that without God, all achievements are meaningless, but God gives wisdom and joy to those who are good in His sight.
• Sermon Illustration [00:27:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts modern cultural pressure on parents to provide the 'best' schools and programs with the biblical command to impress faith on children through daily living and personal spiritual intimacy.
• Sermon Illustration [00:45:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asks children to draw two kingdoms: one ruled by an evil person and one ruled by Jesus, to illustrate the concept of the Kingdom of God.
• Sermon Illustration [00:46:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about watching a 15-hour Ken Burns documentary on World War II, noting the humility of young soldiers (18 or younger) who fought for their country and are now elderly or deceased.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references a quote from the Bema Discipleship Podcast regarding the biblical battle between 'empire versus shalom' to challenge the congregation's mindset.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the Bema Discipleship Podcast's concept of the 'battle of empire versus shalom,' citing Herod, King Saul, and Pharaoh as examples of those choosing empire over peace.
• Sermon Illustration [01:01:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story of receiving a call to pastorhood and realizing through a counselor's question that he had not confessed or repented of his insecurities and desire for approval for years.
• Sermon Illustration [00:56:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor quotes Tim Keller ('your future self will always see your present self as unwise and immature') and John Owen ('be killing sin or sin will be killing you'), and references a Lecrae rap song to illustrate the slippery slope of pride and sin.
• Sermon Illustration [01:06:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the illustration of John the Baptist's camel hair garment being worn on the inside to create discomfort, symbolizing the need to feel the effects of sin and repent.
• Sermon Illustration [01:06:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of John the Baptist wearing camel fur on the inside to create discomfort, suggesting believers find a 'marker' of discomfort to lead them to repentance.
• Sermon Illustration [01:12:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts an interview from the Kim Burns documentary where a man joined the military for an 'adventure' without knowing what it entailed, using this to illustrate the unknown but exciting nature of obedience to King Jesus.

• Pastoral Charge [00:29:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is asked to verbally commit ('we do') to assisting the parents in the Christian nurture of the child.
• Pastoral Charge [00:28:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The parents are commanded to acknowledge the child's need for Christ, claim covenant promises, and dedicate the child to God through prayer, teaching, and setting a godly example.
• Pastoral Charge [00:45:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asks the children to draw two pictures depicting a kingdom ruled by an evil person versus a kingdom ruled by Jesus, and to show them after the service.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pause and identify one's primary sin.
• Pastoral Charge [01:07:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > Identify a physical or tangible marker of discomfort to remind oneself of the effects of sin and the need for repentance.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > Reflect on and identify one's major personal sin.
• Pastoral Charge [01:07:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > Identify a physical or tangible reminder of sin to prompt ongoing repentance.
• Pastoral Charge [01:14:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > Actively call out to God for repentance and to pursue a life of obedience.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:02:59] Welcome to Midtown Church this morning. We're glad to have you here with us. My name is Wally Tinsley. I'm one of the elders here, and I have the privilege of having us together be called to worship this morning.
[00:03:15] God calls us into his presence. God calls us to come here in worship, separating ourselves from the normal busyness of a work week, even the busyness of this day, and so we have the opportunity to be called to worship.
[00:03:30] bulletin you see a responsive call to worship if you would stand if you're able i will read the leader portion and then we will all together respond with the all that's in bold remember at
[00:03:45] one time we were separated from christ excluded from citizenship in israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise without hope and without god in the world but now in christ jesus we who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of christ for you are a chosen people
[00:04:08] a royal priesthood a holy nation a people belonging to god that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light once we were not a people but now we are the people of god once we had not received mercy but now we have received mercy

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:04:33] praise be to our god as the people of god let us worship it's your breath in our worship service

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:12:31] we have the opportunity to confess our faith and sometimes we do that with confessions that we're very familiar with this morning as you turn the page you'll see we have two questions from the Westminster Larger Catechism, which probably most of us don't have memorized, but nonetheless it's
[00:12:47] written there for you. I will ask the question and as a confession of what it is that we will we believe, we'll all respond with the answer in bold. So for both questions, why was our mediator
[00:13:00] called Jesus? Our mediator was called Jesus because he saves his people from their sins.
[00:13:10] And why was our mediator called Christ?
[00:13:14] Our mediator was called Christ because he was appointed with the Holy Ghost above measure and so set apart and fully furnished with all authority and ability to execute the offices of prophet, priest, and king of his church
[00:13:35] in the estate, both of his humiliation and exaltation.
[00:13:42] As we worship Jesus and Christ this morning, we now continue with a hymn of thanksgiving.
[00:13:50] And while we sing this hymn, we will pass an offering plate.
[00:13:54] Whether you give at this time or at online or some other time, this is nonetheless an opportunity to reflect on the good gifts that God has given us.
[00:14:03] And with hearts of thanksgiving, we continue to worship if the ushers would come forward.

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:17:09] I was raised in the Baptist church.

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:18:03] Infant baptism was sort of this odd thing that I experienced when Karen and I were dating and I started going to her Presbyterian church.
[00:18:11] And I think part of the reason why I struggled to understand infant baptism is because an infant is like, I don't know what you college kids call an NPC, a non-playable character in a video game.
[00:18:24] But as I started to study the issue, I realized that it really comes down to this question.
[00:18:31] Is baptism primarily God's action or is it our action?
[00:18:39] So when we baptize an infant, we're leaning into a concept that I think we as parents and as human beings, we already know to be true, that God begins working in our lives even before we're aware of it.
[00:18:55] This is why we pray for our kids.
[00:18:57] This is why we bring them to church even though they do not understand all that's going on here.
[00:19:02] This is why we begin reading Bible stories to our kids even before they understand the words that we're saying.
[00:19:09] We do all these things because we believe that all these actions put together over time, that God has the power to use those to bring them to a point where they will one day put their personal faith in Jesus Christ.
[00:19:24] And so what we're doing today is we are living into, we're leaning into that belief when we are baptizing, in this case, Sophia, Joy, and Jacinda as a child of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
[00:19:37] And if you go back to the Gospels, Jesus said, let the little children come.
[00:19:42] The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
[00:19:45] We don't baptize babies for sentimental reasons, even though you're going to see very quickly Sophia is super cute.
[00:19:54] We don't do this for tradition's sake, even though this does go back all 2,000 years of church history.
[00:20:00] We don't do baptism of infants because it guarantees salvation, right?
[00:20:05] There's nothing magical that is from these waters.
[00:20:09] But we do this because we believe that the Scriptures have laid the foundation for this practice.
[00:20:15] And you go all the way back to the very first book of the Bible.
[00:20:17] So beginning in Genesis, we see God going out of his way to give Abraham a sign that because he had faith, it not only put him, but it put his children in a very special position.
[00:20:29] And so the blessing of circumcision was to be given not just to Abraham, but it was to be given to his children as well.
[00:20:37] 2,000 years later, God came again in the person of Jesus Christ.
[00:20:42] And what we're told in Galatians 3.14 is this, that Christ redeemed us in order that the blessing that was given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles, that's us, through Christ Jesus.
[00:20:55] And so what you'll find throughout the New Testament is that the church continued with this concept that the sign of God's love and faithfulness was not only for people of faith, but it was for the children of those people of faith.
[00:21:10] So if you go to the book of Acts 2, verses 38 and 39, the apostle Peter, he said, repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins
[00:21:22] and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
[00:21:24] And then he says this statement.
[00:21:26] The promise is for you and for all of your children.
[00:21:31] So baptism does not save anybody.
[00:21:35] But it is a sign that Jesus has the power to turn a seemingly NPC, non-playable character into a follower of his over time.
[00:21:46] that Jesus, he does promise to cleanse us from our sins as we put our faith in him.
[00:21:52] And it's a promise that right now we are holding out on behalf of Sophia.
[00:21:59] And we do this in the context of a worship service because it's the church's way of saying we are going to believe the gospel on behalf of Sophia, on behalf of the Jacinda family until that time comes in her life
[00:22:11] where Sophia's going to look at the faith of her parents, her extended family, her church family, and she's going to have to decide for herself, am I going to look at all of these signs pointing to where true life, love, and hope is found,
[00:22:26] and am I going to put my faith in Jesus myself?
[00:22:30] And until that day comes, we're going to believe the gospel on Sophia's behalf.
[00:22:38] One of my favorite things that we do here, traditions here at Midtown Community Church, is we invite the parents of the child being baptized to come and deliver a blessing.
[00:22:48] So, Ascenders, if you want to make your way up front, and I'm going to turn the mic, I believe, over to you, TJ.

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:23:18] Sophia, you are a blessing, you are wanted, you are loved.
[00:23:24] I tell you this every day, and I can't wait until you're old enough to understand this message fully.
[00:23:33] Throughout your life, you will have an abundance of love and support from your mother and me, from your grandparents and extended family, and from this church community.
[00:23:45] This foundation will give you every advantage as you grow into a strong, independent, God-fearing woman.
[00:23:52] Your name was carefully chosen, and we hope that as you grow, it guides you on your journey.
[00:24:01] Sophia, a Greek word meaning wisdom.
[00:24:06] Joy, a Latin word meaning feeling of great pleasure and happiness.
[00:24:14] A beautiful thing about wisdom and joy is that neither has a limit.
[00:24:19] You can never learn too much, and you can never be too happy.
[00:24:22] Our charge to you is that you chase endless amounts of both, with God at the center of it all.
[00:24:30] Ecclesiastes chapter 2 captures this truth well.
[00:24:34] In the passage, King Solomon reflects on his many achievements, experiences, possession, riches, and knowledge.
[00:24:44] After considering everything that he's accomplished, he concludes that without God, it is all meaningless.
[00:24:50] Verse 26 summarizes his realization.
[00:24:54] For to a person who is good in his sight, he is given wisdom and knowledge and joy.
[00:25:03] While to the sinner, he is given the task of gathering and collecting, so that he may give to the one who is good in God's sight.
[00:25:13] It may not be the flashiest verse in the Bible, but it teaches exactly what your mother and I hope to instill in you.
[00:25:22] With God, nothing is unachievable for you.
[00:25:26] Without God, even your greatest efforts will never feel like enough.
[00:25:32] So listen, ask questions, learn, and walk with confidence as you grow.
[00:25:39] May the foundation we are laying for you become the pedestal that lifts you towards limitless opportunities to live a blessed, meaningful life that shows others the incredible gift that it is to be loved by God.

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:25:53] Hi, T.J., Mary, Ashley.
[00:26:01] I wanted to give just a brief charge to you as parents.
[00:26:05] So if you got the Old Testament, the most important prayer in the religious life of a family of followers of Yahweh, it was a prayer called the Shema.
[00:26:17] It goes all the way back to Deuteronomy 6, and here's what the Shema reads.
[00:26:22] Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
[00:26:24] Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
[00:26:29] And interestingly, this prayer was supposed to be recited every morning and every evening in a Jewish home.
[00:26:38] But if you look at that passage right after this famous Shema prayer, there's another command that is then given.
[00:26:47] And here's the command.
[00:26:49] Impress them on your children.
[00:26:51] Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.
[00:26:57] So part of the culture of parenting today is that we as parents, and I don't want to speak to all y'all, but in our culture of parenting today, we as parents are told to strive to give our kids the best of what everything out there has to offer.
[00:27:16] Not just the world, but the broader Christian community.
[00:27:19] And so as a result, and I see this in my own life, I see this with other parents, we put tons of pressure on getting our kids into the right school, getting them the right program,
[00:27:31] the best youth group, the best books, the best teachers.
[00:27:36] We want to give them the best of everything, and as Christians, we want to do that in a very Christian way.
[00:27:41] But here's what the Bible says, is that it's really much more simple than that.
[00:27:46] The most impactful thing that you can do as a parent is not to give your kids, Sophia, the best that the Christian world has to offer.
[00:27:57] The best thing you can do is to give her your own spiritual intimacy.
[00:28:03] Just live out the Shema.
[00:28:05] Just become somebody who is genuinely yet imperfectly living out their own faith and trying to take their own spiritual lives seriously.
[00:28:13] And I will promise you that your own faith in Jesus and your commitment to growing in that will do far more than any other school or program will ever accomplish in her life. So just live into your genuine and imperfect faith and live
[00:28:29] that out, and that's the greatest thing you can give her. All right, three vows that I'm going to have you respond with the words we do to T.J. and Mary Ashley. Here's the first. You acknowledge
[00:28:41] your child's need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit.
[00:28:47] Second, you claim God's covenant promises on her behalf, and you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for her salvation as you do for your own.
[00:28:56] And then finally, you now unobservedly dedicate your child to God and promise in humble reliance upon divine grace that you'll endeavor to set before her a godly example, that you'll pray with and for her,
[00:29:08] that you'll teach her the doctrines of her holy religion, and that you'll strive by all the means of God's appointment to bring her up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
[00:29:18] All right, and now I've got a vow that will be for the members of Midtown Community Church in addition to the friends and family of Sophia.
[00:29:27] And so if you please stand at this time and respond to this vow with the words, we do.
[00:29:35] Do you, the friends and family of Sophia and the congregation of Midtown Community Church undertake the responsibility of assisting these parents in the Christian nurture of this child?
[00:29:47] All right, you may be seated.
[00:29:53] Are you ready?
[00:30:06] Sophia, Joy, Yosinda, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:30:22] Let's pray.
[00:30:26] Heavenly Father, the love that a parent has for a child is pretty powerful.
[00:30:33] But we thank you for moments like this because they remind us that there's something even more powerful than the love that these two parents have for Sophia.
[00:30:44] and that's the love that her heavenly father and so Jesus I pray that this would be one of just many opportunities throughout the course of her life that we will believe the gospel on her behalf
[00:30:57] and that there would come a day very early in her life and she would look at the faith of her parents her extended family, her church family and that she would one day put her faith
[00:31:08] but we thank you Jesus that all these little things that we do as parents even right now praying for her, baptizing her, reading her stories, caring for her, telling her, as TJ said, that she is loved.
[00:31:23] All these things, they matter in the economy of your kingdom. We thank you that this sacrament here reminds us of that truth, so help us to live into that reality, to believe that we're doing something far
[00:31:33] more than simply getting her hair wet this morning, but that this is a kingdom moment, and will your kingdom be brought into her life, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
[00:31:44] Alright, let's give them a hand.
[00:31:46] So, the winter storm is the gift that keeps on giving.
[00:32:00] And so, as a result, there is no child care this morning.
[00:32:04] So, the HVAC is out in the other buildings.
[00:32:09] So, as a result, the kids get to be here for the rest of the service.
[00:32:13] So, they're working on getting the HVAC fixed.
[00:32:16] And that will be in the next few days.
[00:32:17] But, as a result, you're all here.
[00:32:20] But, we're still going to do the meet and greet.
[00:32:21] so stand up take a moment greet somebody new around you you can take a seat at this time if everybody can take a seat at this time thank you all right so welcome again to midtown community
[00:34:53] church it is great uh to be back after more or less a few weeks of the snow keeping us inside our homes so glad to have everybody here if you are a visitor this year i will just quickly draw
[00:35:06] your attention inside of the front of your bulletin is a qr code um if you want to let us know that you're here if you want to meet with anderson or myself for coffee it's going to be
[00:35:15] added to our email distribution list so you can get kind of regular updates on what's going on the life of our church you can access that through the qr code have your smartphone camera for that
[00:35:26] and it'll take care of the rest um announcements uh i wanted to bring up jesse smith she's going come give a brief announcement about our upcoming women's retreat good morning y'all um i want to

[00:35:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:35:45] take a moment to speak directly to the young women mature women and everybody in between about the upcoming women's retreat so on march 21st we are having an all-day women's retreat at the northridge country club so it's local which is a benefit um so it's saturday from
[00:36:06] from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., breakfast, lunch is included, as well as the materials. We'll have worship and a study. So if you guys, if any of you are like me, my first time going to a women's retreat was
[00:36:23] two years ago, shortly after becoming a member of Midtown, and I'll be honest, it sounded like the worst decision of my life. I am somebody that I'm like, nope, I am not interested in spending a
[00:36:34] weekend with women that I don't know, previous churches I'd been a part of, I never felt like I fit in with the women of the church. At the time, my husband and I were going through infertility,
[00:36:45] I didn't have kids, like I just felt like I had nothing that I could bring or would be able to connect with anyone. I was shocked at how rejuvenating that weekend was for me to get
[00:36:58] out of my comfort zone so if you are a woman that is hesitant or unsure I want to gently encourage you to give it to come spend the day with us and you don't have to pack overnight so it's only a nine-to-five commitment so it's a great
[00:37:15] way to dip your foot in the water get to know the ladies of Midtown I think you'll be happily surprised whether you're a college woman or maybe you're going through your own journey, um, how welcoming everybody is. And, um, yeah, I just want to
[00:37:34] encourage you. And if you have additional questions about that, come by me after the service, I'll hang out a little bit, but you can also, um, talk to Kara or Marissa, um, some other of the women's shepherding team, um, signups are in church center. So, and those are open now. And
[00:37:50] I think we're limited to 60 people is what I saw.
[00:37:52] So just do it, guys.
[00:37:54] It'll be great.
[00:37:55] Thank you.

[00:37:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:37:58] All right.
[00:37:59] Another announcement, I think it's not in the bulletin, but it is happening today, is the Helping Little Kids program.
[00:38:04] Am I right?
[00:38:05] Okay.
[00:38:05] So there is a ministry that was started by some of the third, fourth, fifth grade girls of our church called the Helping Little Kids program.
[00:38:16] And basically what they do is they hold bake sales every so often for the purpose of supporting some of the local ministries that we support here in the Raleigh area.
[00:38:28] And so they're holding a bake sale after the service today.
[00:38:31] It'll be outside in the courtyard.
[00:38:34] Is that right?
[00:38:35] Yeah.
[00:38:35] So we're in the courtyard.
[00:38:37] Look for the baked goods.
[00:38:38] If you want something great to eat that's home-baked and you want to support awesome ministries doing really good work here in Raleigh and beyond, this is a great way to do that.
[00:38:51] So stick around after the service and support the Helping Little Kids program as they try to support our local ministries.
[00:38:58] A couple other announcements really quickly.
[00:39:01] Rise Against Hunger event.
[00:39:03] We've done this the past few years where we partner up with Ridgewood Baptist alongside some of the other organizations who are here on campus to do a food packing event.
[00:39:14] That's February 22nd.
[00:39:16] The young pros are having a Super Bowl party tonight.
[00:39:19] The details are there.
[00:39:21] You can contact Carly.
[00:39:22] Her number's right there if you want details for where that's going to take place.
[00:39:26] And we'll talk about this more in the coming weeks.
[00:39:28] but there's a seminar that we're hosting on April 9th that I think will be really good for people who are seekers, explorers, or just trying to develop a stronger defense for why they believe what they believe.
[00:39:44] And so we'll talk about that more, but take a look at that.
[00:39:47] That's it for announcements.
[00:39:48] I believe Wally's going to come pray, and then we'll jump into God's Word.

[00:39:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:39:59] Join me as we pray together.
[00:40:03] Heavenly Father, we come before you in prayer this morning, both because you've called us to it and because you're worthy.
[00:40:10] You are to be trusted as you keep your promises.
[00:40:14] You are gracious as you care for us.
[00:40:17] And you are attentive as you hear our prayers.
[00:40:21] And we confess that we are not worthy, are not always trustworthy.
[00:40:26] We are unkind and uncaring and we're not great listeners.
[00:40:30] But we thank you for loving us and caring for us despite our sins and shortcomings.
[00:40:36] We thank you for provision.
[00:40:38] We thank you for your care for families, for new babies, to college kids, to care for aging parents.
[00:40:45] Even when we are unable to see how we can work out the provision for ourselves, you provide food and home and clothing in accordance with promises, and then you provide us with so much more.
[00:40:58] And we thank you for schooling, for recreation, for transportation, in so many other ways where you provide.
[00:41:05] Lord, we pray that you would give us the grace to acknowledge and to be grateful.
[00:41:10] We pray for your church around the world.
[00:41:13] We pray for those Jesus followers who worship this morning under the threat of persecution.
[00:41:18] We pray for those here in our own city who struggle for basic needs.
[00:41:23] We pray for provision, and we ask that you would use us to be a part of showing your love in that way.
[00:41:29] we pray for refugee hope partners as they minister as your hands and feet loving with your heart for the poor the refugee and the underprivileged we pray for those in our midst who are sick
[00:41:43] those who battle cancer those who navigate chronic pain day after day and those who face the daily impact of aging heal and comfort and let these your people know your presence clearly Jesus we pray for your continued presence here with us
[00:42:00] this morning. Holy Spirit, we pray for you to engage our hearts and minds as your word to us is read and preached.
[00:42:09] We ask for your encouragement and guidance for Anderson as he delivers the sermon today.
[00:42:15] We thank you for Anderson and his ministry, and we pray that your work through him this morning would be for the sanctification of us all.
[00:42:25] These things we pray in Jesus' name.
[00:42:27] Amen.

[00:42:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:42:48] Today's scripture reading comes from Matthew 3, and we're starting in verse 1.
[00:42:53] In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.
[00:42:57] Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[00:43:00] For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.
[00:43:11] Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
[00:43:19] Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
[00:43:30] But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
[00:43:41] Bear fruit in keeping with repentance, and do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father.
[00:43:48] For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
[00:43:55] Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.
[00:43:59] Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
[00:44:04] I baptize you with water for repentance.
[00:44:07] But he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.
[00:44:13] He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
[00:44:17] His unknowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.
[00:44:27] Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.
[00:44:33] John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?
[00:44:39] But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.
[00:44:45] righteousness then he consented and when Jesus was baptized immediately he went up from the water and behold the heavens were open to him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him and behold a voice from heaven said this is my beloved son with whom I am

[00:45:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:45:04] well pleased good morning parents y'all are gonna do great uh kids I have a favor to ask of you um There are some sheets of paper in the lobby, and I need your help, okay?
[00:45:27] If you want to go grab a couple of sheets of paper, I need some pictures.
[00:45:31] I need one picture that looks like what a kingdom would look like if an evil, bad person ruled a kingdom.
[00:45:36] And then I also need a kingdom that's drawn that would look like what Jesus describes.
[00:45:43] And what a kingdom would look like if Jesus was the king of the kingdom.
[00:45:46] Okay, if you can do that during the service and then show me some of your pictures afterwards, I would love that.
[00:45:52] Okay, because this first illustration is not going to land for you.
[00:45:57] Has anyone ever seen a documentary by Ken Burns?
[00:46:02] Anybody?
[00:46:03] All right, a couple of you out there.
[00:46:05] Ken Burns, he does a lot of historical documentaries, and I recently started one on World War II.
[00:46:12] I didn't know that it was 15 hours long, but one of my goals this year is to watch something where I can learn.
[00:46:22] And it's been really good.
[00:46:23] to learn about some of the men from small towns and big cities that decided to join the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force.
[00:46:32] It's quite humbling.
[00:46:34] The crazy thing is that many joined at the age of 18 or even younger.
[00:46:40] And with the war ending in 1945, it means that many would be at least 98 years old today, which also means that many are no longer with us.
[00:46:52] Men that decided to fight for their country, men that carry amazing and heartbreaking stories aren't around to tell those stories anymore, or there are very few.
[00:47:03] And so we watch documentaries.
[00:47:06] You know, last time I preached, I talked about historic nostalgia and how we look to previous generations and want to live in them because they provide something that we long for that's absent today.
[00:47:18] And I believe we do this in a similar way when we look at people in history, wanting to have the courage or the willingness to live for a specific cause, which begs the question, why is it so hard for us to live up to the standards that we have for ourselves?
[00:47:41] Why is it that when we finally find the time or the energy or the courage to look inward and we see where we are living or who we are that we wish we saw something else.
[00:47:55] Pastor Lindsay opened up this series on the gospel according to Matthew last weekend and we looked at the unique family line of Jesus and how the gospel, which means good news, is a specific good news to Matthew's audience.
[00:48:09] That there are people in Jesus' lines that many wouldn't be excited about to be in their family line.
[00:48:15] adulterers, enemies of God's people, victims of injustice, royal failures, outsiders.
[00:48:24] And one of the reasons for why Matthew shows this is because he himself is an outsider.
[00:48:30] If you think about or you know the story of Matthew, he is a Jewish tax collector hired by the Roman government to tax his own people.
[00:48:40] And through it all, he was pocketing some extra money for himself.
[00:48:42] And so when Matthew looked inward, he wished that he saw something different.
[00:48:49] You see, all throughout the book of Matthew, we're going to see this theme come up again and again.
[00:48:54] Matthew is trying to communicate that outsiders, outcasts, people that don't think too highly of themselves belong in the kingdom of God.
[00:49:05] The kingdom that Jesus has brought and is bringing is for those that are willing to look at themselves in the mirror and see that they do need help and then accept Jesus's invitation. So here's the question.
[00:49:22] Do you have the courage to look inward today and the rest of the days of your life? Do you have the courage to look inward? Main points for today are in your bulletin. They're reflect,
[00:49:36] repent and reigning with all. Reflect. Before we go into the details of John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus, I want to look at a couple of key moments in Matthew chapter one through
[00:49:52] three. These moments come with the word behold. It seems like behold is one of Matthew's favorite words. In the first three chapters, Matthew writes behold eight times, which is him saying, hey, look at this, look a little bit deeper at what I'm trying to communicate to you.
[00:50:12] All of these beholds are trying to tell us something about who Jesus is as king and specifically how he's a king for his people. So first, if you have your Bible, you can turn to
[00:50:26] Matthew chapter one, verse 20. It reads, but as Joseph considered these things, divorcing Mary quietly behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying Joseph son of David do not fear to take Mary as your wife for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit it's in
[00:50:49] the genealogy of of Jesus at the beginning of Matthew and the angel is drawing attention to it again, Jesus comes from the line of David, the king of Israel, God's people. The one who God said
[00:51:05] is the prince over Israel. And in second Samuel seven promises that your throne shall be an everlasting throne established forever. But we also need to remember just as we do every Christmas season, that Jesus comes into this world just as we do as a baby identifying with his people. He
[00:51:26] came as a baby, vulnerable, lowly. But the second set of beholds with the wise men or the magi is acknowledging that he will not only be recognized as the king of the Jews, but are the king of the
[00:51:40] whole world. You see, the magi were Gentiles, Persian background, and recognizing him as king as they bring him gifts. And they quote 2 Samuel from the Old Testament there in chapter 2, verses 5 and 6. They're seeing that this king is different, that Jesus would be a king that is like
[00:52:01] a shepherd, caring for his sheep, for the sheep's sake, not his own well-being. You know, Lindsay mentioned a quote last week about how we're all trying to build castles in this world, and that the challenge of it is whether or not we're going to build our own castles, or are we going to build
[00:52:23] the kingdom of God with our lives. Bema Discipleship Podcast is one of my favorites.
[00:52:30] B-E-M-A. They put it this way. They say all throughout the Bible, there's a battle of empire versus shalom. So will you have an empire state of mind, always trying to advance your worldview, your status, your prestige, or are you seeking peace? Shalom, the kingdom of God.
[00:52:54] Herod was choosing empire.
[00:52:56] King Saul was choosing empire as he desperately was trying to kill David as David was in the wilderness.
[00:53:03] Pharaoh was trying to build his empire while the Israelites and Moses were trying to find peace.
[00:53:12] In your life, what are you choosing?
[00:53:16] Are you choosing empire or are you choosing shalom?
[00:53:20] You know, you can answer, reflecting and answering these questions is a good place to maybe evaluate what you're choosing in your life.
[00:53:28] What do I want?
[00:53:31] Where am I looking to get my problems fixed?
[00:53:34] How does this distinct time and place in which I live contribute to who I'm becoming?
[00:53:44] Moving on.
[00:53:45] The third set of beholds comes in Matthew chapter 2, verses 13.
[00:53:48] It reads, now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him and then chapter 2 verse
[00:54:05] 19 behold take the mother and child and go back to the land of Israel and they went to Nazareth to live Jesus again and again is identifying with his people he's identifying with Israel he's going
[00:54:21] as R.T. France says to the place where Israel's history as the people of God began Jesus is willing to walk the path that they did, growing up, being a people on the go, and trying to find
[00:54:36] the path back home. I really enjoy the fact that Jesus moved around a lot, that he might have had the feeling of being the new kid in school, or trying to learn how to make new friends,
[00:54:52] that his family felt the feeling of not being home. In all of these moments, Jesus is showing us that he's growing up. Matthew is pointing to this fact. Jesus is growing up and he's having to depend upon God's sovereignty, God's control, God's provision. So the question
[00:55:17] for us this morning in our own lives, key moments will happen all of the time and they help us to look back, to evaluate and to move forward. Maybe that's why I really like setting goals at the
[00:55:34] beginning of the year. If any of you know me, I have a long list of goals, but I enjoy the opportunity to look back at what happened in the previous year and where I am now and what I want
[00:55:45] to see happen this year. But other important moments, not just the beginning of the year, birthdays, graduations, moments where you've moved to a different city, hard moments, sad moments, these are all given to us as opportunities to grow to dig a little bit deeper into what is
[00:56:06] going on in my life how can I look inward and see what is happening in me you know some people like change and for others it can be really hard but I believe that we can all agree that with
[00:56:23] change there's opportunity for growth one of my favorite quotes is on the front of your bulletin We send our bulletins to our, or we send our quotes for the front of the bulletin to our
[00:56:35] admin.
[00:56:37] Supposedly, I forgot to actually say who this was by, so I just put TK, which is Tim Keller.
[00:56:43] I guess that's my nickname for him and didn't spell that out for y'all.
[00:56:48] But this is one of my favorite quotes from him.
[00:56:50] He says, your future self will always see your present self as unwise and immature.
[00:56:57] that means you are currently a fool right now. I don't know if I fully enjoy that I'm being called a fool but I do think that we have these moments where we look back at ourselves 10 years ago and
[00:57:14] we see the ways that we've grown since then or we see the ways that we were unwise or we see that we were actually not that busy which means as Tim Keller says in the future we'll look back at
[00:57:30] who we are today and we'll see the ways that we needed to grow. We'll see the ways that we weren't as mature as we are now and how we still had room to become more like Jesus. You know, to reflect,
[00:57:47] to see God's fingerprints in all of the aspects of our lives is evidence that we have grown and we need to grow, but also that we need to make space. I think it's more prevalent today over and
[00:58:02] over again, that we are ignoring the opportunity to rest or to look inward because we're so busy.
[00:58:12] And so can we have the courage, as I mentioned, to look inward and see that these moments of change give us the opportunity to turn towards the life that God has for us? In other words,
[00:58:27] our second point looking at repentance point two so we finally arrived to chapter three all right thanks for going on that journey with me chapter three of John or of Matthew John is preaching in
[00:58:40] the wilderness and calling people in verse two to repent the kingdom of heaven is at hand so John's a prophet and he's preparing a way for a new era a new reign and he's dressed in really interesting
[00:58:55] clothing. He's calling people to repent, to confess their sins, and to be baptized.
[00:59:00] Before we get too deep into this point, I do think that it would be helpful for us to define a couple of these things, to define what this baptism is and simply what is repentance.
[00:59:12] This baptism of John is pretty interesting. Baptism and cleansing was something that was done by many Jewish communities during this time. And the one that John the Baptist came from, the Essenes, they practiced this as a baptism of repentance. You would confess the ways in which
[00:59:31] you weren't walking according to God's way, and then you would wash those sins away with water.
[00:59:39] But for John, it's also a preparatory baptism. He's calling the people to get ready. He's preparing the ways. He's saying, people, repel your sins so that they could enter into the kingdom that the one was coming to bring the baptism that we saw today and that we do today is more of one
[00:59:59] of jesus marking us as one of his own us remembering that it is by his blood but we are being covered by his blood to bring us to new life by the spirit so it's a tad confusing right
[01:00:11] okay we're seeing this baptism we know the baptism that we are doing today there's so many new elements, but this baptism is a baptism of repentance. It's a baptism of preparation.
[01:00:26] What is repentance? R.T. France says it's not just saying sorry or having a change of mind, but returning to God in abandoned rebellion and coming back to covenant obedience, i.e. stop your pursuit of the empire. Stop your pursuit of your own empire. Stop trying to build your own castle
[01:00:49] and choose shalom, peace, the way of God.
[01:00:55] We need to do this in our everyday lives.
[01:00:58] We need to repent.
[01:01:01] But I believe that these key moments that I'm talking about of our lives that we talked about earlier, it's a prime time to repent so that we can grow.
[01:01:13] You know, there's this key moment of change for me that I experienced two to three years after I received a call to be a pastor here at Midtown.
[01:01:21] and when I look back at myself and see the lack and the insecurity and my desire for people to like me I thank God that he entered in and changed me in very specific ways and yes I still struggle
[01:01:41] with many of those things insecurity wanting people to like me but thanks be to God for growing me in a season of change you know one of the key conversations that I remember from this time was
[01:01:55] with my counselor, and she asked this specific question. She said, when was the last time you confessed your sins? When was the last time that you repented? So I took a minute, not really saying
[01:02:11] anything. It took two minutes, not really saying anything, and I couldn't think of a time that I had confessed, that I had repented. It's really hard to repent. It's really easy to go a amount
[01:02:28] of time and not repent, to not confess the insecurities, the chasing after of being known.
[01:02:34] All of these things were clogging up my heart so that the warmth of God was not able to enter in.
[01:02:40] The fact that he loves me as his son. I needed to repent, to clear the way so that God could enter in and show his love for me. And I think that this is why this passage is so important. It's because
[01:02:55] it is so easy to go through life and not take the time to look inward. John Owen has a famous quote where he says, be killing sin or sin will be killing you. There's also a Christian rapper
[01:03:13] that I used to listen to all the time, Lecrae, and he takes this quote and raps it. He says, I know it's going to kill me, but I just can't let it go. And the taste is so appealing,
[01:03:24] got a grip upon my soul. These honey-dipped lies mesmerized me. Pride's got its crooked fingers twisted all inside me. All of this, my story, Lecrae, John Owen, is talking about this slippery slope that we get stuck in because we're so busy, we're so prideful, and we're just plain stuck.
[01:03:49] We're like the Pharisees and the Sadducees in this passage. They're sitting on the sidelines thinking that they belong, thinking that they are in the in crowd. When Matthew is trying to communicate, Jesus is trying to communicate that the good news is actually for those that see
[01:04:08] themselves as broken, as outcasts, not the moral and the upright. The trick that we fall into over and over again is that we think our morality or our self-righteousness is enough for us to enter
[01:04:26] into this kingdom. We believe that because we're initially forgiven by Jesus when we become Christians, we don't need to give as much attention to confession, to repentance. This week, I heard a pastor say, he says this, he asked this question. I would invite you to ask this question to
[01:04:47] yourself. Do I only want the power for my sin to be canceled or do I also want the power to fight sin in my daily life? Are you a Sadducee, a Pharisee that wants to judge those that are
[01:05:07] repenting, witnessing the son that is coming, the son of David that is coming? Are you sitting on the sidelines or are you willing to get into the water to confess your sins to the God that justly
[01:05:22] really does want to forgive you? People of God, friends, this is going to be hard with all the noise going on. But take a moment. Think of the biggest sin in your life right now. Is it
[01:05:41] idolatry? Is it pride? Does it have to deal with substances? Does it have to deal with sexual promiscuity? Does it have to deal with lying? That sin is not too big for God to hear. That sin is
[01:06:00] not too big for God to hear. That sin is not too big for him to remove his love from you. Let me reminds you of something from Romans 6, 14. It says, for sin will have no dominion over you when
[01:06:12] you are in Christ, since you are not under law, but you are under grace. When you confess your sins, holiness is who you are. You are not your sin. You are holy when you are in Jesus.
[01:06:30] I think a practical application that we can do is we can start dressing like John the Baptist.
[01:06:35] this. Y'all, camel fur is pretty rough. I've never touched a camel, but I think I've touched a horse.
[01:06:43] And so, but the interesting thing about his clothing is that the camel fur was on the inside.
[01:06:49] Pretty, pretty uncomfortable. And the reason for it, the reason why he would wear it on the inside is so that he would feel what the effects of sin are. Discomfort. So here's an application for you.
[01:07:06] Find some camel hair. Find something in your life. Find a marker that you can go back to that provides a little bit of discomfort so that it leads you to repentance. Confession and repentance is important for us to do because it brings us into his kingdom. It brings us closer to the king
[01:07:28] that wants to reign with all. Final point. There's another theme that you can see as you follow along in the book of Matthew, if you're just listening to sermons here at Midtown, or if you're reading
[01:07:40] along in the book of Matthew, and it's this. Jesus is a king that has all power and authority.
[01:07:48] Jesus is a king for all people, and he's the king that requires all obedience, all power.
[01:07:57] It's interesting, many say that John the Baptist was actually Jesus's rabbi, that they grew up together and that Jesus grew up learning the scriptures from John the Baptist. But we see in John's response to Jesus that he knew that Jesus was different. Verses 13 to 15. John was solely
[01:08:19] preparing the way for Jesus, the one that was to come. Not only the prince of Israel, but the king of Israel, the king of the Gentiles. And this moment of Jesus's baptism is showing us that
[01:08:35] there is an anointing happening. There is a commissioning that is happening for King Jesus and that he's commissioned to be the one that baptizes with the Holy Spirit and has all of the power to change people and save them. You know, part of the reasoning for maybe why you
[01:08:55] haven't changed in a specific way is because you're looking to your own strength, rather the strength, the power, the authority that Jesus brings. See him as a different king. See him as different and good than any other king in your world. Jesus's baptism is just another example of
[01:09:19] how this king identifies with his people. You know, John is right. He's hesitant to baptize Jesus. There's many reasons for that, but one of the reasons why he's hesitant to baptize Jesus is because Jesus didn't have anything to repent of. He did not need to confess. 1 Peter 2.22 says,
[01:09:42] Jesus committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth. So why? Why did Jesus choose to receive a baptism of repentance in the Jordan River 2,000 years ago.
[01:10:02] If you look at verse 15, it says, He wanted to fulfill all righteousness.
[01:10:08] The righteousness of the king that he is and was.
[01:10:12] The one that would live perfectly for his people, doing all that they couldn't do and doing it perfectly.
[01:10:19] But also in order to win righteousness for his people.
[01:10:23] You see, all of the people that were at the River Jordan that day were coming and they were getting their sins washed away by this water. And the water that Jesus steps into is a sin polluted water of his people. And he goes down into the river and lets
[01:10:39] all of that sin be put upon himself. Sinclair Ferguson says, Jesus is baptized. He's covered into our sin so that we may be baptized, covered into his righteousness, his perfect standing before All of this is pointing to Jesus' greatest calling as king.
[01:11:04] To not only identify with his people, but also to die for his people.
[01:11:09] Where on the cross he would take on the sins of his people and his blood would be poured out covering us so that we would be made righteous, holy in the sight of God.
[01:11:20] And when we confess our sins, we get to remember this truth.
[01:11:25] That each and every sin was put on Jesus.
[01:11:29] the king that loves us the king that desires us to walk in his kingdom the shalom that is good for us calling us to all obedience this is good news for those that look inward see that they're not
[01:11:47] measuring all that they want to be and realizing that jesus died one of the most interesting parts of the kim burns documentary is why these men decided to join the military the one specific man's answer was really revealing to me that was doing an interview. He was from a small town and
[01:12:10] he said, it just felt like an opportunity to go on an adventure. And it's wild because he didn't know what type of adventure he would go on, but he wanted to do something exciting. He wanted to
[01:12:25] do something with his life. You know, living for the king in all obedience is quite an adventure.
[01:12:34] We don't know where it's going to bring us.
[01:12:37] We don't know where he's going to call us.
[01:12:40] Sometimes we think of a life of obedience as just kind of stale and not really exciting and we'll kind of be, I don't know, nerds to the outside world or something.
[01:12:51] Y'all, going on an adventure with King Jesus is worth it.
[01:12:57] That we get to tell amazing stories of people coming from death to life, yourself included.
[01:13:02] To live with the King that carries all power, that will take you to places you've never been and to know that even though you were once an outcast, you were made beloved sons, beloved daughters by the King.
[01:13:16] Jesus did all of the work that was required of you.
[01:13:20] And when you look inward, as you're on this journey, when you trust in Jesus, you can be satisfied because of the way that he looks at you.
[01:13:30] Behold, verses 16 and 17.
[01:13:34] Take a look.
[01:13:35] Behold, when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water and behold the heavens were open to him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him and behold a voice from heaven said this
[01:13:49] is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased in this moment of Jesus's baptism we see the type of king that he is that he is one that this holy spirit anoints and is with Jesus as he carries
[01:14:06] out his mission, and the same is true of you. Jesus says the great helper, the Holy Spirit, will be with you wherever you go. You can also remember, behold, God's not just tolerating you.
[01:14:22] When he looks at your most inward thoughts, when he looks at the things that you've done, he does not view you as those sins. No, he views you the same way that he viewed Jesus 2,000 years
[01:14:36] ago in the River Jordan. Beloved, sons, daughters, holy. That is who you are, church. That is who you are, people of God. Call out to the one that desires for you to repent and that desires for
[01:14:56] you to walk in the way of everlasting life. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy spirit. Amen. Let me pray. God, thank you that this message is always fresh and anew. That John
[01:15:17] the Baptist said, come repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. And every time that we repent, every time that we get to come to you and confess our sins, we get a little bit more taste
[01:15:30] of the kingdom of God. And so would we be bold to look inward and have courage to see and to confess so that you can enter in and you can speak truth to our souls.
[01:15:45] We desperately need it.
[01:15:46] It's in Jesus' name that we pray.
[01:15:49] Amen.
[01:15:49] Before we sing, I'd like to invite parents that have young ones to go pick up your kids just so that we can be good tenants of Ridgeway Baptist.
[01:15:57] They need to practice their choir.
[01:15:59] So if you can go grab your kids during this song, the rest of us, I invite you to stand and sing to the God that loves you.

[01:16:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:16:06] Thank you so much for adjusting this morning and also worshiping with us.

[01:21:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:21:22] It's truly great that we get to gather together.
[01:21:25] Don't forget to go and check out the bake sale and support one of our local ministry partners.
[01:21:31] But with that, receive this benediction from Jesus' own mouth in Matthew 28, 19, and 20.
[01:21:38] Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
[01:21:50] and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
[01:21:56] Go in peace.