Get Baptized | Grow Week 4

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- Okay, little babies, come along there.

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Time to grow. Time to grow.

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They say that if you you talk to plants,

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they're actually going to grow.

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Maybe it's the carbon monoxide just kind of breathing on them.

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Say a lot of H's. Hello today.

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Well, hey, today we're talking about growth.

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Just like plants need water to grow,

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so it is that you and I need water to grow,

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specifically water that comes from baptism.

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Baptism is this external sign we give everybody

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that mimics the internal reality

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of God having washed us internally

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and now we're going to get baptized externally.

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It's a good idea. Jesus did it. You ought to do it.

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In the Bible, we see seven practices that Jesus does.

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And when we unlock these proven practices

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in our own lives, we grow, we advance,

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we go to the next place, we feel closer to God.

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Each week of the series, we will be looking at

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a different one of the seven proven practices

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and figuring out how to apply to our individual lives.

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- Let's talk baptism.

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- I was baptized in 2013.

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- My mom and I were baptized in our white robes

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in the pool at the church on the same day.

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- I was baptized April 14th

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alongside my best friend David and my mentor, Josh.

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- I was baptized when I was 14 years old.

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It was an important step for me

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because I knew it symbolized life change.

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- I haven't been baptized yet, but I would really like to

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and I'm looking forward to it at some point.

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- When I was baptized at 28,

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I -- I don't think I really understood it.

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In my forties, the Lord told me to get baptized.

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And this particular time my husband actually baptized me.

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- I was baptized as a baby in a Catholic church

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and then once again in college.

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For me, baptism was a choice to publicly declare

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that Jesus was my Lord.

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- Hey, my name is Andy.

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I remember when I got baptized. Shep, do you?

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- Crazy. I absolutely.

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You know what? When was that for you?

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- It was actually December 31st, 1999.

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- Why? Why?

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- It was Y2K. It was an uncertain time.

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No, but for real.

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It was a time where there was just, like,

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an amazing explosion of, like, growth in my spiritual life.

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And that culminated with this experience of baptism.

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It was amazing. I'll never forget it.

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- Yeah. And you know why was amazing?

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It was because it was a step in faith.

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It was a step towards Jesus.

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And you know what that step is for folks

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who have accepted Jesus and for the first time

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declare that in their lives.

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And so, if you're thinking about that, man,

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hey, stick around. We've got more for you.

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But you know what else is a step of faith

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that I have to say this because

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it's also fueled growth in my life.

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- That's right. - That's giving.

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You can go to Crossroads.net/give,

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not just to give, but to learn how and why we give

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and what that money goes towards.

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I encourage you to do that.

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And we can go to Brian right now to learn more.

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- Jesus actually got baptized.

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Now, His baptism was a little different

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than the baptism of you or of me.

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When I got baptized, I was undergoing a ritual

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where the water was in effect, drowning me.

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I was going under the water, water was drowning me.

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I was basically in a watery grave

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and I was coming up out, rising to new life,

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which is what happens when Jesus comes up

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out of the grave and does resurrection.

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There's a lot of powerful imagery there.

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But when I got baptized, I had to recognize

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that I had sin in my life that needed to be atone for.

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And I was publicly declaring that that's

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what was taking place right then and there,

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Jesus had already done that for me.

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Now when Jesus gets baptized, it's a little different.

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His cousin is baptizing the nation of Israel.

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People are coming out into the wilderness

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and he's baptizing them.

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And let's go ahead and read what it says, Matthew 3:

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When Jesus goes out to get baptized,

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his cousin John doesn't want to do it.

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He's like, "Man, I don't need you to be baptized

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because baptism is a sign of repentance.

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It's a sign of wanting to turn a corner."

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And Jesus never needed repent for anything.

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He was God. He never needed to turn a corner.

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He had never actually sinned.

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So John is saying, "Whoa, man, whoa, whoa.

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Not you, not you."

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But Jesus does this because

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he's identifying with all righteousness.

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John's baptism is one where Jews are coming out

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and recognizing they need to repent,

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coming out to the wilderness.

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And so Jesus wanted fulfill all righteousness

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and identify with the Jewish people,

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models what it's like to be baptized.

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When I got baptized, my baptism meant

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I went down in the water.

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While I was under the water,

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it was like my sin was left there.

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I went into the watery grave

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and as I came up out of the water,

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it was like Jesus coming out of the grave,

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I was coming out to a new life.

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This is what baptism means.

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Here's what's really, really cool about Jesus's baptism.

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It says that when he gets baptized,

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again, if you want to be like Jesus,

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you have to do what Jesus did, and that is get baptized.

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When He gets baptized, he hears a voice

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and it's his Heavenly Father saying,

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"This is my Son and whom I'm well pleased."

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You might read that and you might think,

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"Well, my Son, in whom I'm well pleased.

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Oh, of course, of course, God would be pleased

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with Jesus because he never did anything wrong.

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What Father wouldn't be pleased with his son

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if he'd never done anything wrong?"

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But really, what it's saying there

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in the original language is

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this is my son who makes me happy.

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I don't think that it is his performance

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in those first 30 years of life that makes God happy.

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I think the fact that he is his Son makes God happy.

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You as his child, you make God happy.

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And when you choose to do something that grows you

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or identifies with Jesus, such as baptism,

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you make God happy.

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I don't know if you've ever considered before

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that baptism, if you've never been baptized before,

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is a way to make God happy.

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Not baptism that your parents did for you

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maybe at some church way, way long time ago

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when you were still pooping in your diapers.

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I'm talking about now as a person

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who can think choosing Jesus,

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willing to look wet in front of a bunch of people

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and turn away from the stuff that was in your past

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and to come to relation with him.

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That's baptism. That's a massive part of growth.

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If you haven't done that yet,

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that is the next thing for you to grow

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and become more like Jesus.

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That's this person's story.

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- So we're here with Christopher,

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who's just made the decision recently

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to cross over this barrier and get baptized.

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I want to know why.

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What is God doing in your life

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that would lead you to this point?

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So, maybe just start us back, kind of who you were

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or what your life was like before coming to faith in Jesus.

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- Jesus Christ has come into my heart

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and I have realized that He is my Savior.

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And part of my prayer and intention with this

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is proclaiming this to the world.

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- Okay, so prior to coming to faith in Jesus,

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you said you had a spiritual practice in life

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that didn't include Jesus

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or He wasn't the center point of that, right?

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- He wasn't the center.

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I've had Jesus Christ secondary.

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I realized that He needs to be central

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in my spiritual practice because I'm a therapist.

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I work at a temporary shelter,

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so I get to live out my faith

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by serving the poor every day.

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And it's just re-energized my spiritual practice.

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I've had spiritual experiences, like, day in and day out,

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because I'm hearing the truth about the Bible and Jesus.

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I know it's my truth and I want other people

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to have the experience that I have.

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Nothing that I did, per se.

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It's just that I'm open

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and allowed Grace to move through me.

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- That's incredible. Anything else you want to say?

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You're just ready? All right, let's do it.

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- God, thank you for what you've done in this man's life.

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Thank you for the awakening that you've given him.

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Thank you for the way you've been talking to him every day.

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And I'm asking you to not stop that.

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All right, Christopher, who's your Lord and Savior?

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- Jesus Christ. - All right.

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

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Whoo! - Congratulations, man.

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Thank you.

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- That is a huge step.

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That's a person who's growing and is feeling closer to God.

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I waited an embarrassingly long period of time to get baptized.

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My parents had baptized me when I was a little baby.

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By the way, I'm not anti infant baptism.

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Some people are anti infant baptism.

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They'd rather do dedication.

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I don't want to explain all those nuances.

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Fine. Do whatever you want with your kids. That's cool.

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But I realized whether or not I was baptized

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as an infant or not, that was my parents' decision.

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That wasn't my decision.

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All the examples in the Book of Acts,

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all the examples after Jesus

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were all them getting baptized.

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And I thought, I ought to make an aggressive move,

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not just verify and justify what happened way back when

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that I was passive in, but actually

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take control of my life and grow.

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Now, the embarrassing thing about it was

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I was a pastor at Crossroads, had started Crossroads,

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and had baptized people at Crossroads.

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And it came up to a guy who I told my story to

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and he came to know Christ.

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His name is Mike.

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He's still a very, very close friend of mine today,

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or Mikey, as I call him.

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He was getting baptized

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and some other people I was discipling

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and I realized, "Man, I just need to do this right now.

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I need to get baptized right now."

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And the voices started,

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"Oh, but you're going to look like you're a hypocrite.

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How are you going to explain how you're a pastor

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and you haven't been baptized?

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What about the people who have been baptized by you,

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are they going to think their baptism wasn't legitimate?"

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What about all these things?

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And the bottom line end of day was,

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I don't care about those questions.

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What I care about is growing.

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And this is a significant and important moment

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for me to grow in my walk with Christ.

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Do you want to grow?

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Are you wanting to get closer to Christ?

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Have you been baptized?

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This is a critical thing

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because it tells everybody, "I'm different.

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I'm driving my stake in the ground and this is who I am."

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Getting baptized is like,

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it's like changing your status on Facebook,

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except it means something.

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It means something in eternity.

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And everybody else realizes, "Whoa, whoa."

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I've known missionaries and pastors who baptize

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in the middle of the ice in Yugoslavia,

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in Poland, in the Soviet Union, excuse me, in Russia,

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because the people say, "I don't want to let

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a little bit of cold water hold me back

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from following in the line of the spiritual greats

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who've gone before me and have grown."

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And yet we in the States are like, "Oh, I don't know.

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I don't know if I want to get wet publicly.

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Oh, but I didn't bring any clothes with me

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to change into.

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Oh, what if people see me, and I --"

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Hey, look, man, look, man,

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there comes a moment in your growth.

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We've got to want to grow simply for

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the cause of being more like Christ.

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And that means getting uncomfortable.

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Growth always means un-comfortability.

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You're going to change your patterns.

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You're going to change your habits.

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You're going to change your mindsets.

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You're going to turn your back on things.

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And you're going to do things that other people

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aren't going to want to do,

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like get submerged in a tub of water

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in front of a bunch of people

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and come up with your clothes and your hair

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and your head and everything else wet.

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But it's beautiful, it's glorious.

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It's one of those transcendent mountaintop experiences

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that we get to experience.

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And Jesus set us up for this.

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In the book of Matthew 28.

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We're spending a lot of time in Matthew.

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Jesus tells people in what's known as

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The Great Commission to go into all the world

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baptizing them in the name of

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the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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Baptizing them, going out, not going to all the world

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and just teach people about Jesus,

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not going to all the world

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and just get people to read the Bible.

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Not going all the world

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and get people to have personal time with God.

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All those things are fine.

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But go into the world baptizing people

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in the name of the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.

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That means you.

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As we're going through the Journey

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and you're going through your books,

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you're writing down things like:

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I've been baptized, I need to be baptized,

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I was baptized.

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I get the question pretty frequently,

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what happens if I was baptized some time ago?

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I made the decision.

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My parents didn't make the decision.

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I made the decision, but there's been a lot of stuff

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that's happened since then and looking back on it,

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maybe I was a still 12 year old.

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I didn't know what was happening.

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Maybe it was like ten years ago,

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but I've gone through a lot of rebellion

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and heinous sin and just some really, really bad stuff.

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Well, what about me?

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I think one baptism does it.

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But here's what I also know.

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I also know that God honors

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assertive, aggressive moves for growth.

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He honors that. He likes that.

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I think it's good to make an aggressive move

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and just go, "Man, I just think this would be

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meaningful to me right now.

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I need to do it right now, even though I did it some time."

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Do it, do it, do it, do it.

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Now, if we see at Crossroads coming up,

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like this is your annual tradition,

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someone's going to say, "Oh, hold on, hold on.

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That's what Christmas is for.

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Baptism isn't for annual traditions.

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That's what Christmas is for and communion.

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But not this."

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But hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

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Take your growth by the throat

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and marched up to the baptismal font right now.

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Get there. Get there to the tub.

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Figure out how to do that right now

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and your father will be happy.

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- Hey, I hope that you heard that baptism

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is a really big deal, and it's an important step,

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and it's available to you.

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It's not for, like, the spiritually elite

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or the perfect.

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It's, man, it's for everyone who understands

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that they have been saved.

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So, maybe you've never been baptized.

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Maybe you were baptized as a kid and, like,

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that wasn't really your decision to make.

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Whatever the case is, we want to help you

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experience this for yourself.

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We want to help you experience this wherever you are.

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So reach out. Let us know.

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Like, we don't just make content.

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We want to be there for you to nudge and encourage

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and walk with you on your spiritual journey.

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And if we can do that by helping you get baptized

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wherever you live all over the world,

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hey, let us know. We want to be a part of that.

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- That's exactly right.

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And we're in the Journey. If you need more info,

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you still haven't gotten your guide. That's okay.

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You can go to Crossroads.net/Journey because

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being in a group, doing this content,

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that's what's going to lead to growth.

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But before you leave, I want you to check out

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what's happening next week on Crossroads.

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- What was the most important tool in Jesus's ministry

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in the history of the church?

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Was it giant cathedrals? Was it stained glass windows?

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Was it fog machines, sound systems?

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What about lasers?

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No, it's this: food and drink.

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Eating and drinking was a key to Jesus life and work.

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In fact, Jesus used food and drink

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and meals around tables to change the world.

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And you can to.

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