WEBVTT

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Thank you for listening to this message from

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Lifehouse Church. Come on, God is good, amen?

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Yeah, this is Baptism Sunday. You can be as noisy

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as you want on Baptism Sunday. Actually, you

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can be as noisy as you want. any Sunday. It is

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good to have you here. We're excited. We've been

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excited all week. We love it. As a pastor, you

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just get giddy about Baptism Sunday. It's just

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a thing. But I want to open in prayer, so if

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you would, just bow your heads and we'll pray.

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Father, we thank you for this day. I thank you

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for the opportunity to hear your word. God, I

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pray right now, God, that you would just touch

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our ears, our hearts, and our minds, that we

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would receive your word. God, that it would settle

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into our hearts, and God, it might bring glory

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and honor to you. Lord, we celebrate with those

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who are getting baptized today. and who are making

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the bold declaration that Jesus is, in fact,

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our Lord and Savior. And we just give you praise

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in Jesus' name. And everybody said together?

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Yeah, yeah. Well, listen, we couldn't think of

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a better way to follow up with Resurrection Sunday

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than water baptism. Last week, you heard the

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stats, right? 25 people came to Jesus in the

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last weekend, which is amazing, 14 today, who

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are publicly going to declare that Jesus is Lord

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and Savior. We rejoice, we celebrate, we thank

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God, and we love everything that baptism represents

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here at LHC. The meaning of baptism, the act

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of obedience in following Jesus' example. And

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I think one of the favorite parts for me with

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water baptism is the whole idea of being all

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in, all in, right? Baptism is about being all

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in. It's about being submerged. It's about being

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immersed, about being covered over, surrounded

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completely. That happens when you get dunked.

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Any of you ever get dunked in a pool? Come on,

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right? It's going to happen this morning. When

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you go in, it's all in. It's completely submerged.

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In 2015, one of our vacation spots as a family

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vacation was Cozumel, Mexico. And I remember

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getting the opportunity to go off right off the

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coast by a coral reef. And I got to go do some

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snorkeling with my kids. And I remember going

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in and diving down and being in the clearest

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blue waters I've ever seen in my life. 20 to

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30 feet down, 40 feet down, you could see everything.

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And I remember being submerged in that and being

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in the middle. a fish, just teeming fish, a multicolored

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fish everywhere in the coral and the aquatic

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life that was attached to the coral down below.

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And it was amazing. It was a whole new environment.

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It was a whole new thing. But as amazing as that

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was, it is infinitesimal, right? I don't even

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know if that's a word, but I made it up today,

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right? It's small in comparison to being submerged

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in God's presence. It really is. Submerged with

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salvation through Jesus Christ. And there's nothing

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like being all in with Jesus. The Bible speaks

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about this. If you have your Bibles this morning,

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you can turn to Romans chapter 6. And it talks

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about, the Bible talks about baptism in multiple

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different ways, in multiple different lights.

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And Romans 6 .1 says this. What shall we say

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then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may

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abound? Certainly not. How shall we who died

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to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know

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that as many as of us have been baptized into

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Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore,

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we were buried with him through baptism into

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death, that just as Christ was raised from the

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dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also

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should walk in newness of life. One of the ways

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baptism is talked about in Scripture is baptized

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into Jesus Christ, saved, born again. We're baptized

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into his death, his burial, and then his resurrection.

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That's what water baptism is all about. We die

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to sin. We come back up in new life. And it's

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that old person of sin, that moment that we got

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saved, and that old person of sin dies away.

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And we come up new in Jesus. All in. All in.

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Walking away from a life of sin and now walking

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on a path with him. I remember. I remember it

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was a long time ago, but I remember at age 12,

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I remember sitting out where you were and I remember

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a minister coming and preaching the gospel of

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Jesus Christ that morning. And I remember repenting.

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I remember sitting in a row and I always sat

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on one side and I was about three rows back.

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And I remember sitting there and I remember feeling

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that weight of sin in my life. And when the opportunity

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came to go forward, I went forward and I... I

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prayed. I asked God to come into my life. I committed

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my life to him right there and then. And I remember

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how I felt inside. I probably didn't look very

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emotional on the outside. You might not have

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noticed any difference looking outside in. But

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even at 12 years of age, something changed in

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me. Something shifted in me. I knew I was different.

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I knew that I was dead and now I was alive spiritually

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in my spirit. I was saved. I was washed. I was

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born again. All in. from that day forward. Now,

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did I mess up? Plenty. I can tell you stories

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afterwards if you want to hear them, because

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they said I had to be brief over and over and

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over this morning, multiple times. But I began

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to understand what it is to be baptized in Jesus.

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I also understood what it meant to be baptized

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into the body of Christ. It's another way it's

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talked about in Scripture. I grew up in the church,

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and back when I was a kid, my parents went to

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church three times a week. There was service

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on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday

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evening, and we went three times a week to church.

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I knew what it was to be baptized into the body

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of Christ. Now, that's one way we get together.

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You're here this morning, right, in worship.

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But that's not all that it means to be baptized

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into the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12 says

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this. For as the body is one and has many members,

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but all the members of one body, being many,

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are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit,

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we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews

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or Greeks, whether slaves or free, we have all

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been made to drink from one spirit. For in fact,

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the body is not one member, but many. If the

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foot should say, because I am not a hand, am

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I not of the body? Is it therefore not of the

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body? And if the ear should say, because I'm

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not an eye, am I not of the body? Is it therefore

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not of the body? If the whole body were an eye,

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where would be the hearing? If the whole body

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were hearing, where would be the smelling? But

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now God has set members, each one of them, in

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the body just as he pleased. And if they were

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all one member, where would the body be? Salvation

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in Jesus Christ is salvation into the body of

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Christ. It is the church. It is his family. It

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is his people, Jesus' people. Amen? Amen. It's

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true. And to many people today, I hear this all

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the time. Well, you don't really need to go to

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church, right? You don't really need to be a

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part of the church. You know, as long as you

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get saved, it's just Jesus and me. And I understand

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that. I understand it is you and Jesus. But it

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sounds super spiritual. It really does. Like,

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you know, how many of you can make something

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sound super spiritual, right? Just Jesus and

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me. Tap your chest a little. Some of you can

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get really godly and lower your voice. Just Jesus

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and me. Come on, right? You can make it sound

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spiritual, but the word of God says that you're

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baptized into a body. It doesn't teach that you're

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just out there all alone. Yes, Jesus is with

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you, but there's a body around you. God's word

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says that we are baptized into the body of Christ,

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the church of Jesus Christ, the Jesus tribe,

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I'll call it, all right? Saved by grace, called

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saints by the grace of God and by the mercy of

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God, brothers and sisters in the Lord, fighting

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together against Satan and evil, joint heirs

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with Jesus, talked about that all last week,

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a group of people coming together on the regular

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and worshiping God, Not forsaking coming together.

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All in. All in. One body. Hands, feet, eyes,

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ears, toes, nose, legs, and ankles are all here

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this morning. Just look out the corner of your

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eye right now. Don't look or stare. But you might

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have a nose or an ankle sitting right beside

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you this morning. Somebody in the body of Christ,

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right? We're all different. One body. 1 Corinthians

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12, 25 says, and there should be no schism in

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the body, but that the members should have same

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care for one another. And if one member suffers,

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all the members suffer with it. Or if one member

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is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

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It's eye taking care of elbow and elbow taking

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care of eye. It really is. One baptism. There's

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a third baptism, right? Baptism into Jesus Christ,

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baptism into the body of Christ. And there's

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a third one called Holy Spirit baptism. It's

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immersed in the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist

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preaches about a water baptism, which we're about

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to do here in a little bit, right? But John also

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announced another baptism. In Matthew 3, 11,

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he says, I baptize you, this is John speaking,

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with water unto repentance, but he who is coming

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after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I'm

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not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with

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the Holy Spirit and fire. Fire. Jesus followed

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John the Baptist. John the Baptist said that

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Jesus would come, and there would be a baptism

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of salvation. There would be a baptism into the

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body of Christ, and there can be a baptism of

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the Holy Spirit in your life. Now understand

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this. When you come to salvation, when you come

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to Christ, the Holy Spirit comes into your life.

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He comes to take up residence within your life

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fully. At age 12, when I got saved, the Holy

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Spirit came and took up. The indwelling of the

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Spirit came. And the Holy Spirit comes and He

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guides us and He leads us and He speaks to us

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and He empowers us. He taps us on the shoulder

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when we need counsel, we need to hear from God.

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But the Bible talks about a separate experience,

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which is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

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It's in addition to the salvation. It's kind

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of like an enhanced power by the Holy Spirit

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to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. to a world

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around us who does not know who Christ is. It's

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an anointing. It's an empowerment. Acts 1 .8

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says, In that verse, it's speaking to Christians.

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It's actually speaking to the disciples. The

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purpose of God baptizing us in the Spirit is

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to further empower us. He indwells in us fully.

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But there's an extra, I call it a supercharge.

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He supercharges you, amen? Come on, some of you

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car guys should be like, amen. Supercharges,

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right? How many know horsepower is an amazing

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thing, especially in a car? Yeah, there we go.

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All right, got a couple of them, all right? It

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is. Now, I'm going to go back to my western Pennsylvania

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redneck roots right now. I used to go to tractor

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pools back in the day when I was young. And if

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you're not familiar with a tractor pull, here's

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what they do at a tractor pull. They have a tractor

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and they hook it up to a trailer. And on the

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trailer, there's a bunch of weight on the back

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of the trailer. And when that tractor, right,

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it's got a revved up engine, it's got a lot of

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horsepower to it. What happens is they'll say

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go, right, with a flag or a horn or whatever.

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And that tractor will take off in a straight

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line. And the trailer, he's pulling a trailer

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full of weights. And what happens with the weights

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is the weights move forward closer to the tractor.

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the further down the track it gets. And they

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see who can pull the tractor that can pull the

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weight the furthest. And they have to have a

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ton of horsepower to move that weight. And the

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further the weight gets up, the further they

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get down the track, the more the weight advances

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and the harder it gets to pull. And that's what

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the baptism of the Holy Spirit is. When we're

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moving forward to witness for Christ and we're

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going down the track of life and it's getting

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heavy, it's kind of a super shot of the Holy

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Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit comes

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in and he raises us up to become witnesses. It's

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Holy Spirit baptism. It's more of the presence

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of God who's already in your life. Amen? It's

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true. Man, I'm preaching fast. You should be

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amening, because if not, I'll have to back up.

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I don't think you didn't get it. You know, I'll

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have to do that point all over again. But the

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last one today is water baptism, and that's what

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we're talking about here this morning, is water

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baptism, a baptism of repentance. Water baptism

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is a personal declaration of faith in Jesus Christ.

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I have decided to follow Jesus through life.

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Jesus himself was baptized by John the Baptist

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as an example for you and I. Matthew 3 .16 says

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this, When he had been baptized, this is Jesus,

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Jesus came up immediately from the water, and

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behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he

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saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove

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and alighting on him. Water baptism is following

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an example of Jesus. Water baptism is symbolic

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of what Christ did for us. It's symbolic of the

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death of Christ, the burial of Christ, being

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put into the grave, and the resurrection, resurrection

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to new life. It represents us. coming to faith

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in Jesus Christ. It is the greatest visual example

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you could have of the gospel of Jesus Christ

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is water baptism. And today, I want you to hear

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from each individual who are making, today they

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are making, all 14 of them are coming out. They're

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making a public declaration that they're all

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in with Jesus Christ, that they went from death

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to life. And these are stories of redemption

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of those who follow Jesus. in to this message

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from Lifehouse Church. We pray that you were

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impacted powerfully by this message. If you have

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been personally affected by our ministry and

00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:37.139
you would like to partner with us as we love

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God, love people every day, visit our website

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at