1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 Good morning to you. 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:07,000 It's good to be back with you this Sunday. 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,000 As you can see, though I was gone, I haven't left my cold behind anywhere. 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,000 I've kept it right with me the whole trip. 5 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:23,000 This last week in the class I was taking, I was privileged to room with a long-term missionary from Brazil. 6 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:28,000 He was just on the verge of going back to Brazil, where his wife is already gone. 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:39,000 And it was interesting this week as he was saying goodbye to his daughter, who's in college in the Chicago area, to watch that process. 8 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:44,000 It's not easy to say goodbye to family. 9 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:51,000 And as he agonized over that experience of saying goodbye to her and those last words that they would share together, 10 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:58,000 I was reminded of the fact that last words are important words. 11 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:12,000 If you knew that you were going to die five minutes from now, what would you say to those who are closest to you? 12 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:17,000 Last words are important words. 13 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:25,000 Each of the Gospels tells the story of Jesus' life and ministry from the unique perspective of the four authors. 14 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:38,000 As each author concludes his record of Jesus' life, he is led by the Holy Spirit to carefully select some of the last words of Jesus to us. 15 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,000 Last words are important words. 16 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:49,000 They convey the heart of Jesus Christ to us, his followers, just before he returned to heaven. 17 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:54,000 Over these next weeks, we're going to look at the conclusion of each one of the Gospels. 18 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,000 Today we begin with Matthew, chapter 28. 19 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:03,000 If you were here last Sunday, you're familiar with the text, because Dr. Vauder preached on this text. 20 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:13,000 Matthew, chapter 28, verse 18, Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 21 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:21,000 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 22 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:32,000 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 23 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:43,000 For my brief purpose this morning, I'm going to focus on just one of the issues that Jesus brought up as he spoke these last words to his disciples. 24 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,000 That is the issue of baptism. 25 00:02:47,000 --> 00:03:01,000 Now, if baptism were a peripheral and insignificant as some people think that it is, it would surely seem strange for Jesus to talk about it in these last words. 26 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:12,000 In fact, baptism is clearly a significant issue, since Jesus includes it here in this text. 27 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:17,000 The central imperative, of course, is to make disciples. 28 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,000 That is the command of Jesus. 29 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:30,000 But the very first step in making disciples is that of baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 30 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,000 Now, that's not my opinion. 31 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:38,000 That is the stated pronouncement of Jesus himself. 32 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:46,000 That in the process of making disciples, the very first step is that of baptizing. 33 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:56,000 Now, he is talking about water baptism in this text, not spiritual baptism, which we'll learn about later in the New Testament. 34 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:06,000 He is, of course, talking about immersion, because that's what the word means, to dip into. 35 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:23,000 He is talking about an act that his converts are to go through to signify their separation from the past life and their identification with him. 36 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:30,000 So today, I want us to talk heart to heart about baptism. 37 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:40,000 This is the subject that is close to the heart of Jesus, obviously, because in his last words to us before he went to heaven, he talks about baptism. 38 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:53,000 And it's an issue that we need to talk heart to heart about because there are considerable numbers in our church who have never obeyed Jesus in this respect. 39 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,000 Baptism is on Jesus' heart. 40 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:59,000 It is his command as he concludes his work on earth. 41 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:12,000 He makes it clear in this context that he requires his disciples to be baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 42 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:18,000 Now, let's think for a moment about the purpose of what Jesus is here commanding. 43 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:23,000 We know from the New Testament that baptism does not save the soul. 44 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,000 It does not wash away sins. 45 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:32,000 It does not make one more of a child of God because one has been baptized. 46 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:46,000 Baptism really has one purpose, and that purpose is a public declaration of belonging to Jesus Christ as his disciple. 47 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:57,000 The very act of immersion places one below water and then brings one out of water and thus pictures death and resurrection. 48 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:06,000 It symbolizes our union with Jesus in his death and his resurrection. 49 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:16,000 It signifies the end of our old life and the beginning of our new life in Christ. 50 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:30,000 And being done publicly as it was, it served as an open announcement, as a witness that this one being baptized was now a Christ follower. 51 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:36,000 That whatever he or she was in the past, now there is a new beginning. 52 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:43,000 There is a new identity based upon a new union with Jesus Christ. 53 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:52,000 And so one by baptism enters into a declaration of discipleship, of being a Christ follower. 54 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,000 That is its purpose. 55 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:58,000 It is a public announcement. 56 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:03,000 But I'd like to think too about its priority. 57 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:12,000 While baptism is not a primary doctrine, it is a priority doctrine. 58 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:23,000 No, it is not a fundamental of the faith, but it does deal with the fellowship of the saints in the faith. 59 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:33,000 What I'm saying by that is that baptism is not counted among those doctrines that one must believe in order to be saved. 60 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:44,000 However, baptism must be obeyed if one is to enjoy the fellowship of the saints that God wants for his people. 61 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,000 It is a matter of fellowship. 62 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:55,000 Water baptism outwardly identifies a convert with Christ and with his body. 63 00:07:55,000 --> 00:08:01,000 There is a vertical and a horizontal dimension to baptism. 64 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:14,000 The vertical dimension is that one by baptism says, I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and I am unashamed, unafraid for anyone to know that. 65 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:22,000 And then it says, I am also one who partakes in the fellowship of the saints. 66 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:30,000 I embrace the body of Jesus Christ as belonging to the church. 67 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:40,000 While baptism does not bring salvation, baptism does signify genuine discipleship. 68 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:48,000 Can one be a disciple of Jesus without being baptized? 69 00:08:48,000 --> 00:09:05,000 The answer is no, at least not an obedient disciple, because Jesus here commands baptism as the first step of discipleship. 70 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Now there are exceptions, of course, in those circumstances, which are beyond a disciple's control, such as the thief on the cross, who obviously could not be baptized. 71 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:32,000 Beyond those exceptions that are beyond our individual control, baptism is an essential if one is to be an obedient disciple. 72 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,000 Well, someone asked, can one then be saved without being baptized? 73 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,000 And of course the answer is yes. 74 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:54,000 But I think one can also say this, that one who is truly saved will want to be baptized, because he desires to do everything that Jesus asks of him. 75 00:09:54,000 --> 00:10:02,000 He wants to do whatever pleases the Lord, and here Jesus says, make disciples baptizing them. 76 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:10,000 And though it's a participle, it has the effect of a command in this context. 77 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:21,000 I agree with the words of Dr. John MacArthur, who writes, the person who is unwilling to be baptized is at best a disobedient believer. 78 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:28,000 And if he persists in his unwillingness, there is a reason to doubt the genuineness of his faith. 79 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:41,000 If he is unwilling to comply with that simple act of obedience in the presence of fellow believers, he will hardly be willing to stand for Christ before the unbelieving world. 80 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:52,000 Baptism has no part in the work of salvation, but it is a God-ordained and God-commanded accompaniment of salvation. 81 00:10:52,000 --> 00:11:02,000 Baptism is the first item on the agenda after being made a follower of Jesus Christ. 82 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:17,000 After one has trusted Christ as Savior, and his life has been reoriented from following self and sin to following Christ, the first thing on the agenda is water baptism. 83 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:25,000 Now there are common excuses that are offered for delaying baptism. 84 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:36,000 Especially in this culture, in the upper Midwest, there is the statement often made, I was baptized as a baby. 85 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:40,000 I was baptized as a baby. 86 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:49,000 Well, that may be okay if as a baby one made an intelligent, definite commitment to follow Christ. 87 00:11:49,000 --> 00:12:01,000 But if one was a normal baby, and if it was the parents who arranged the ritual, it wasn't an act of the baby's faith. 88 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:09,000 It may say something about the parent's commitment, but it says nothing about the commitment of the baby. 89 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:18,000 There is no such thing as infant baptism in the New Testament. 90 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:23,000 Others say, I'm too frightened of getting up in front of others. 91 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,000 And yet that's precisely why Jesus commanded it. 92 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,000 He intended for it to be public. 93 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:39,000 We mustn't allow fear to control our lives, especially when it comes to our faith in Christ. 94 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:46,000 Someone else says, but my family would be offended if I were to be baptized. 95 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:52,000 Well, the question we have to ask in response to that is, whose disciple are you? 96 00:12:52,000 --> 00:13:04,000 Jesus warned that in some instances, obedience to his lordship would bring separation to human relationships. 97 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:11,000 He said that obedience to him would be like a sword in some relationships. 98 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:20,000 I would be much more concerned about offending Jesus Christ than family. 99 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:26,000 Someone else says, well, I was sprinkled as an adult. Isn't that good enough? 100 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:30,000 Well, certainly some aspects of the situation are met by that. 101 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:35,000 One is an adult who has believed in Christ is the assumption. 102 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:42,000 And it's important that it be one who has placed his faith in Christ who is baptized, yes. 103 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:49,000 But we believe that one ought to be immersed and not sprinkled. 104 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:55,000 Now, it is true that one may be sprinkled and the intent of baptism be followed by that. 105 00:13:55,000 --> 00:14:01,000 But how much better to follow the substance of what Jesus said and not merely the intent? 106 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:05,000 This is certainly what the early church practiced. 107 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:11,000 Sprinkling was not even known in the first several hundred years of the church. 108 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:17,000 We here at Grace Church believe that biblical baptism is immersion. 109 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:19,000 Well, somebody says that's just your interpretation. 110 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:23,000 But in fact, it's much more than just my interpretation. 111 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,000 In the first place, it's the clear meaning of the word. 112 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:31,000 It's the only form that was known in the early church. 113 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,000 As you trace the history of the church through the book of Acts, 114 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:42,000 you see multitudes and individuals who believed in Christ and then were baptized or immersed in water. 115 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:50,000 It begins on the day of Pentecost with at least 3,000 people who believed in Christ and then were baptized. 116 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:54,000 And then you trace it through personal encounters as well as public ministry 117 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,000 through the rest of the book of Acts. 118 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:03,000 And inevitably, where there is faith, there was obedience to baptism. 119 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,000 And sometimes I hear the statement, 120 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:11,000 but I've waited so long now that it's embarrassing to be baptized. 121 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:15,000 Well, the fact is it's better late than never. 122 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:20,000 Some of Jesus' earliest followers were also afraid at first. 123 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:25,000 I think of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. 124 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:32,000 They were two procrastinators, but eventually publicly identified themselves with Jesus. 125 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:37,000 It's better late than never. 126 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,000 Sometimes we think that if we just put something off, it doesn't really matter anymore. 127 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:48,000 The fact is that Jesus commands baptism of all of his disciples. 128 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,000 And delayed obedience is in fact sin. 129 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:58,000 But continued delay is compounded sin. 130 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:06,000 For if one knows to do right and does not do it to him, it is sin, says James. 131 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:13,000 So if baptism is an issue in your life today between your heart and the heart of Jesus Christ, 132 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:17,000 then it's time today to choose whom you will obey. 133 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:21,000 It's time to understand that this is not an option. 134 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:26,000 It is a command of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. 135 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:33,000 And it's the first thing that must be on your agenda if you've not already passed through baptism. 136 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:39,000 Today it is time for you to choose to say that I will honor Jesus Christ and follow him. 137 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:49,000 I will follow him as his disciple, and as he has commanded me to, I will be baptized. 138 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:55,000 I bring this message not only because I think it's an important one for our church, 139 00:16:55,000 --> 00:17:00,000 but I bring it today because we have baptism scheduled for next Sunday night. 140 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:05,000 Already we have probably a dozen and a half people who will be baptized, 141 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:09,000 but there is room for you to be a part of that. 142 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:14,000 And I hope before the service is over you will bow your head 143 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:20,000 and will give the Lord this step of obedience in your life if you've not done it. 144 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:28,000 And that you will signify that after the service by coming up and signing a pad that I'm going to place right over here. 145 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:38,000 And we will be able to be in touch with you this week to take care of the necessities before next Sunday night when you can be baptized. 146 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:43,000 Jesus has given us as a church two ordinances. 147 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,000 One of them is baptism. 148 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:50,000 The other is the Lord's Supper. 149 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:57,000 They both speak to us of his sacrifice, of his death on our behalf. 150 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:00,000 As we come to the Lord's table today, 151 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:06,000 then let there be no issue including baptism that is unresolved in our lives. 152 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,000 That if we have not obeyed our Lord in this matter, 153 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:15,000 we will before we partake of these elements saying that we are his disciples, 154 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:25,000 conclude in our heart that we will follow through the very next opportunity we have in baptism. 155 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:33,000 Let's pray together. 156 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,000 I have decided to follow Jesus. 157 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,000 No turning back, we say. 158 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:44,000 The world behind me, the cross before me. 159 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:48,000 My friend, if that is the case with you, 160 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:59,000 then I want to urge you today to make your life one of obedience to the Lordship of Christ. 161 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:05,000 And if this first matter on the agenda for disciples has not been resolved, 162 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:11,000 then today say to the Lord, I will obey you. 163 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:16,000 Right now is an opportunity for you to do that in your heart. 164 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:25,000 To say to Jesus Christ, your Lord, I give you myself, afresh this morning. 165 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,000 I will be obedient in baptism. 166 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:33,000 And if you are not one who has followed Jesus, 167 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:38,000 if in your heart of hearts you have never before trusted him as your Lord and Savior, 168 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,000 will you do that this morning? 169 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:46,000 Will you invite him to come in as an act of faith? 170 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:50,000 It is not baptism which saves. 171 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:55,000 It is faith which saves as we believe in the promise of God. 172 00:19:55,000 --> 00:20:03,000 It is that faith that secures for you a relationship with God through Christ. 173 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,000 Will you open your heart now to receive him? 174 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:16,000 And as a part of that, say, Lord, I am willing also to be obedient to you in everything you ask in my life. 175 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:24,000 Father, may we today make that decision to choose, to choose to obey, 176 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:34,000 and to put behind the past and walk into a new future, an obedient relationship with your son Jesus. 177 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:36,000 Amen. 178 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,000 When you go into a shell, 179 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:13,000 when you have your son, 180 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:20,000 my life should not be hard at all. 181 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:27,000 So never bow your head to the heart. 182 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:34,000 Never bow your head to the heart. 183 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:42,000 Reaching out to him, so still I still see, 184 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:49,000 and meet me with the son of your life. 185 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:57,000 But it's time to choose, overcome this. 186 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:06,000 It's time to take a step and follow you. 187 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:21,000 I finally see to be set free from each evil eye of me. 188 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:28,000 To give in less would compromise the rest. 189 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:35,000 My life would never be complete. 190 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:42,000 So never follow me into the light. 191 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:49,000 Never follow me into the light. 192 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:57,000 Reaching out to him, so still I still see, 193 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:04,000 and meet me with the son of your life. 194 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:11,000 But it's time to choose, no matter what I lose. 195 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:20,000 It's time to take a step and follow you. 196 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:27,000 I'm going to take your hand and hold out until I die. 197 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:34,000 Because I know this night will take forever. 198 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:41,000 And only if you're standing close to me, 199 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:48,000 will I find the strength to fight the enemy. 200 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:55,000 So never follow me into the light. 201 00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:02,000 Never follow me into the light. 202 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:10,000 Reaching out to him, so still I still see, 203 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:17,000 and meet me with the son of your life. 204 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:24,000 But it's time to choose, no matter what I lose. 205 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:34,000 It's time to take a step and follow you. 206 00:24:34,000 --> 00:25:02,000 I'm going to take a step and follow you. 207 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,000 It's time to take a step and follow you. 208 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:06,000 It is. 209 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:07,000 It is. 210 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:08,000 We want to follow him. 211 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:13,000 May God give us grace, all of us, to know what that means in our lives. 212 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,000 We come to the Lord's table today, and if you are part of God's family, 213 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,000 having trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, 214 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,000 and if you're living with him as the Lord of your life, 215 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:26,000 we invite you to partake at this table with us. 216 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,000 The servers are coming now, but we want to have a word of prayer 217 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:34,000 before we serve the elements, 218 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:39,000 because we are coming as a family today to the Lord's table, God's family. 219 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,000 And often we have a circle of prayer. 220 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,000 There's not really room up here today to form that, 221 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,000 so we're going to do it a little differently in form, 222 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,000 but the intent is still the same, and that is, 223 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:56,000 that if today there is some burden on your heart for yourself, your family, 224 00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:01,000 for a friend of yours, and you want to join with others 225 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:06,000 in public acknowledgement of your prayer and your concern before God, 226 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,000 I want to invite you to stand right where you are. 227 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,000 It will quite be the same with our holding hands together as we do sometimes, 228 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,000 but God knows our hearts. 229 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,000 If you would like to stand with me in prayer 230 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:22,000 regarding those burdens and needs that you feel within, 231 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:23,000 you want to pray about those things. 232 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,000 Just stand where you are. 233 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,000 We're going to pray together as a family, 234 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,000 and God knows what every heart's need is. 235 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:33,000 It's represented by those standing. 236 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:37,000 And if you remain seated, then just pray for those near you. 237 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:50,000 Focus your praying on them, asking God to work according to His will in that person's life. 238 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:57,000 Father, you know the heartaches, the burdens, the disappointments, 239 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:05,000 the questions that are represented by those of us standing. 240 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:11,000 You have perfect and complete knowledge of those situations 241 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:15,000 that are upon our minds at this moment. 242 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:19,000 We discharge them to you. 243 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:25,000 We lay them out before you. 244 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:29,000 We cast our burdens upon you. 245 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:36,000 And we claim from you that sustaining grace that we need. 246 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:46,000 Father, there may be some of us who need to respond to others with forgiveness. 247 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:51,000 There may be some of us who are struggling with issues of relationship, 248 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:58,000 where there's been a lack of trust or where trust has been broken. 249 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:10,000 There may be some who are struggling in their marriages or for children or for coworkers. 250 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,000 We ask that you minister by your grace 251 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:18,000 and answer the prayers of these or children according to your will. 252 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,000 In Jesus' name, Amen. 253 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,000 Be seated, please. 254 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:31,000 The Lord Jesus met with His disciples on the night before He was crucified, 255 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,000 and with them He broke bread, giving thanks for it. 256 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:38,000 Representing His body, He shared the bread with them. 257 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:45,000 Let's pray together in gratitude for the bread that we're about to receive. 258 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:49,000 Father, we thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, 259 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:54,000 for the perfect body that you gave Him in His incarnation, 260 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:59,000 for the perfect humanity that He is. 261 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,000 And we thank you that as perfect man, 262 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:06,000 He accepted the guilt of our sins on our behalf 263 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:11,000 and went to the cross and died there bearing your wrath, 264 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,000 satisfying your justice. 265 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:20,000 We come to you as those who are trusting Him 266 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:27,000 with grateful hearts that Jesus made this sacrifice on our behalf. 267 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:32,000 Amen. 268 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,000 This morning, one of the newer folks in our church is going to come. 269 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:39,000 Michael Mary has been with us now about six months or so. 270 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:42,000 Michael, would you join me here, please? 271 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:46,000 Michael has a rather unique testimony to share 272 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:51,000 out of some experience that he's been in the last couple of years. 273 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,000 Would you like to use this microphone? 274 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:54,000 Sure. 275 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,000 Okay. 276 00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,000 As you said, my name is Michael Mary. 277 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:02,000 I live in St. Paul here with my parents right now. 278 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,000 That's going to change within the next eight months. 279 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:08,000 But I ask to give this testimony, 280 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:12,000 and the purpose of it is to use what's happened to me over the last three years, 281 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:16,000 particularly, to illustrate to you who God is. 282 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:20,000 God is a God of grace and love, and He's proven that to me in my life 283 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:26,000 by bringing good out of some very bad and unpleasant experiences. 284 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,000 I grew up in a church-going family. 285 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,000 I always felt good after going, 286 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:34,000 but my religious practices didn't really help me in my day-to-day life 287 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:36,000 or help me through my problems. 288 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,000 God was a far-off God. 289 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:42,000 He lived in a big stone church, but my heart was empty. 290 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,000 Every Sunday I went to visit God, 291 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,000 but then I was on my own for the rest of the week, 292 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:50,000 and I was never very sure where I stood with God. 293 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,000 I hoped God would be kind enough to let me into heaven, 294 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,000 but I never knew for certain. 295 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,000 My sister was in her early teens. 296 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,000 She accepted the Lord into her life. 297 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:04,000 All of a sudden, she knew she was going to heaven. 298 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,000 What makes her so special, I thought at the time? 299 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:08,000 How come she's so privileged? 300 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,000 She gets to know she's going to heaven, 301 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,000 and I have to lay awake at night and wonder. 302 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:16,000 How come when I get angry at her, she responds in love? 303 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:22,000 The truth is she had experienced salvation by accepting Christ as Lord and Savior. 304 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:26,000 During my college years, in pretty much the same way as I had lived the rest of my life, 305 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:30,000 I knew there was a God, but God was far off and distant, 306 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,000 and I didn't know how to get close to him. 307 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,000 I got into heavy drinking, 308 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:38,000 but alcohol only brought temporary happiness and a hangover the next morning. 309 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,000 I was involved in a couple of different churches, 310 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:44,000 but I never felt spiritually satisfied with my life. 311 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:48,000 At that point, I decided to attend graduate school, 312 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,000 and I ended up going to the University of California at Davis. 313 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,000 Davis was and is a beautiful town, which I often miss, 314 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:58,000 particularly during this season fit only for polar bears and Minnesotans, 315 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:02,000 which I think are sometimes synonyms in this state. 316 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,000 The first day I set foot in Davis, California, 317 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,000 I set foot in what was to be my church home for the next three years. 318 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,000 It was there that I began walking with the Lord, 319 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:16,000 but it was also there I experienced the pain of spiritual abuse. 320 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:20,000 The God that I served while in that church was a God that controlled me 321 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:23,000 through shame, fear, and manipulation, 322 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,000 brought to bear in my life through the leaders of the church. 323 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:30,000 I was told that I was a less of a man because I didn't know how to fix cars, 324 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,000 as one example. 325 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,000 I was told that I did not want to become like my father, 326 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,000 even though they had only met him once. 327 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:41,000 My whole family, both sides of it, is here today, 328 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:46,000 and Dad, I want to tell you in particular that I love you and respect you, 329 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,000 and I always will. 330 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:53,000 I'll send a car repair to Dad and others like him who can fix cars. 331 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,000 The church controlled almost everything I did. 332 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,000 They told me who I could date, how I could show affection to them, 333 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,000 when I should get up, how I was to spend my money. 334 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,000 I had to submit in writing a daily account of every penny I spent 335 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:09,000 and took in to my discipler, the pastor's tool in controlling my life. 336 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,000 I could get out of it with a letter to the pastor, 337 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:16,000 which would go into my file and brand me a rebel before God. 338 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:20,000 Going in for counsel was a frightening event, to say the least. 339 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:24,000 We went into this conference room with a long rectangular table. 340 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,000 The pastor always sat at the head of the table, 341 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,000 and there were two or three elders there as well. 342 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:32,000 We stated your problem or concern in three sentences, maybe five or less, 343 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,000 and then you heard the word of the Lord. 344 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:40,000 Emotions had no place in that room, and neither did simple listening on their part. 345 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,000 Sure, you could choose to go against their advice, 346 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:49,000 but we were told from the prophet not to come for counsel unless we would do their will. 347 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,000 The church held up standards they knew we couldn't perform to the level of, 348 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,000 and then rebuked us for not keeping them. 349 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:59,000 Public rebuke and humiliation was a weapon the head pastor used at his whim. 350 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:03,000 Once at a Wednesday evening service, I was kind of dozing off 351 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:06,000 because I had worked until very late the previous night. 352 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:10,000 Suddenly the word came, stand up, brother. 353 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:16,000 I stood immediately only to hear, I rebuke the sleep in you in the name of Jesus Christ. 354 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:20,000 I stood for a few minutes until I was told to sit down. 355 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,000 Ashamed and very alone, tears wanting to flow, 356 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,000 but being held back out of fear of another rebuke. 357 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:30,000 Even now I can feel that burning shame and fear. 358 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:35,000 The abuse that had the most devastating effects was that distorted view of God. 359 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:38,000 He was a God who was waiting for us to sin. 360 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,000 He would zap me with the colossal lightning bolt from heaven if I sinned. 361 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,000 A punishment custom designed for me. 362 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,000 I remember when my bike got stolen. 363 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,000 Boy, I thought I was in real bad trouble. 364 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:53,000 The truth is it was just the natural consequence of me leaving my bike unlocked. 365 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:58,000 Then in March of 93, the Lord decided I had had enough. 366 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:03,000 He moved in a wondrous way on my behalf and he brought me out of that church. 367 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,000 My life out there fell apart on me. 368 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:09,000 I then informed the church I was going back to St. Paul to live with my parents 369 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:11,000 because I had no financial choice. 370 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,000 I momentarily got a prove-of. 371 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:17,000 I drove in my Honda Civic from California to Minnesota. 372 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:20,000 The whole time God was with me in that car, 373 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:24,000 reassuring me through his Holy Spirit that I was not alone. 374 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:28,000 I came to this church shortly after I arrived back here. 375 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:32,000 During the first couple months I was still filled with insecurity and fear. 376 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:38,000 I still viewed God as condemning me because I wasn't performing the Christian life well enough for him. 377 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:42,000 I used to try and impress my family with how spiritual I had become, 378 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,000 even though inside I felt like a spiritual failure. 379 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:49,000 Then God began to liberate me through the sermons here at Grace Church. 380 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:54,000 I began to realize that God loved me on the basis of my identity in Christ, 381 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:58,000 not on the basis of my actions or inactions. 382 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,000 God was not waiting to zap or punish me. 383 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:07,000 He was simply longing for me to live according to the guidelines of his word, engraved if I didn't. 384 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:12,000 At that time I also began to suspect that my church in California had abused me. 385 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:16,000 For me, though, any opposition to that church was opposition to God himself, 386 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,000 a message we had heard many times. 387 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:24,000 After three months here I finally worked up the courage to tell the Lord my suspicions. 388 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:28,000 I walked out on a dock at Como Lake, told the Lord, and then said, 389 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:32,000 Lord, if you're going to zap me for this, do it quick. 390 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:37,000 I shut my eyes and waited, but curiously enough nothing happened. 391 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,000 Shortly after that I went in for counseling at Grace Church. 392 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:45,000 I was terrified to go, but it was a completely different experience than what I had known before. 393 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:48,000 I remember not getting my reading done once. 394 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,000 I was expecting a stinging rebuke that it never came. 395 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:57,000 The pastor simply loved me right where I was at, paralyzed at the time by my own insecurity and fear. 396 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:01,000 And then he showed me the way to a life of freedom in Christ. 397 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:05,000 My life has now entirely changed. 398 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:09,000 I'm stable in my career and engaged to be married. 399 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:13,000 But most of all I know that I'm loved because I'm a child of God, 400 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:17,000 not because I can perform day of satisfaction I can't. 401 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,000 God does care how we live our lives. 402 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:23,000 He expects us to obey him, but he loves us regardless 403 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:27,000 and accepts us if we have put our faith in Christ. 404 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,000 It was a very painful experience to go through, 405 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:34,000 but God allowed it because he knew that he would bring good out of it. 406 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:40,000 Today I publicly thank God for allowing me to go through that and then bringing me out like he did. 407 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:44,000 I understand the truth of God's grace and love much more fully now 408 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:49,000 by having been through living without that same understanding. 409 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:53,000 To all of you out there who have been through abuse of any kind, 410 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:58,000 but particularly spiritual abuse, I tell you today there is someone who cares. 411 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:00,000 His name is Jesus. 412 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:05,000 He understands your tears because he cried those same tears himself. 413 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,000 He knows what it's like to be abused, rejected, and hurt. 414 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:14,000 He died alone and forsaken on a Roman cross so that we could gain interest in heaven. 415 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:20,000 He paid the price for your and my sins so that we wouldn't have to. 416 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,000 The cross was not the end, though. 417 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:27,000 He rose again and he's here today ready to listen to our prayers. 418 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:31,000 If anyone out there doesn't know this Christ of whom I speak, 419 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:35,000 then I urge you, accept him into your heart today. 420 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:41,000 Your life, both here and in eternity, will never be the same. 421 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:45,000 Thank you. 422 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:53,000 Thank you. 423 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:57,000 Maybe like Michael, you have experienced that kind of abuse in your past. 424 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:03,000 I hope that his testimony today can be one way that God would bring some healing to your life. 425 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:09,000 The healing is there, and it's there because of Jesus' sacrifice. 426 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:17,000 Let's bow and thanks for his blood shed on our behalf represented by the cup. 427 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:29,000 Father, thank you for your grace revealed so freely in Jesus' sacrifice and the shedding of his blood. 428 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:36,000 We thank you that he was willing to bear all of that punishment in himself 429 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:41,000 and pay the price for us so that we might be freed. 430 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:46,000 Thank you that there is truly freedom in Christ. 431 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:52,000 We freely partake of this cup, but humbly as well and thankfully. 432 00:39:52,000 --> 00:40:07,000 Amen. 433 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:30,000 Jesus said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Drink it in remembrance of me. 434 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:35,000 It is our custom to receive an offering for elders' fund on these Sundays. 435 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:40,000 The way we're doing it since we've begun observing communion each month on Sunday morning 436 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:44,000 is to receive it through the box in the back at the exit. 437 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:47,000 So if you have a gift you'd like to give for those in a financial need, 438 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:53,000 you can drop it in that box and we'll see that it gets into the elders' fund. 439 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:57,000 Let me remind you of these words from Peter before we go. 440 00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:05,000 If you address as father the one who impartially judges according to each man's work, 441 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:11,000 conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth, 442 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:19,000 knowing you were redeemed with precious blood as the lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 443 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:23,000 For he was foreknown before the foundation of the world, 444 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:30,000 but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, 445 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:39,000 who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 446 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:44,000 Let's stand together and rejoice this morning as we prepare to go, 447 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:51,000 that our faith rests in God and our hope is fixed upon him. 448 00:41:51,000 --> 00:42:00,000 And one final reminder, if you would like to sign this slip this morning indicating your desire to be baptized next Sunday night, 449 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:05,000 please make your way here to the organ side of the platform where we'll have that sign of sheep. 450 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:08,000 Now let's pray. 451 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:16,000 Father, my prayer is that we will go from here today with our faith and hope resting securely in you 452 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:23,000 and reminding ourselves that our time upon the earth is brief. 453 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:30,000 May we so conduct ourselves with holy respect of you as our father, 454 00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:36,000 that our lives will bring honor and glory to your name. 455 00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:41,000 May we be faithful pilgrims this week as we walk through this world, 456 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:46,000 knowing for sure where home is. Amen.