Easter At The Dow 2026

Apr 05, 2026

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:22

All right, so I need everybody's help this morning. I need you to help me do something. I need a little bit of participation from all of you in the seats right now, okay? Um and that includes you guys in the cheap seats up there. I need your help too. All right. You guys see me? Alright. So here's what I need you to do. I need you to to go ahead. If you came here with a set of keys, grab your keys for a moment. And uh if they're like deep down in your purse, dig for them. Go ahead and find them. I'm in no rush here. It's our last service of the day. I can preach as long as I want. It's great. So I'm in no hurry. Okay. Now, if you have your keys, lift them up and jingle them so that way I know you got them. Alright. There we go. That's a lot of keys in the room. Okay, stop jingling. Okay, great. Now I need you to help me with something. I need you to, you have to make a selection here. Choose the most important key in your keychain and hold on to it for a moment. Most important key. Okay. Here's where I need some interaction for a moment. Gotta find out what keys. Caleb key you're holding it. Okay. Oh, one key. Car key, right? Okay, we got car keys there. Anybody else in the front have a different key they're holding on to? What do you got? House key, though. That's very important. House key. Any other keys around here up front? Different? Office keys, maybe. Right? Some of you probably should have brought a boat key to get home. It's pretty wet out there. Okay, you can put your keys away. Thank you for your help. You all brought keys here because keys are important. They give you access to important things. So if you drove here, you brought your car keys to get here and to get in your car. And as you go home, maybe you have your house keys to get in your house. Keys give us access. And some keys, as we've just established, are more important than others. For me, I can think of various times in my life where I held on to keys that I felt like were very important in that moment. I remember when I turned 16. I got my driver's license. I was mowing lawns all summer. I bought my first car. It was a junky car. It was a beater, but it meant a lot to me. And I remember when I held that key for the first time, it was a great feeling. It felt like freedom to me, right? Because in that moment, for the first time in my life, I could go where I wanted to go. I didn't need to rely on my parents or any friends or people around me to haul me all over the place. I could go where I wanted. I had autonomy at that point. And I remember feeling freedom in that moment. I can also think of another key many years ago that I held in my hand that was significant. I was working at a time at a facility that was not far from here in Saginaw. And I was working at that place for several years, and I got to a point where I got a promotion. And part of that promotion meant that I was given a new set of keys. And on that set of keys, there was a master key to the building where I worked. I needed the key to have access to every room in the building. And when I held the keys in my hand, it was powerful. That key to me, it represented authority. It felt good to hold that key. I have another memorable moment in my life. In the first seven years of my marriage, we were renting a home, but a little over 10 years ago, my wife and I we built our own home. And I remember the first time that I held those keys in my hand. It was a great feeling. I was no longer a renter, I was an owner. And so those keys for me, they represented ownership. Now I share all this with you to illustrate something. You came here with keys because keys hold value, they're important. In fact, as we've already established, some keys are more important than other keys. And like me, maybe some of the keys you hold, maybe they're significant to you. However, I want to let you know this morning there's a set of keys that I've never held. In fact, none of us have. And I would suggest to you that these are the most important keys in the world. And this morning, I want to talk about the one who holds them. And just a heads up, this is a spoiler alert, but it's it's actually Jesus. Jesus is the one who holds these keys. And so this morning, I want to talk to you about the keys that Jesus holds in his hands today. And so if you want to hear about these keys, I want to invite you, if you brought your Bible, to open it to the book of Revelation this morning, the book of Revelation. We'll be in Revelation chapter one this morning. If you didn't bring a Bible, we got you covered. We got the the all the verses are on the screen, and so you can follow along there. But if you brought your Bible, turn to Revelation chapter one. And as you're turning there, I want to introduce myself. I'm Joe. I'm the lead pastor at Frankenmouth Bible Church. Uh, we are thrilled that you're worshiping with us here today at the Dow Event Center. For many of you, FBC is your church home. And so we're just so glad to celebrate with you today. And also for many of you, this is the first time you've ever joined us, or maybe you've only joined us here at the Dow. And uh we just want to say if you're a guest with us today, welcome. We're glad you're here. We would love to worship with you on a Sunday morning outside of Easter, but we're thankful that you've chosen to spend your Easter with us today. Uh, this Sunday is one of my favorite Sundays of the year. How many other people love this Sunday? All right. We are gathered here at the Tao to celebrate. With the songs that we sing, with the baptisms that we witness, this whole morning is a celebration of what God has accomplished in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we're here to celebrate Jesus. And so without any further delay, let's go ahead and jump right into the message this morning because it's all about Jesus. And so the first thing I want to unpack for you. Number one, I want to talk about the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus. That's why we're here today, after all. It's all because of the resurrection. 2,000 years ago, God sent his only begotten son into this fallen, broken, sin-cursed world. If you've been with us recently, you would know that we've talked a lot about the brokenness of the world recently at Frankenmouth Bible Church. We just spent 12 weeks going through a sermon series on the book of Ecclesiastes. That's a book in the Old Testament. And throughout that series, we've heard this over and over and over again. Just a reminder if you've been with us and a heads up if you haven't, the book of Ecclesiastes is all about wisdom for navigating life under the sun, the world we live in. It's wisdom for living in a fallen, broken, sin-cursed world. That's what we've been covering. And so week after week, we've heard the voice of the preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes, who's told us the cold, hard truth. He doesn't sugarcoat things, he doesn't water stuff down, he just gives us the facts, he tells us the truth. And when we hear the truth, like deep down, we just go, yeah, no, that is true. We feel that. We know that. The world that we live in, it's it's messed up sometimes. Don't you feel that? I feel that. The world is upside down because of sin. The present world that we live in, it's marked by things like death and disease and heartache and struggle and pain and toil and suffering. That's what life under the sun is like. Maybe there are some of you in the room right now who are more familiar with that than others today. Perhaps recently in your life you've experienced the brokenness of relationships. Maybe for some of you, your family feels like it's falling apart. Maybe there are some of you in the room who've been afflicted with health issues, or maybe those you love have been. For many of you, perhaps you're battling things like anxiety or depression or fear, or you're gripped by anger. Maybe some of you have experienced the loss of a loved one recently. Less than a month ago, I stood there and watched as one of my loved ones in a casket and lowered into the ground. We can be honest this morning that life is difficult. Life under the sun is incredibly difficult, but listen, there is good news. Because this broken world that we live in is the world that Jesus came to save. That is the good news. Two thousand years ago, Jesus stepped into this broken world. He lived a perfect life. Every command of God that we fall short of keeping, Jesus kept perfectly. And then after living a perfect life, Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. Not his sin, he had no sin, but our sin. On the cross, Jesus stood in our place. Our sin was laid upon him, he was our substitute. Jesus died for us, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that our sin could be dealt with, so that our sin could be nailed to the cross. Jesus died for us so that we could be forgiven and brought into right relationship with our Creator. You see, Jesus didn't die simply to set us a good example. No, he died as an atoning sacrifice. He died to make a way for us, for sinners like me, for enemies of a holy God. He died for us so that we could be reconciled to God. That's what Jesus did. We talked all about that sacrificial work of Jesus on Friday night. That's what Good Friday is all about. It's about the cross, Jesus dying for us. But we know the story doesn't end there because three days later Christ rose from the dead, he conquered the grave, and through Christ's victory, through his new life, we too can experience new life, resurrection life. That's the good news of what Jesus has done for us. Amen. And when we believe this good news, Scripture says, when we receive this good news and place our faith squarely on the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in him, believing in the work that he's accomplished for us, God graciously and freely gives us the gift of eternal life. This is good news. It's incredible news, the best news the world's ever known. If you don't know Christ as your Savior here, I gotta tell you, our only hope in life and death is the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything rests upon the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. And as I said, the resurrection of Jesus is the whole reason we're here today. It's why we're gathering together on Easter. And normally on resurrection Sunday, Easter Sunday, when I preach messages, that's really where I like to land the plane. I like to build the message up and land the plane talking about the resurrection of Jesus, but I want to switch things up a little bit this morning. I want to do something different. As we jump into the scriptures, I want our starting point to be the resurrection of Jesus. I want that to be the runway, and I want to unpack where the story goes from there. So are y'all good with us talking about the story after Jesus rose from the dead? You good with that? Whether you are or not, that's what I'm doing. So that's what I prep for. But either way, so let's start there. Let's start with that truth. Jesus rose from the dead. After Jesus rose from the dead, he started making appearances. This is what we read in the scriptures. It's incredible. If you read what the Bible teaches about this, we read all these stories in the gospels, right? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We read about this in the epistles. Those are the letters of the New Testament. That after Jesus rose from the dead, he started making appearances. He appeared to the women at the tomb. We know that. Then he appeared to the 11 disciples. Then he started appearing to more and more people. In fact, for 40 days, Jesus traveled around making appearances. The risen Jesus showed himself to people. In fact, the apostle Paul he wrote in the book of 1 Corinthians that at one point Jesus appeared to more than 500 people at one time. And Paul says that many of those people, as Paul was writing this, they were still alive at the time. You could go talk to them. What I'm suggesting to you is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was not a quiet, little private occasion. It was not Israel's best kept secret. No, this was a public event that changed the course of human history. In fact, during that first century after Jesus rose from the dead, there were numerous eyewitnesses who saw him die and then saw him alive again. And it transformed their life forever. For example, Thomas, he touched his hands, he felt the marks where the nails were. Peter, he had breakfast with the risen Jesus. The men on the road to Emmaus, they walked with Jesus, they talked with Jesus. Numerous people interacted with the risen Jesus, which is why in that first century the church exploded all across the ancient world. It's why the disciples ended up giving their lives for the sake of the gospel, because Jesus actually rose from the dead. In the years that followed the resurrection, Stephen was stoned to death for his testimony concerning Jesus. James was killed with the sword. Peter was crucified. Paul was beheaded. In fact, every one of the disciples of Jesus was put to death for the sake of the gospel. Everyone that is, except for one person. You know who the one person was that wasn't put to death for the sake of the gospel? John. John was the only one whose life wasn't cut short prematurely. Church history tells us that John, in fact, lived to very old age. What's interesting is he was one of the original twelve. He was part of the inner circle around Jesus. He became a pillar in the church of Jerusalem after Jesus rose from the dead. But in the year 70 AD, when the Romans came in and they destroyed the city of Jerusalem, John ended up settling in Asia Minor. That's modern-day Turkey. And there he began to continue to do ministry in the area. He continued to proclaim the good news of Jesus. He continued to testify to the truth of the death and the burial and the resurrection of Christ until eventually the Romans were fed up with John. They were kind of sick of him propagating this gospel all around the ancient world. And so they took John and they exiled him. They banished him to this tiny little island in the Aegean Sea. It's called the island of Patmos. And there, almost 60 years after Jesus rose from the dead, almost 60 years after the resurrection of Jesus, John, who was a very old man, he then began to experience something incredible. And that leads to our next section. So now that we've explored number one, the resurrection of Jesus, the second thing I want to draw your attention to this morning is the revelation of Jesus. The revelation of Jesus. If you're in uh Revelation chapter one, we're going to begin in verse 9. Notice what it says. John is writing, he says, I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and in the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. He goes on to say, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches. So notice here how John is describing his predicament. He's been banished to this remote little island because of his allegiance to Jesus. Biblical tradition says that John was hanging out in a cave when he wrote this book. Notice how it says that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Now, the Lord's day is actually Sunday. This detail might not seem significant, but I want to highlight it just for a moment. You see, throughout the Old Testament, the people of God were commanded to set aside a special day for the Lord. The Sabbath day was a holy day for God's people. It was the seventh day of the week. It was a Saturday, and it was a consecrated day. It was a day of solemn rest and worship. It was all part of God's design from the very beginning, right? From creation, that's the way that God established it. But you see, when Jesus rose from the dead, he rose on the first day of the week. He rose on a Sunday. And at his resurrection, Jesus inaugurated or he began the new creation. And so, because of that, from that point forward, Christians started gathering together on Sundays. They started gathering on the Lord's Day because that was the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Now I share that with you because I want to remind you of something important. We don't just gather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. That's not the only day we do it. Every single Sunday morning is a celebration of the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. Every single Sunday we celebrate the resurrection. And so here on this tiny little island, we have John. It's on the Lord's Day. And on this particular Sunday, he hears a loud voice. It's like the voice of a trumpet. And notice what he begins to see here in verse 12. And on turning, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. Now, in the book of Revelation, I want to give you a little warning, a heads up. There's a lot of strange imagery. It's a weird book, okay? And so I'm going to try to fill in some gaps just to help you kind of track with what's going on here briefly. The lampstands that John sees in this vision, these are the seven churches. If you have your Bibles in front of you at the end of verse 11, he lists the seven churches. The lampstands are the image of the church. He makes that explicit in verse 20. If you look at verse 20, that's very clear. Now, as you probably know, churches are intended to shine the light of Jesus to a dark and dying world. So it makes sense that in this vision, the imagery used for church is a lampstand. That would make sense. And so there are these lampstands, and the one who's walking in the midst of the lampstands or the churches, John says, as one like a son of man. Now, what's that about? Well, in the Old Testament, in the book of Daniel, uh, the Son of Man is described as one who was promised and chosen by God to one day be exalted and to rule and reign over all nations. And interestingly, when you get to the New Testament, Jesus uses Son of Man more than any other designation to refer to himself. That's Jesus' preferred title for himself, the Son of Man. So in this passage, what's happening is John is experiencing this intense revelation. He's having a vision of the risen Jesus here, and it's incredible. Now, if we were to have an experience with the risen Jesus and you were to try to think about what that would feel like or look like, I'm willing to bet that you have an image of what Jesus looks like in your mind right now. Maybe you've got that image from watching TV shows or movies, right? So if you watch the chosen, maybe that's what you kind of think Jesus looks like. Or if you've watched movies, you know, The Passion of the Christ, maybe that's what you think about. Or maybe you got books, children's books that have pictures of Jesus. That's what you think he looks like. I'm willing to bet that none of you have a vision in your mind right now that matches John's vision here. Notice what he begins to describe when he talks about this vision of Jesus. He says this. He says, the hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow. Can I pause here a moment? I really, really appreciate the fact that Jesus has gray hair in this vision. That is awesome. I'm thankful for that. I have solidarity with Jesus in this. Isn't that great? Uh, yesterday I celebrated my 17th anniversary with my wife. It's pretty awesome. I'm assuming that applause was for her. It's a lot harder for her than for me. But either way, 17 years is awesome. Uh, I love my wife. I also feel a little bit bad because when she married me, at that time I was tall, dark, and handsome. And now I am tall, gray, and tired. But you know, in this vision, John sees Jesus, and if Jesus is gray, I'm I'm cool with being gray. So that's where it starts. It gets stranger. It's not the way we would think that Jesus would look like. And so notice these other descriptors here, right? So his the hairs of his head were white, like white wool like snow, his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. Once again, this is pretty intense here. This imagery is very strange. What's going on? Well, let me remind you that the book of Revelation is filled with strange imagery that's meant to convey a deeper truth. And so, as we look through this, right, the the gray hair is a symbol of wisdom. Jesus is all wise. Eyes like fire give this idea of the fact that he has complete insight. Jesus sees all, he perceives everything. Feet like bronze represent power and strength, a voice like many waters represents the authority of Jesus. The two-edged sword in his mouth, this is representative of the word of God. And the face shining like the sun is all about the radiance of the glory of Christ. So the point here is this: this intense description here is meant to show us the absolute supremacy and sovereignty and majesty of the risen Christ. He is far bigger and far greater and far better than we can possibly even fathom. Jesus is the Son of Man. He's been exalted on high to rule and to reign over all nations. He is glorious. And when John sees this glorious image of Jesus, it's too much for him to handle. Notice what the next verse says. It says, When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. What this means is John was so overwhelmed by this vision of Jesus that he passes out cold. He's not actually dead, he just looks dead in this moment. But it's ironic, isn't it? Because the person who's about to revive him is somebody who actually died. Notice what it says next. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not. I am the first and the last and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Now, this is Jesus speaking here to John. Now, I want to remind you of something that resurrection or this idea of someone dying and coming back to life, this is not the first time we see this in the Bible. There are a handful of examples. A few examples we see in the Old Testament under the ministry of Elijah and Elisha, where someone dies and miraculously they're raised from the dead. We also know in the New Testament there are a few more examples of people who died and were raised from the dead under the ministry of Jesus. And so the widow of Nain's son, that's in Luke's gospel. We know that Jairus' daughter is raised from the dead. We also know that Lazarus in John's gospel, he's raised from the dead. But here's the thing all those examples before Christ, the people being raised from the dead, in every one of those examples, those people died again. Lazarus had two separate funerals. Think about that for a moment. Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead, that's true, but Lazarus died again. Listen, the resurrection of Jesus is in a category of its own. Jesus is the living one. When Jesus rose from the dead, he rose with a new kind of body, a glorified body, a resurrected body, an incorruptible body. Jesus is alive forevermore. He will never die again. This is essential for us to understand. The victory that Jesus secured over death is decisive. It is final. He didn't just win one little battle. No, he won the whole war. He conquered death altogether. And so, in light of that, in light of that truth, Jesus is able to declare this incredible reality. Notice what he says next. He says, And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Now we know what death is. Death is that great enemy. He is the one that at some point each and every one of us will have to face. He is the one who comes in unannounced and he robs from us our loved ones and our friends and our family members. That's what death does. What about Hades? What's Hades? Well, Hades is a generic term that describes the realm of the dead. It's a word that describes the place where people go when they die. So to put it together, death is the enemy that claims you, and Hades is the place that holds you. And that's the truth. And really, there's nothing that we can do to change that or do anything about that. That door is locked. The moment that we pass through death and Hades, there's no turning back for us. We don't have access to get back, do we? And that's just it for us. But the hope that we have, and the hope that Easter brings is this through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not only is the enemy defeated, but his domain has also been conquered. Jesus is the one who holds the keys to death and Hades. He is the one who holds those keys now. Those keys represent freedom. Freedom because Jesus walked out of the grave. Death could not hold him, Hades could not keep him. He is free from its power forever. Those keys also represent authority. Because Jesus didn't just escape death, he conquered it. He now rules over it. Death is no longer ultimately reigning. Death is no longer ultimately in charge. Jesus is. Thirdly, those keys represent ownership. You see, when Jesus rose from the dead, he didn't just defeat death for himself, he laid claim to it for all of us. Death and Hades now belong to him. He holds those keys. He has the right to open the door, and he has the right to shut the door. And this incredible promise that we have this Easter is this that if Christ rose from the dead, we will as well. We will rise as well. Christ will raise us up on the last day. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we learn this incredible truth that we all know, right? Intuitively, we know this, that death is inevitable. Death is inevitable. It's a guaranteed thing. It is certain. We learn that. But as you move into the New Testament, we learn something else. Resurrection is also certain. That's something that God has promised. It's a promise we've been given from God, and that really leads us now to our last section. So now that we've seen number one, the resurrection of Jesus, this is our starting point. Now that we've seen number two, the revelation of Jesus, as John and this tiny little island has this revelation of Christ, the third and final thing I want to draw your attention to, number three, is the return of Jesus. You see, as John's vision continues, we we get to the end chapters of the book of Revelation, and John has this glimpse into the future. In Revelation chapter 20, we read about how God's future resurrection is certain. We will be raised one day, we will be given new bodies, resurrection bodies, just like the Lord Jesus. Jesus is called the first fruits of the resurrection. This means that he is the one who goes before us. He sets the pattern that we all will follow. This is what we can look forward to at the return of Christ. And then in the very next chapter of the book, the second to last chapter, chapter 21, what we see here is John's vision gets even more incredible. There's a new heaven and a new earth, and John hears a loud voice once again coming from the throne. And notice what John says here. He says, Behold, this is the voice coming to him. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning or crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I'm making all things new. Beloved, this is the promise that we can cling to this morning. I hope that you know that. I hope that you believe that. There are many of you who are here today who I know are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus because you believe it wholeheartedly. It's what you've built your life upon. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, that's the hope that you cling to. But can we be honest this morning? And one of the things that we frequently do at Frankenwuth Bible Church is we try to be honest. It's okay to be honest. There are some of you who perhaps you're here because you kind of had to come. You got invited, someone brought you, you don't want to be here. Some of you, you might be indifferent to this message. You don't really care. Some of you, you might be a little bit hostile deep down to this message. You might think, hey, this is all a load of baloney. You just you don't believe this. Can I ask you, what are you clinging to? What are you setting your hope in? You are charting the course of your own life. Where will that take you? Can that sustain you? Can that sustain you on the day that you die and your body is lowered into the ground? Is what you're hoping in able to sustain you then? Because the truth is, we're all gonna die. We're all gonna experience death. Well, that's the reality. Don't you want to find something that you can cling to that's greater than yourself? Don't you want to cling to something that gives you a little confidence? I want you to know that despite the struggles and the hardships and the challenges we face in life, there is a hope that lies beyond the grave. Jesus is making all things new. He alone is able to do this because he alone holds the keys to death and Hades. Because of what Jesus has accomplished, we can cry out, O death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? These words come from 1 Corinthians 15 when Paul talks about the resurrection. Paul says that, oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where's your sting? Then he goes on to say that the sting of death is sin. What did Jesus do with sin? He dealt with it. And then he goes on to say, the power of sin is the law. What did Jesus do with the law? Well, he fulfilled it. So Paul's point here is that Jesus didn't just defeat death, he disarmed it first. He rendered it powerless for all of us. You see, death used to have power over us, death used to hold the keys, but not anymore. Jesus holds those keys now. He is the victorious one, he is the conquering one, he is the risen king. I hope you believe that this morning. He is the risen king. And if Jesus holds the keys, here is the good news. If Jesus holds the keys, death doesn't hold you. Praise God for that truth. Let's pray. Lord, I want to thank you this morning. I want to thank you for this tremendous reality that we get to meditate upon. That your son Jesus was brutally murdered because of us. But then three days later, you raised him from the dead bodily. Lord, this is not just some myth. This is not some cute story that we like to tell to make ourselves feel good. This actually happened. If this didn't happen, we are wasting our stinking time up here. This whole thing is a facade. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, it's a joke, it's a sham. Lord, if he did rise from the dead, which we believe this morning he did, if he rose from the dead, that changes everything about our life. Lord, I pray this morning for the person in the room who's here right now, who's feeling broken, who's feeling wounded. Maybe they've been betrayed or they're struggling, they're going through hardship, uh, seasons of difficulty. Lord, I pray for that person right here in the room that, Lord, that you would shine the light of the gospel into their heart, that they would see the light of the knowledge of your glory in the face of Jesus Christ. That you would open their eyes, Lord, that you would do a resurrection right here in the room, that you would raise them from the dead spiritually, that you would reveal yourself to them, that they would embrace the hope of the gospel. Because, Lord, the truth is we know that in and of ourselves we are lost, we are dead in our sins and transgressions, and all the things we cling to, all the things that we hope in, those will ultimately fall short in the end. May we turn to you and submit to you. May we place our faith in your Son Jesus. He is the one who holds the keys to death and Hades. He is the risen one. May we worship him and adore him and follow him. For your glory and for our good, we ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus we pray.

unknown 34:29

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

Well, today we have 16 people who are getting baptized. So 16 people who are trusting in Jesus Christ for their salvation. They believe in the death, burial, and resurrection. They've turned to Christ, they're submitting to Christ, and now they want to proclaim their faith to you publicly through their baptism. It's an awesome opportunity, right? Just as Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead, they demonstrate in dramatic fashion that they've died with Christ as they go under the water. They were buried with him, and now they've been raised to newness of life. By grace and through faith, they have been saved. They've been rescued. They want to proclaim that salvation to you through their baptism. And so we're going to check that out in just a moment. We're going to begin those baptisms. But before we do that, I want to invite you to turn your attention to the screen and let's check out their testimonies.

SPEAKER_03 35:46

I'm getting baptized to make a public declaration of my trust in Jesus so that maybe it will encourage others to trust in him as well.

SPEAKER_07 35:54

I'm getting baptized to show the renewal of my relationship with Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_06 36:07

I'm getting baptized to share my faith in Jesus with my family and friends.

SPEAKER_08 36:35

I am getting baptized to show the world that I'm trusting Jesus as my Savior.

SPEAKER_05 36:45

I'm getting baptized to proclaim that Jesus met me right where I was and guided me through faith.

SPEAKER_08 37:03

I am getting baptized to show everyone that I believe in Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

So, first of all, do you believe that Jesus is God's Son and the eternal second person of the Trinity? Okay. Do you believe that Jesus died for you and God raised him from the dead? Okay. Do you renounce Satan and all his works?

unknown 37:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 37:46

Do you believe that Jesus is your only hope for eternal life? Okay, and have you trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? All right. Based on your professions of faith, I'm going to now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_05 38:32

You were there in your heart, in every love, you never death with that. You were good in your voice. And I'm confident.

SPEAKER_01 41:25

Face in your profession of faith, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_05 41:37

I'll see the dead.