We Are Rock Point | Part 1

old man glasses now. It's nice. So it's it's good. It's good to be back. It's good to have some time off, but I love being back and and but on on the time off, I got to do something I'd I'd never really done I've done it before, but just did it different this time is I went on a a road trip.

And how many of you gone on road trips before? It's pretty much everybody. But let me let me delineate the type of road trip because you might have, when you raise your hand, gone on road trips the way I've always gone on road trips, the way I went on road trips. I actually call them, I couldn't afford to fly trips.

And and so you picked a place, a destination you wanted to go, and and you go, okay. I think I can get there. Any place within seventeen hours of driving is fair game, and and you try to do it in one day, get there fast, experience fun, and then dread the drive home,

and you just try to get there quick. That's every road trip I've ever done. How many would say, yeah, that's pretty much my road trips too. Okay. A lot of you have in this time, we went on a road trip that was the the it was about the journey, not the destination.

We had stops along the way, but we we plan to to go up through Idaho, Utah, Montana, then cut over Seattle, come down. Basically, we I got to go on a 3,500 mile round trip loop.

And I drove all 3,500 miles. My my wife gets mad. She goes, I offered to drive. I just wanted to be able to say I drove all 3,500 miles because that's the type of guy I am. But what was hard about it,

and I knew myself well enough to know this was gonna be a problem because I'm like, hey. The purpose of the trip is the journey. It's not about the destination. It's about the journey itself. So but I knew that I was gonna have a hard time with that because I'm wired and I get in a car, and then it becomes a competition.

How far can I get in one day? The problem is if I fell for that, I would have drove 3,500 miles in three days and been back home and been like, what do you see? Nothing.

Well, a lot of, you know, bathrooms and and gas stations, but other than that, nothing. And so I'm like, I have to tell myself to calm down. When I get on the road, just stay calm. When we start driving, driving for four or five hours, if something comes along, it's good to stop and look at, I need to stop and look at it. And and I had to keep telling myself because I'm destination mindset.

I realized and it was hard. But you know what? And it is hard. And when when you decide to make it about the journey instead of the destination,

there are moments that are you don't like. You end up in places you really don't prefer to be in. For example, I got a picture of one of those places that I didn't enjoy too much. And, it's it's right there. Does anybody know what that is? Yeah. It's the bubblegum wall in Seattle.

It's more of a it's a it's an alley that people just chew gum and stick it on the wall. They they they that's what passes for art in Seattle, I guess. But and and and I I was like, didn't wanna be at the bubblegum wall. But if you're willing to do the journey and thinking about the journey, not the destination,

you you get to experience some wonderful things. Like, I got another picture here of that's Idaho Falls. I had no plans. I wanted to drive right past it, but I said, maybe we should stop. I go design a full falls half falls. It does. And it was beautiful. The little downtown, and the reality is that's like a 150 yards off of the off ramp. That's all I I was gonna drive straight past. I go, can't stop. And like,

giving up miles. And I and I veered off and it was great. And then being willing to go on the journey instead of just the destination, I got to have the most wonderful thing of of testifying

in the heart of darkness like this picture here. And and and that is me showing the city of Seattle what a real football logo looks like.

It's been five weeks. I had to do something. But now, the the reality is this, is is is is much as it was truthful. When I went on this road trip, I had to keep telling myself, it's it's it's about the journey not the destination. I realized that I'm wired with that same struggle in real life too. And maybe you are.

And and that when it comes to walking through life and especially if I if I know the Lord trying to experience a relationship with God through my life, that that I get destination mindset instead of journey mindset.

And and so today we're opening a series called we are rock point where we're talking about what does it mean to be the church. And you think that oh, it's gonna give us purpose and core values like that's truthful, but really what we're gonna talk about for the next few weeks is what does it mean to be a Christian?

Because the church is us. And what has God called us to? To to to be a part of the body of Christ. What are what are we supposed to be a part of? And and today, we're gonna talk about the the first thing you gotta know is that life is about the journey, not the destination.

And and if we can walk through life knowing that there is a journey instead just a destination, we could probably be more encouraged when we're stuck at the gum walls of life and have hope and actually get something out of it other than nausea.

Be because the reality is is we will learn to instead of always looking ahead, we'll start looking around because the journey is to know Jesus. The journey that god has us on together is to know Christ.

He wants us to know him and sometimes if we get destination mindset, it becomes about where's the next place I wanna go? And I'm not talking about even running from God. You might say, wanna go with the Lord in my life, but you have these things in mind of here's where I think God's gonna take me next, and you're not happy till you get there. So you wanna jump in the car of life, hit the accelerator, find the fastest route, not the scenic route, and you wanna get there quickly so you can enjoy the next destination.

And then we get frustrated when you feel like you're stuck in a spot you're not supposed to be. And you're like, why am I not there yet? But if I understand that it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. I can actually experiencing knowing Jesus no matter where I'm at.

No matter where I'm at. Instead of worrying about what's next. And so that's what we're gonna talk about today is this idea that we're supposed to be on a journey. The big idea is this, that life is about the journey not the destination. And that journey is to know Christ in a personal relationship.

God wants us to know him and go on a on a lifelong road trip with him no matter where we end up going.

And I wanna look at the story of a man that kind of he has a similar idea to that because and I think in the story, you'll see that he gets a little bit destination mindset even in trying to trust God. And yet God wants him to just believe him, just trust him. And and it's in the book of Genesis,

way back in the first book of the Bible. And at the time we're gonna read, his name is Abram. He ends up getting his name changed to Abraham, probably because he was always in such a hurry. And God says, I want you to slow down, so he gave him a longer name.

I'm just just kidding. But his name is Abram here, but you know him as Abraham, father Abraham. And and we're gonna pick up a story. First, I wanna read a few verses out of Genesis chapter 12 because this is when God calls Abram. He says, He calls them and he says, hey. I want you to go on a road trip with me.

And he says, here's where you're gonna end up. I get there's some destinations along the way just like on my trip. Know I was getting up in Seattle. I know I was gonna go through some places. But it's not just about the destination, it's about the journey. And Abraham had to learn that.

And and where he's at in chapter 12 is he's probably pretty much thought he's arrived at his final destination in life. He's 75 years old. He's wealthy. He's got it good, and he's living in a place called Er. Sounds beautiful. But he and and god calls him to go on a road trip.

And here's what it says in in verse one. It says, the lord said to Abram, leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.

I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you. So he he comes as a 75 year old man. He goes, I'm gonna make you into a great nation. He doesn't have any kids. And says in verse four, so Abraham departed as the Lord had instructed.

So he's alright, I'm in. Let's go. And he takes off. Well, then if you jump over to chapter 15,

chapter 15 starts off with sometime later. Now here's the deal. Chapter fifteen, twelve to 15, what is that? Do the math. Three chapters of the bible. Right? So here's the how long does it take for us to read three chapters of the bible? I don't know if you've done hooked on phonics fifteen minutes maybe, you know? And and so you think that's we can read that fast. Do you realize sometime later? This is years later.

Go read the three chapters. I mean, he's been to Egypt. He's he's had to go to a rescue mission. He's a lot of life has happened. So now he's upper seventies and he still doesn't have a kid. He's no closer to these promises. He's not at the destination. And so that's when God shows up again and talks to Abram.

And he says sometime later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, don't be afraid Abram, for I will protect you and your reward will be great. Hey, when you read the bible, there's some things you wanna stop and don't miss. One of them is if God shows up and says don't be afraid, what does that mean?

You're probably afraid.

You you know what he's probably afraid of? He's struggling. He's like, did I hear God wrong? I left. I've gone on this trip, and now it seems like I'm at the gum wall. It it seems like I'm no closer to where we were gonna be, and and what is going on? Does God not like me anymore? Does God not care? Why have it why am I not there yet?

And so Abraham replied to him in verse two, oh, sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since you've given me no children, Eleazar of Damascus, a servant of my household will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.

So he tells God why he's afraid, what what he's struggling with. And you know what he just said there? That is the ultimate version on a road trip of your kids saying, are we there yet?

And you know what happens when they get well, at least my kids, maybe yours. They got smart enough that when you're on a really wrong trip, they get, well, we're getting closer.

Almost. We'll be there soon. And they finally get sick and tired of hearing that. And they go, you guys said that last time. And then what do they finally say? I don't think we're ever gonna get there. You know, and they throw themselves down in frustration while they just lean sideways because they're strapped in. But

that's what he's doing. He's like, God, you said we're going on this trip. And he's like, we are no closer. It are we there yet? I don't even it doesn't seem like we're any closer than we were before.

That's why I'm frustrated. That's why I'm fearful. I don't think this is working. I'm afraid you're not really there. I'm afraid maybe you're not real or maybe you don't care about me or maybe you ditched me or maybe I heard wrong. You ever been there?

You feel like hey, God makes promises but it doesn't seem like we're getting any closer. Because we think it's all about getting to that destination. And God wanted to go on a journey.

So then verse four, the Lord said to him, no, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir. Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, look up into the sky and count all the stars if you can. Now this was before city lights and pollution, so there was more than 12.

He said, that's how many descendants you will have. So I just says, nope. That's not true. You're gonna have all these descendants. You're gonna get to the land. You're gonna it's gonna happen. And I love verse six. It says, and Abram believed the Lord,

and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. So what made him what did the Lord count him as righteous? Right with him? What made him right with the Lord was simply, I believe you God. That he didn't do anything else but believe God.

And that's awesome. And that's why, hey, father M. He's one of these heroes of the faith. I guess, I wish when I was afraid and felt like god wasn't getting me anywhere. I wish I could just believe god. Well, you know what? This is what I love about the Bible. What I love about Rock Point Church. It's why we say we are Rock Point. One of the things we say about ourselves is about real people, real life, that we are flawed people. We are broken people. We have struggles. We have great moments, and we have we have failure moments. And and Abraham is no different because right here, you hear one of his greatest verses. He believed God, and God counted his faith as righteousness.

And then look what happens two verses later. God says one thing in verse seven. Then the Lord told him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession. And verse eight, but Abraham replied, oh, sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?

Wait, he just said, I believe god and god counted his faith as righteousness. One sentence later, he's like, I believe god but he I I can I trust you? I think I resemble that comment sometimes, don't you? You ever feel that way? Like, I have this faith and until I don't. His lasted an entire sentence.

So he has this challenge. He's like, I'm I'm just afraid. I'm just I'm destination. Why am I not getting there? It's old. I'm running out of time. I can't I can't see how this is supposed to work.

So here's what God does to kinda assuage his his fear and his struggle to to say, hey, no. You you can trust me. I'm faithful, and and it'll be okay. But it gets really weird. Look how he does it.

Says the Lord told him in verse nine, bring me a three year old heifer, a three year old female goat, a three year old ram, a turtle dove, a young pigeon, and a partridge in a pear tree. Now, that partridge in a pear tree was my add on. So he goes, how do I know? How can I really, really know

that we're going somewhere, God? And God's answer was, bring me a petting zoo. What is that all about? That's weird. What's even weirder is Abraham knew exactly what to do. Because it gets real weird what happens next. So Abraham presented all these to him and killed them.

He cut each animal down the middle and laid the half side by side. He did not, however, cut the birds in half because, you know, boundaries and all. You gotta stop somewhere. But some of the vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses but Abraham chased them away.

So he's like, bring me a petting zoo. And Abraham goes, got it. God, I know what you're doing. And he turns it into pet cemetery. Isn't that weird? It's not as weird as you think when you understand what's going on here.

You see in their culture of the day, Abraham knew what God was saying because this is how you you you made a contract, you signed a covenant.

Like today, when you go to buy that new house, you know, you have that huge packet of stuff, sign here, initial here, all the different colored tabs. You gotta sign a million things, initial a million things, date a million things. They they they they didn't do that back then. Their version of a covenantal contract was you made an agreement, you cut these animals in half and you have made it killed enough of them because you had to have a pathway. And and the blood, the reason you cut them out, the bloody strewn path is you then both people that made the agreement would walk through.

And what you're saying is, if I don't uphold my end of this covenant, I'm a two faced split in two person that ought to have my blood shed and I should die for breaking this covenant. Now, aren't you glad we don't do contracts that way now?

You're putting on a hazmat suit. Where are you going? I gotta sign for my new condo. But but that's what he knew. So basically, what started to encourage Abraham, he's like, oh, I get it. The reason I can trust you guys, we're gonna make a deal.

We're gonna make a deal. I'm gonna agree to do some stuff and as long as I do what I'm gonna do, you're gonna agree to do what you said you're gonna do. We're gonna make a deal here. Great. But then God says something more and it gets weirder here. Because right after that,

it says as the sun was going down in verse 12, Abram fell into a deep sleep and a terrifying darkness came down over him. Then the Lord said to Abram, you can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land

where they will be oppressed as slaves for four hundred years. So I guess I'm taking you this land. I'm gonna give you, make you great people. Now he's saying for four hundred years, they won't be in the land, and all your descendants are gonna be enslaved and oppressed. That doesn't sound encouraging.

But he says, I will punish the nation that enslaved them, and in the end, you will come away with great wealth. As for you, you will die in peace and buried at a ripe old age. But after four generations, your descendants will return here to this land for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.

So all of sudden, he goes, alright, we're gonna make a deal. That's great. But then he adds to the audit. He goes, let me tell you some stuff about the future that's gonna happen and tells them way more than has to do with just Abraham.

Long after you're dead, Abraham, all those descendants, they're gonna end up enslaved and not even in the land I promised you. But don't worry, after four generations, I'll bring them back. How is that supposed to be encouraging?

Would you understand what God is trying to tell Abraham is it's about the journey, not the destination, and it's about the plan that I have. And that journey is I want to redeem mankind. I want to make right the brokenness we have in our relationship. I want people to be able to walk with me through all of eternity.

And because of the sin and brokenness of the world we're separated. So what he's telling him is my plan wasn't just about giving you a big chunk of land and making your name famous and giving all these people. I have a bigger plan. It's a big journey that you get to be a part of.

But still hearing that, wouldn't that still leave you a little bit confused? As to how do I know? How can I trust you? And then what proves this whole thing trustworthy is the very next verse. Where God lets them know that the reason you can trust is because I am faithful

and I will take care of it. Because what he says in verse 17 is interesting. It says, after the sun went down and darkness fell, Abraham saw a smoking fire pit pot and a flaming torch. All through scripture, smoke and fire represented the presence of God. So basically, God shows up in his presence.

And it says, and they pass between the halves of the carcasses. So so God shows up. The presence of God walks through to make the deal. But it says in verse 18, so the Lord made a covenant with Abraham that day. Stop there. Do you notice what happened? So God shows up and he walks, he passes through.

But who didn't pass through when the covenant was made? Abram. God alone went through, not Abram. That's the part.

That's the part where God was encouraged. He says, listen, you don't get it. You're gonna get the land. You're gonna live and die at a ripe old age. You're gonna have these these descendants. It's gonna be an age, but this is gonna be a squirrelly road because I'm on a journey of redemption. And the reason you can trust what I'm doing is because the deal we're making is not what you think. It's not a you have to do this and then I'll do this. I'm taking care of both ends of this deal.

You're not passing through. You know why? If you pass through, you're gonna fail. And when you fail, I have to kill you. You're the one that has to shed your blood. You're responsible. But because the reason you can understand

that I will be faithful is I'm the only one that's making the deal here. I'm gonna take care of both ends of this agreement. So if I was to fail, may I be split into my bloodshed and death? But he says, but when you fail, when you fail, I will be split in two. My blood will be shed and I will die for you.

Anybody know anything about the New Testament? Does that sound similar to a story that happens a little later on? It's because that's exactly what it is.

God is passing through alone. He says, you can trust me because I'm the one that's faithful and it's about me making sure this happens. It doesn't rely on you. All you need to do is what you did in verse six, believe me. Just have faith. Because it's not just about the destination, it's about this journey of redemption.

That's kinda cool. That god passed through alone. Now, here's a question. Do you think god did that ceremony for himself? Did god need to do that contract to just make sure he didn't kill Abraham when he got angry later on?

You think God said, you know what? I better do this. I'm passing through. Alright. File that holy spirit because in case this when this guy morally messes up and I'm gonna wanna fire, you know, like lightning bolt him to the forehead. You know what I need is is I need you to pull it out and remind me that I I made this contract.

Do you think God needed to do that for him? Do you think that moment was for him? No. He woke Abraham up because it was for Abram. The way he encouraged him, he says, you gotta understand, it doesn't weigh on you. I am the god that loves you so much. I'm gonna make this happen even though I know you're gonna fail. So

this moment, this ceremony was a moment that Abraham could look back on, that when he goes on this journey with god and he has those moments like, you know, he believed god and that's righteousness, but then also in a few days later, but now I doubt and I'm not sure and he doesn't trust god and he tries to find the shortcut.

I wanna get to the next destination, but I wanna go my own way. I'm gonna get there quicker and he messes up. He can look back at this moment and go, hey. It's not all over. I can run back to God. I can go back because he already promised he would take care of this. Matter of fact, go read the very next chapter,

and Abraham goes on with his wife, goes on the greatest shortcut of all time to try to get a descendant. And the result of that little shortcut and his actual descendants are still fighting to this day in The Middle East.

But think about it, when you mess up, it would have been easy to do a couple things either go, well, I failed. God doesn't care about me anymore. I'm a loser or when you get sick of that guilt,

go, you know what? God's really unrealistic and why does he expect me and then get mad at god and start fighting him and act like I don't need to listen to God at all.

When the reality is all he has to remember is, wait, he's the God that passed through alone. He says, I'm making a deal with you, and I'm gonna make sure both ends would happen. And when you blow it, I'll pay for it. It's the gospel right there in the fifteenth chapter of the Old Testament.

So he says, Abraham, you need to just believe me and make your life about the journey, not about the destination. But that's hard, isn't it? It's hard. I think there's probably moments he he really wrestled with that, and then, fortunately, he can look back at, you know what? He's the god that passed through alone.

He's the god that passed through alone. I can I can I can I can trust him again? I can run back to him because he'll forgive me. He loves me. But it's still hard. We still get destination mindset, don't we? I know I do. Maybe you don't. Maybe it's just me.

I know this because in when when my journey of even believing in God and following God, I started with a destination mindset. I didn't grow up in a Christian home. I grew up in a home that they they they they believe in God. My my my dad when I was a a kid

walked forward in a in a church and became a Christian, got baptized, and we went for a couple years, but my mom was never into it. My sister and I were never into it. So we'd always make excuses, and after a couple years, my dad kinda bowed out too. But you know what he'd always say? He'd always talk about the good lord and the good book. We never went to church. We never opened the Bible, but he would talk about it, and and and that was about it. And and and so then all of a sudden, when I was 14, a freshman in high school, my my dad had to have quadruple heart bypass surgery and almost died on the operating table having a heart attack. And it got me thinking about you don't live forever. And then I got kinda get fixated on that. Then in in high school biology class, they showed a video on near death experiences. Like, what's going on with people that have these similar experience from a biological point of view? But all I thought about was I don't live forever. What happens next?

And and I have this mentality that's alright. The good lord, the good book. I go, you know, I've seen enough evidence. I I I believe there's something next, and I believe there's a god.

And so I have this this this thing that hit me, my destination mindset. I decided as a freshman high school, I'm not gonna live forever. But you know what I want? I wanna go to heaven. I grew up in Arizona. I've had enough heat. I wanna go to heaven.

And and and and so I I just I I I wanted to go to heaven, and I wanted two things. I wanted to figure out how can I live a life that god will be nice to me and give me good things? I wanted god to give me good things in this world and heaven in the next.

So so I said, how do I figure that out? And I was an athlete. Might not look like it anymore but I was And

and I had figured as an athlete, I go, there's gotta be a way to know you made the team. When you try out for a team, you know, if you made it. So I go, there's gotta be a way to know I'm on God's team. So I go, how do I get on God's team? And what I meant by God's team is I wanna do the things that God will go. I'm gonna give you nice things because you've been a good boy, Billy. And then when you die, you're gonna go to heaven. All I wanted,

good boy stuff and go to heaven. Now that seems weird. I was only 14 year old freshman. That sounds kinda stupid, doesn't it? Except for the fact that all the counseling I do and all the people I do, there is a lot of you in this room that that is your spiritual philosophy right now.

Your whole idea of god is I come and I worship and I try to do good things. So, he'll give me the things I want and then I wanna go to heaven when I die and you know that your mentality is if you're trying to be faithful in your relationship with the lord and good things aren't happening to you.

You're gonna get mad and discouraged and if you struggle with that, we all get a little bit fearful but if you start to get angered and frustrated, what you're thing saying thinking is,

you made a deal with God. You thought you passed through the animals too. And you thought, God, you're breaking the deal. I did the good things. Give me my Scooby snack.

And that's how I approach this thing. So I said, I'm gonna go figure out how to be on god's team. So I figured, you know what? I know a little bit about church.

God likes you to be good. So I'm gonna be good, Billy. I'm gonna not get smoke, drink, or chew, or go with girls who do. And then the second thing is if the good book is his book, authors like it when you read their books. So be a good boy and read the bible. That's what I was gonna do. That's how I was gonna be right with God.

And that's how I knew God would be nice to me, and then I'd go to heaven. So I got our old family bible out, dragged it into my closet, opened it up as an old thick King James version of the bible, and I had never grown up going to church, knew nothing about the bible.

I opened it up, and I figured I didn't even know what chapters and verses were. So I go, I'm gonna read one big number to the next big number. I figured out that's a chapter. And I'm gonna read one of these a day.

That's gonna be my plan. I'm gonna read one a day and be a good boy, and then I'll be on God's team. He'll give me nice things, then I'll go to heaven, and my life will be good. And that's what's gonna happen. So I started reading no experience, King James English, Old Testament

as a 14 year old freshman in high school. Only thing that was good when it started off in the beginning. I go, hey, baseball right there in the beginning. It was awesome. It's a bad dad joke. Sorry.

But but I then I started reading and it's all this this, you know, I got through and I and I read one chapter a day for thirty days. I did it for a month straight. And then by that end of the month, thine does not understand it what thine had read it.

I would felt less confident there was a god after reading 30 chapters of the old testament in King James when I had no clue what this even meant. You know what's weird is that I even read the two passages I just read today and taught.

I read those. And I said they're killing animals and and and and and god's walking through it and then he's saying you're gonna be slaves. Doesn't sound like the deal I wanted to make at all. I'd I I Thine doesn't like this. And

so I I I closed my Bible after day 30 and and I remember I prayed my first real prayer. It was a thunderously prayer. I think you could tell by the faith of it that I was supposed to be a pastor. I said, thine lord, dost thou need a thee. No, that's not what I said. I I I here's my prejudice. So god, if you're even real,

because I might just be talking to myself right now. That's not a lot of faith. I said, if you're even real, you're gonna have to show me the way to be on your team because this is not working. Amen. Then I may quick PS. And PS, Lord, if you're real, can you give Arizona a Major League Baseball team?

Good night. Yeah. Well, we know there's a God because he said yes to both of those. Should've asked for a Super Bowl, but sorry guys, I failed this. Then I went to bed. What I didn't know at the time is my best friend since fourth grade tossing and turning the same night.

He got out of bed, he got on his knees, and he started praying. You see, I had no idea that he'd grown up going to church. He knew Jesus. He knew the God that passed through alone. He believed God. He put his faith in Jesus.

But for some reason, he wouldn't tell anyone. I didn't even know he went to church. All I knew is he wouldn't do sleepovers on Saturday nights. That's all I knew. And and and and so all of sudden, he and his church, he was going through a a series,

and they had just talked about where it says in in the New Testament, Jesus, go make disciples,

baptizing them and teaching them to know me. And and and where it says, love God and love others. In other words, they were going through a series like, hey, our job as the body of Christ is to point people to Jesus by loving them like Jesus.

And my friend goes, I had never pointed anyone to Jesus. My whole entire faith is only about me. And so he goes, I he felt convicted. So he he asked God to forgive him and then say, please give me the chance. By the end of the freshman year, I want to somehow invite every

freshman in our school, 400 and something of us, to come to know Jesus, to come to the youth group, to come to church, and experience who Jesus is. I'll just tell you, he started there was like about just under 30 kids in the youth group on a good day

when he started this quest. By the end of our freshman year, there was over 200 coming. The 180 or 90 so, he brought them all. And he started with me.

The very next day, he walks up to me. Right after I prayed, God, you need to show me the way to be on your team. Best friend since fourth grade. Hey. What are you doing for Halloween? Halloween was in two days. I go, what I normally do? Eat too much candy, steal some of my dad's insulin, eat more candy. Yeah.

I didn't steal insulin. Okay? I did eat too much candy, though. And he goes, how about you do this? How about you come with me to my church? Because the youth group is having a Halloween party.

I cannot begin to tell you how bizarre that sentence is to me at the time. First church, didn't know he went to church. Youth group, I don't even know what that is. And then Halloween party, I don't know a lot about church, but I do know Halloween and church don't seem to be like compatible to me. And and so I was like, whatever. But you know, I just prayed. God show me the way. My best friend invites me to church. You'd think I'd put two and two together, but no, I was a freshman in high school.

I said, that sounds boring. No. Thank you.

It never dawned on me that god just actually answered my prayer. And and and so I say, Well, the night of the party, Halloween, he calls me up. You wanna go? Yeah. I'm bored. Yeah. Okay. I'll go. And I get there and I found out what a church youth group in the early eighties did for Halloween.

They made a really cheesy haunted house out of cardboard boxes that you had to crawl through. And then they showed us one of those end times movies. You know, like, not you think the ones today, like the Kirk Cameron ones are bad. These were made in the seventies.

And and what they did is they take everything that would possibly scare you about the book of revelation and exaggerated it. But the problem is they did it running around in bell bottoms to like the move music from the show chips. He's like, oh, wow. And

they're running around. And so it's it's weird. It's like both the worst movie you've ever seen, but also terrifying because people are running around not knowing Jesus, and all hell is breaking loose and I was like, this is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. Why am I seeing this with my eyes?

Some of you might know this series. Every sermon is. It it was called distant thunder, a thief in the night, and and mark of the beast. Anyone remember those series? You're old. Welcome to the club. And that's what they did back then. Hey, we wanna have a scary night. Terrify them.

And and they did. And then it would have been terrible except for after it ended. This guy got up. He turned out he was one of the interns. And and and he got up. So if you're an intern in the room,

you can change lives forever. Because he got up and he shared, hey, some of you are probably confused by all that. It's weird to you, but wanna I wanna explain something to you. But he goes, I gotta explain it the way I'm wired. He goes, I'm a baseball player. I play for my college.

I was like, baseball player. And he goes, the way I think it is, I think some of you got disturbed by that because you're probably wondering how what does it mean and how do I get to be a part of God's team? Cue the Twilight Zone music. There was no Patriot Act back then, but someone bugged my closet.

And he goes, I gotta tell you, you can't make the team by just trying out in your own power. Because God's team requires perfect holiness, because God is holy and just. And you can never be good enough because you're not perfect to be in the presence of God. So we have a problem.

But God took care of our end of the deal too. Jesus went to the cross,

and he started reading verses like John three sixteen, for God so loves the world that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. He read in the book of John where it says, Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father but by me. He he told us Ephesians two eight and nine that we are saved by grace through faith, by believing God like Abraham did, and that no man should boast. We can't do it on our own. We just need to believe God. In Romans, where it says, I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. Where says, I need to confess my sins and believe that Jesus died for me. I just need to believe that god is the one who died for me and took care of my problem. He took care of both ends of the contract.

I needed to believe that it was god who was torn into. God shed his blood. Jesus died

for me, for my penalty, for my sin. In other words, what he said was the god who passed through alone was the god who picked up the cross and what Abraham saw, god passing through along that contract was a foreshadowing.

He was declaring what he was gonna do when Jesus showed up and went to the cross for you and I and he goes, that's why there's only one way to have a relationship with god, people.

There's only one way because it's the only way. We are separated from god by our own sin. We are not perfect. We are not holy. We are not righteous. We cannot get there no matter how many good deeds we do, No matter how many tryouts we have. You can't get there, but God three thousand years ago already declared that. And he said, but don't worry about it. I'm the only one that passed through. I'm the only one that made the contract. I'm the only one that made the deal. I'm the one that's gonna shed my blood. I'm the one that's gonna die. I'm gonna take care of it for you because I love you.

It's not the God of the destination. It's God of the journey, and the journey was he went to the cross so we can go on the journey with him.

And so in that moment he says, hey, you wanna pray with me? Do you wanna believe in Jesus? Just believe God. Because that's what it means to be a Christian. That's how you get on the team. You don't try out for the team. You accept the invitation to be a part of the team.

And then you try to live for God in your life, not for his love, not for his good things. You live your life from his love.

I wanna pursue him. I wanna trust him. I wanna obey him. Because he already showed me that kind of love. He is the faithful God. That's what he was saying to Abraham. That's what he's did through Jesus. That's what it means to be a Christian. So right there on Halloween in 1984, I believed God.

I put my faith in Jesus and I became a Christian. And then not long after I got baptized. And baptism was explained to me as it it it doesn't make God love you. It's not a necessary step. It's not like, hey, if you don't get baptized, your belief in Jesus doesn't count anymore.

It was an act of obedience, not an act of maturity. See, a lot of people don't wanna get baptized after they believe in Jesus because I gotta get my act together. You go back to destination mindset.

You think I can't get baptized till I'm a good enough Christian. You realize you're trying to earn it again. Baptism is not about earning something. So why so many people come, I'm gonna get my kid baptized, my baby baptized because if they die without being baptized, they're gonna go to hell. Really?

You think God of the universe said, that's a sweet kid, but nobody poured water over its head.

That's not how it works.

You realize that that that when Jesus said told us to go be the church, we are Rock Point. Point people to Jesus by loving them like Jesus, to go lead them to Jesus, and he says to baptize them. Why? Why? I believe baptism, just like communion, but baptism is a one time thing. It's a symbolic moment

that God gave to us. It's not for him. God doesn't sit there go, if you don't get wet, it doesn't count. It's the baptism is very similar to what God wanted to show Abraham in Genesis 15. I want you to have this moment where you see and understand that it's about what I did.

So when you get stuck at the gum wall in life, or you mess up, or you're struggling, or you just don't think life is working, or you think you're no good, or or you think the world's no good, or you think God doesn't care about you, you can remember this moment as a moment that no, I remember when I declared publicly,

I believe God. Cause that's what baptism is. You get in the water and Jesus came with the perfect life. He died on the cross and was buried, and then he resurrected.

That's what baptism is. It's a symbolic thing to say, I am identifying with what Jesus did. He died, was buried, and resurrected. And because I believe in that, he's saying, I may die, but I'll be resurrected and have eternal life with him. I'm coattailing. Baptism is not about something you do for God.

It's about identifying and believing God like Abraham and saying as a Christian,

as someone who wants to believe that I'm accepting this and then this is a moment for us. So when you go down the road and and you fail and you get tripped up and you struggle, you can remember this moment. Go, I can always run back because it wasn't about me anyways. It was about what God did. I don't have to run away from God. I don't have to get angry. I can run back to him. That's what it's for.

And you know what? Jesus asked us that we to get baptized right after you put your faith in Jesus. But most of us wait because we have the wrong mentality. We miss the moment. We turn baptism into an act that I did for God. It's not the act of a mature person. It's the act of an obedient person

that just wants to say, I believe you God. So here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna stop preaching, and I'm gonna pray.

And I'm gonna give some of you a chance to say yes to Jesus right now. Because I don't care how long you've in church. Have you ever done what I did in 1984 says, you know what? I believe it's Jesus, and that's the only way I'm putting my faith in his death, burial, and resurrection. That's how I go on this journey. That's how I know Jesus.

And you can do that. I'm gonna pray with you. And I'm gonna close prayer, and I'm gonna invite anyone who knows Jesus, even if you just came to know Jesus right this second to come down here and get baptized. Some of you know him for a long time, and for some reason, you have the wrong view of it, so you've resisted.

Some of you feel feel far from God, but you know Jesus. Some of you are arguing with God right now even though you know Jesus, and you feel distant, and you think I can't do that till I drop my attitude. You ever thought that doing this is what will help you drop your attitude?

The person that knows Jesus that doesn't wanna get baptized is probably the person that needs to get baptized the most because it's for you. It'll change you.

So I'm gonna do that, and I'm gonna pray to invite you. And what you're gonna do is after I pray, we're the band's coming out here right now. And then when they come out, well, I'm gonna pray, and then we're gonna start singing a song. And if you wanna get baptized, I want you to line up right over here. Just line up here. We got shirts. We got towels, and I'll start baptizing you.

And a couple things. I know this is a risky thing. We just had a baptism. I might be standing here staring at you, you're staring at me. I might be like the guy that's looking the wrong way in the elevator for an entire song. Awkwardly staring at you and maybe no one will come. But I don't think that's gonna happen.

One, I think there's some people in here that need the experience I had back in 1984 right now. And two, we've already baptized 75 people to four services. So, yeah.

51 in the last service. That's why you came, you saw me outside. We we we needed to clear the room so you can get in here. So I had to take about 30 and go out there and continue baptizing them. Because God just wants you to go on this journey of knowing him. Will you? Let's pray. Father God, I just thank you right now.

I thank you that that you do love us. I thank you that you are the God that passed through alone because you're the God that picked up the cross.

So Lord, I pray right now that there's some people in this room that they've never been able to just believe you in that. They've never put their faith in you. They never became a Christian, so to speak. Oh, they may have come to church, but they don't know you.

So, Lord, I pray right now that they they would have the courage to just just just to stop trying to make it on their own. Stop trying to go their own shortcuts. Stop trying to get to their destinations in their way. But we just trust you for this journey.

And if that's you, if if if you feel this nudging like, man, he's talking to me, that's the holy spirit. And I'm gonna invite you right now to pray with me, to put your faith in Jesus. But as you pray along with me, make it your own words in your heart. Just pray something like this. Dear Jesus, thank you.

Thank you that that that you took care of both ends of this agreement. Thank you that you died for me on the cross, but then you came back to life proving that you you can beat death and give me life. I'm sorry for going my own way. I'm sorry for doing it my way and or even trying to earn your love.

But right now, in the best way I know how, I put my faith in you and you alone. I believe you died, but I believe you came back. Thank you for doing that. Now help me to understand each and every day how to know you more, how to experience this journey with you along the way. And Lord give me the courage right now

to step forward and get in this water. And God I pray that for everyone in this room that knows you, that has never been baptized, that they will take this moment. This moment's for for us, not for you, God. And there's some people in this room that need this moment so they can be reminded of your incredible,

absolutely faithful love. So I pray they will come. And I pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Come on down.

I was buried beneath my shame.

Who could carry that

Now you call me a citizen of heaven. When I was broken, you were my healing. Now your love is the air that I'm breathing. I have

Amen. Praise the lord.

God, we thank you that you called our name and we thank you for every name you called here today. We rejoice with all of heaven and give you all the glory. It's in Jesus name we pray and all god's people said. Amen.