Life Support; Baptism Sunday

[00:00:01] Speaker A: I want to read to you a passage of Scripture this morning as we begin, as we begin the message. I want you just to think about this, because we're going to read it now, and then we're going to read it at the end and talk about some things in between. And I want the words of this passage of Scripture to just kind of lay gently on your heart. Listen to from two Chronicles 16 nine for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. The word support there actually means to seize or to grasp or to take a hold of. So if you read it in that context, it says, the Lord's eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth to grasp onto those whose hearts are blameless toward him. When I was working with the youth, I really enjoyed my time with them. And we would go on these trips that I mentioned earlier. One time we went down to Colorado and we went through this canyon on a whitewater rafting trip. When we did this, we were told to look at the environment around us and get a picture of God from what we saw through the day. And so as we're going down this whitewater rafting, it's not a five, if you're familiar with it. It was probably more like a three and a half. So it wasn't a heavy duty river, but there were moments where you're holding onto the boat for dear life as you're going through. As we were going through these rapids and heading toward these big boulders, and they're equipped to kind of move the boat around the boulders and whatever, we got to a smaller patch where we're just kind of resting for a minute and thinking to ourselves, okay, we're not going to die here, at least. And I looked on the side of the river, the side of this, this. What's the word you're looking for there, Craig? I don't know, but torrent of a river. And I saw these trees, and the trees were huge. They were just huge trees. And many of them were actually laying in the river or laying on the bank. The ones that were standing had the roots, actually these huge roots dug out. They were kind of over the river and back into the bank. But there was no dirt holding them up. And they had started already to lean because the river had torn away the dirt that was holding up these trees. And as the erosion took place, those trees slowly, one by one, fell down. And you could see the ones that were about to fall down. You're thinking to yourself, yeah, don't go near those trees. But there was one tree that stood out to me that day. Its roots were also exposed. But this tree looked like it was growing straight out of a rock. There was dirt there, obviously, because it was growing, but the roots had been eroded away, and you could see where the roots had actually come back into the cracks of the rock. And underneath this tree, even though the roots were exposed, this tree stood tall, stood strong. And I thought about it. The weight of that tree rested on the strength of the rock, underneath the strength of the foundation. And it seemed like to me, nothing was going to take down that tree because nothing could move. The rocks on the side of this river, they're big boulders on the side. My question to you this morning is this. Do you find that you are needing more and more support in this life? I don't know about you, but I turn on the news and I'm thinking to myself, lids off, crazy. It's getting more and more difficult to navigate in this world around us, because it's almost like we've all gone mad. And I think to myself, what do the people around me have to find support in? Where do they find their support? This is not a new thought to me. I think about this every time I do a funeral, and I think to myself as I do this funeral for believers and non believers, I think to myself how difficult it must be to go to a funeral and have no idea of what comes next or no faith in what God promises, what comes next. We all need support. We need something to seek our roots into that will give us stability and strength. And we need to know that there is a support that we can rely on. When the weather gets tough or the water gets high or the torrent gets too much, and we feel like the roots of our lives are becoming exposed. Like I said, 2023 is starting to be just a constant reminder to me of the support we need. Wars on the news every day. Despots beheading babies in the name of freedom stories. Stores being ransacked in blatant theft. We're mutilating our children on the altar of personal identity. The rich get richer. The poor get less. It's unbelievable, the world in which we live. And if you thought Nazism died 100 years ago, well, even that's rearing its head these days. It just seems like the lid is off. Crazy. And people are going to need support if they don't have it. They definitely need it now. Even though they may not recognize the need for it. So support is the theme of our conversation this morning. Support in a changing world goes a long way. It's pretty clear, hopefully to you and to me, that together we can do more than apart. There's not a new concept. Ecclesiastes has a wonderful verse about this way back in the Old Testament. In verse nine of chapter four, it says, two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is what church. Woe to him who is alone when he falls and he has not another to lift him up. We are created with a DNA to almost long for support. You have again, probably felt this, especially through the times where the water gets high and eats away at the roots. President Lyndon Johnson said it this way. There's no problems we cannot solve together, and there's very few we can solve alone. Here's another quote from a famous consultant, John Sheegan, who said, if I had it all to do it over again, I'd get help. Brent's message last week on the church got me thinking about this topic. As we are preparing for a baptism today and we're thinking about what this day represents, I got to thinking about how God gives each one of us life support. You like that? Not support in life, but life support that gets us through the moments of time when life gets really terribly difficult, when our bodies get to a certain point in life when we can barely hang on, we look to get some life support, something that will keep us going through that moment of turmoil in our lives. And God offers us this, but not just at the end when it gets so tough for us. So we just need life support to just keep us alive a little longer. God offers us a support through life, a life support that helps us all the way through. You remember when Brent talked last week? He used the words one another a lot. One another, pray for one another, encourage one another, love one another, serve one another. All of these one another's in the Bible when it talks about how the church functions, because it takes this principle from ecclesiastes and it translates it into what the church should be doing. We are meant to be the support for one another. Why? Because we all need life support. And let me just say this after the message. Last week I drove home, and when I got home, I got a little life support because I pulled into my driveway and found out some vandals had been in my yard and they had left stuff in my yard. Here it is, right here. I got flocked last weekend. I don't know what that meant either until I actually read it, but those are all little sheep on those little signs. And if you didn't know this, some folks came over and flocked us last Sunday. And when I drove in, I thought to myself, well, that's a lot of work to clean up, but it's not toilet paper in the trees. Thank you for that. It was a wonderful reminder of the fact that I have support. There's a group of people that found it important enough to take time of their day and put a sign in my yard for all my neighbors to see, by the way, that says, I've been flocked. And nobody I'm sure knows what that means. But the words underneath were wonderful. Thanks for pastoring us. We appreciate you. Well, thank you. We all need this reminder that we're not alone, a reminder that we have support. This is a very scriptural thing, and I want to take you to the Book of James and explore a passage of scripture in James, chapter five that puts this in a very interesting context for us. If you're using your Bibles, turn there if you'd like to. Otherwise it's up on the screen. And here's what it says in James Five, verse 13. If anyone, is anyone among you suffering? Let them pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let them sing praise. If anyone, is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the Church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick. And the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. This passage is wonderful because it reminds me that support is available in the Lord, but support is available through the Lord's people. That's where it's seen. That's where it's active. That's where we get the action of, hey, God cares for you. Now you can see it because God's people will show it. All these things that are covered in this passage, suffering, you have support in prayer. Cheerful, you have support in praise. Sick, you have support in church care. Sins, you have support in the release God offers through forgiveness. It's almost like you feel like life is tearing away at the roots. Don't fret. You have support. Life support. But the greatest support is actually given in an illustration in the next verse. In verse 17, it says this giving an illustration. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. How many of you have ever heard of Elijah before? Okay, Elijah is one of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. Amazing guy. Did amazing miracles. Stood up to a tyrant king and a worse wife, Ahab and Jezebel. And he did amazing things for the Lord. He's the one that called fire down from heaven and burned up the altar making fun of the prophets. If you don't know about Elijah, you should read up on him. He's amazing. He is. The guy James taps into to give us an illustration. This amazing prophet Elijah was a man with a nature like whose church. Elijah was just like us. He's just like you. And immediately go, no, I don't think so. This guy was amazing, right? He did a lot of cool stuff. He did miracles. I can't do. No, no. You need to understand, Elijah was just like you. He prayed fervently that it may not rain. And for three years and six months, it didn't rain on the earth. Then he prayed again and heaven gave rain and the earth bore its fruit. This is one of the miracles that he did. He asked the Lord to stop rain. It's in one King 17. If you want to write that down and read about it, great story. Rain stopped for three and a half years. And the people, this happened because the people needed to come back to the Lord. It's a whole thing that you can read about in first King 17. But at the end of that, he prayed that God would forgive their sins. And God immediately brought rain again. Elijah had the power to command rain and no rain. Support for this can only come from God. So he and God are like on the same page and he's looking for all of his support from God. He believed that God would stop the rain and he did. He believed that God would bring the rain and he did. So Elijah was really relying on God for stuff. Elijah is our example that James gives us to tell us, hey, listen, God is waiting to give you support as well. His eyes are looking forward, back and forth in the earth to see who he can give strong support, who he can grasp onto and provide support for. And deep down, we all know we need support and that ultimate support comes from God. Don't believe that. Read Romans one. Number one. If you don't believe that, I take you back to 911 2001. If you weren't around then, let me tell you what happened. Two World Trade Centers, the two towers came down, both flown into by terrorists that commandeered planes and they tried to take down the White House. They also flew into the FBI building. Those of you that were there, it was a terrible day. I still remember that day? And you probably do as well. The nation was turned upside down. Turmoil, this water had eroded away what we thought was our absolute security. And all of a sudden you saw trees beginning to fall. Maybe we're not as strong as we think we are. Maybe we're going to get attacked again. And everybody was fearful and everybody was thinking to themselves, we need support. And there was no support because there was no security. And the government said, don't worry, just live life as normal. And we're going, for God's sakes, don't you see what happened? And we're all freaking out. You remember this? Do you know what happened immediately after 911? What do you think happened in church attendance? Do you think it went up or down? Oh, it went up. It went up big time. What do you think was the greatest seller of books for the rest of 2001? What do you think it was? The Bible. People were buying the Bible. People were going to church. People needed support. And deep down inside they knew that support has to come from somebody other than the government officials that you elected, because they're failures. And it showed it on 911. They failed. People are looking for support elsewhere and they look to God because deep down we know where real support originates. But then an interesting thing happened. 2002. Do you think church attendance continued to go up, or do you think it went down? You're right, it went down. People's memories have a tendency to be very short, and in the moment of trial, they'll run to wherever they think they can get support. But then their memory fades. And within five months, attendance in the churches went right back to what they were before 911. We have a tendency to forget that life support only comes from God. And please understand, this is why I'm calling it life support. It's not tragedy. Support. It's not holy smokes. My life is falling apart support. It's not like, oh, I've lost my job, I don't have any income. What am I going to do? I better start praying. Support. God offers life support, meaning that through Our entire lives, God offers us real support. Through the good times, through the bad times, through the mediocre times. His support is always there. There's a couple of points I have for you. Number one, support is available to the Lord for whoever needs it out of the Book of James 516. Therefore, confess your sins one to another and pray for one another. There's those one another ideas again that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power in its working. Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, yeah, but I'm not a righteous person. Please understand, righteous person does not equal perfect person. Otherwise we all fail. All right, there ain't no one perfect in this room. And you're looking at prime example number one. God is not looking for perfect people. He's looking for righteous people. The difference is this, righteous people are given their righteousness. They don't earn it, they don't achieve it. They don't have it innately because they were born in a certain family. Righteous people get the righteousness of Jesus when they ask for it. We're going to do a baptism today and you're going to hear a little girl, and she's a young lady, and she's going to share her testimony of how the Lord became her support and how in her life she understood she's not righteous, but she can have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Please understand. The prayer of a righteous person has great power in its working. That's the prayer of a person who relies on Jesus and his righteousness. Main point number two. Oh, by the way, and if you have that kind of faith in your prayers, Jesus said your prayers can move. What's the next word? Mountains like. That's a pretty big claim, but apparently God's eyes go to and fro to see who he can offer, grasp onto and support. Main point number two, by the way, before we get there, I have prayed for some outlandish things in my life, and it's not because I was desperate. It's because I believe that God answers prayer. [00:18:49] Speaker B: Amen. [00:18:49] Speaker A: In fact, he waits to hear our prayer and Run to us and offer us support. Number two, support is visible through the church. Praying with a believing faith. This is ought to assume that a sick person is going to get better. When we read that in James chapter five, this is telling us that that sick person, if they believe that God can heal them, God may heal them. He has the power to do it. But the whole point is it has to be a prayer of faith calling on the elders of the Church. If you're not involved in a local church, who are your elders? Interesting, right? You must be in a local church to have a faith that is active so you can call elders, your elders, those who are responsible for you. This is how the deal is meant to function. The presence of elders does not guarantee healing. It simply proclaims that you have faith. And I've done this several times in my life where people have called me and they said, listen, I'm sick. I need healing. Can you come and pray over me. That is a James five thing and I may call a couple of the elders and we'll go over and we'll anoint them with oil. We'll pray over them. And that is following a biblical principle. It doesn't guarantee that they're going to get better, but it is a great demonstration of where their faith and where their support looks for. Main point number three, support is visible through the church being real, real at heart. Look at verse 16. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power in its working. Interesting. We confess our sins to one another. That's interesting because not many of us want to do that. It does not mean that we need confessionals. This is simply speaking about our need to find support and acceptance in the vulnerability that we give to a local church. This is where life is done. Confessing our sins to one another is simply acknowledging that we all sin and we need support. And this is seen in a local church. Number four, support is visible through the church. Restoring the broken. Look at verse 19. My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and somebody brings him back, let him know that whoever brings a sinner back from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. Would you do me a favor? Would you point to anyone? Go ahead, point to anyone. Point to anyone. All right, now point to someone. All right. You're surrounded by anyone's and someone's. This verse is talking to anyone's and someone's support doesn't stop with confessing. It begins with restoring. And if you look at it this way, anyone who wanders from the truth, someone brings him back. Apparently that's not my job. That's the church, that's what we do with. And for one another. All of this gives us this idea that there is support available in the church because that's where we see it visibly. Henry Ferrari says it this way. When disaster strikes and innocent people suffer, or especially when something bad happens to a good person, Christians often ask, where was God? But if Christians accept that they are the people of God, it may be better to ask, where were the people of God? The Church is the main visible means of support for this world today. We're the main visible means of God's hands, his eyes, his heart, his feet. We go where he wants us to go, we do what he wants us to do, we see what he wants us to see. Our heart breaks as his breaks and loves what he loves. And sometimes we need to tell the truth in love. Sometimes it's not just like, well, I'm just going to offer you support and hope you get through this. Sometimes you got to look at people and say, you're making bad decisions. And as your support friend, I'm going to tell you, you should stop making those bad decisions. They are leading you down a bad path. Remember, a pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but can be miles away in results. Elijah was given to us as an illustration, and so I want to close with this illustration because this is what James uses. The only time Elijah was closest to failure is when he had the greatest lack of support. Do you remember Elijah, the amazing prophet of God, did incredible miracles for God. The only time he was on the brink of absolute failure is when he felt the least amount of support. I give you the illustration. After the famine incident, rain stopped. Famine, people die. No good people repent. The false prophets are killed. It rains again. Ahab and Jezebel. More Jezebel than Ahab. Jezebel was the queen. Nasty lady. Jezebel said, I want Elijah's head on a plate. And she sent out her soldiers to go get him. And Elijah ran for his life. He ran into a mountain because he likes his head on his shoulders, not on a plate. He runs to the mountains, and while he's there, he freaks out. And he thinks to himself, I'm the only one doing what God wants me to do. I am the only one that is telling this wicked queen and this wicked king how they should live. I'm the only one sharing the truth of God in this generation. And he literally thought that because while he's in the mountain, an angel comes to him and says, this, elijah, why are you here? There's nobody in the mountain. You are meant to do a work among the people that I've put you to serve. You are meant to do a work to tell the truth. In love. You are meant to be a light for me in this generation. Why are you on the mountain by yourself? And Elijah's answer is shocking. This is why I think James uses Elijah in James chapter five. Here's what he says in one kings 19. He said, I have been very zealous for the Lord. Can you see it there? I have bent over backwards. I have worked consistently. I have put my life on the line. I have been the light for God that he wants me to be. I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant. They've thrown down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. Do you say in there? Nobody's listening. I'm out there and I'm going and I'm going and I'm putting my life on the line. And nobody's listening. We're not getting anywhere. They've thrown down your altars. They've killed your prophets with the sword. Are you not paying attention? Your people are dying. The only lights are being snuffed out. What are you doing about this? And then he says these words and they are shocking to read. So I want you to read it with me. Here's what he says. And here we go. I even. I only am. Do you sense a lack of support? You sense a despair? I'm alone, and they seek my life now to take it away. Elijah was an amazingly strong man of faith. Yet when he lacked support, he succumbed to distress. I find it very interesting. Don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain. Can you do that afterwards? Would you mind doing that afterwards? I put two tables in the back, in the gym. Okay. All right. They didn't tell us they wanted them, but they do. All right. No sweat. All right. Keep your attention up here. If you wouldn't mind, please. Elijah was an amazing man of God. Yet when he lacked support, he succumbed to distress. If you feel like you need more support these days, I have to tell you, you're not mistaken. God agrees. Now let me read to you the verse again that we started with, and here's how it goes. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro. Do you get that? Like he's on a mission. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. Why? To give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. God is searching for someone to give support to whose heart is blameless. And remember, whose heart is blameless does not equal whose heart is sinless. This is simply whose heart belongs to him. God is looking for a man or a woman who wants to find their hope in the life support that God offers in life. So, church, I would encourage you. There's a million other things that you can trust in. You can trust in your bank account. You can trust in the government. You can trust in your spouse. You can trust in your kids. They'll let you down. You can trust in your degree. That's not going to get you very far. You could trust in a lot of things. You put your faith in a lot of things. But there is nothing like putting your faith and your trust in God. There's nothing like remembering that he actively searches to and fro for somebody that he can support. Grasp onto, lift up. If you look for other things for support, you'll end up in the stream like all the other trees. Proverbs three, five, and six says this. Trust in the Lord Church. With what? Trust in the Lord with all your. How much of your heart? One more time. How much? Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding, boy. If you did that, the world would be upside down constantly and we would be confused. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean on your own understanding. In there's another all here. How many ways? In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. You see, he's on a search to find somebody to support. And if you're here today and you're thinking to yourself, oh, God, I need support, he's looking for you. Literally. That's what it means. His eyes go to and fro. He is looking for you. If you need support, he's looking for you. And the support that he offers is like a rock where you see life will tear away at your roots one way or another, but his rock will be a foundation that will not be able to get pulled out. And if you find your strength in him and your hope in him, he will give you the support that you need. Where do you find that most visible in a local church. This is where we grab onto you and we say, remember, don't believe the lies. God is offering you support. We are with you in this. We're experiencing wonderful revival at Village Church east, which is really cool to see. Like, people are making their lives right with him, with the Lord. People are making big decisions to follow him. We have several that are interested in baptism. We're going to do another one today, which is very exciting. All of these are just reminders to us that God is still out there looking for somebody to offer support to. And this young lady that's about to be baptized today, she's going to give us a testimony about how God came to her, visited her, and she understood that he would be her support in life. Each person who follows the Lord this way simply is acknowledging their life is dependent upon the Lord's support. The world cannot offer the hope and support that we need, but God does. And so I want to encourage you, if you're here today and you're in need of some support, it is available. Callie, you ready? Want to come up here? This is Callie Whittenhall. Got it. Callie is one of the Wittenhall clans, and she's brought her entourage here today, which is really cool. You have a lot of folks that are here that are here because of your big day today. Callie and I had a conversation month ago right about there, and we got together and I wanted to know Callie, she came to me and she said, I want to be baptized. And I said, well, why now? Why is this a big deal now? Because you've been a believer for a little while now, right? [00:32:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:33] Speaker A: But now it's become a big deal for her. And she said, craig, Pastor, I forget what you called me. Anyway, she said, whoever I am, I want to follow the Lord. This is the right thing to do. This is what God wants me to do. Boy, it's hard to argue with that logic. And so she is going to do her testimony right now and tell us how she came to know the Lord and why you want to get baptized today. You ready? All right. [00:33:01] Speaker B: From a young age, I was always in a church. Hang on a second. [00:33:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:07] Speaker B: From a young age, I was always in a church and had many people that guide me and provide teaching based on the Bible. Adults, like those in church in Awana, constantly taught me about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And thanks to this consistency, when I was eight, I was alone, lying in bed when I had a sudden urge to invite Jesus into my heart and into my life. And that morning I said a short prayer acknowledging Jesus'sacrifice for my sins and accepted Jesus as my savior. Over the last couple of years, I've had a strong desire to get closer to God. Sometimes I would come to church and do song with my dad, but then I want to be even more committed. So I joined the AB team, even if it is a pain to get up early. Then around summer, I felt that I needed to get baptized. I probably didn't know it at this time, but the Holy Spirit has been leading me all this time, drawing me near him and guiding me. And the desire to get baptized came from the Holy Spirit, because all believers are meant to get baptized. In acts two, verse 38, Peter says, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. I've always been taught that it is important that when the Holy Spirit speaks to you, you have to listen and obey him. That's not always easy, but I want you to be baptized today as a sign that I will always be a follower of Jesus Christ. [00:34:29] Speaker A: That is awesome. You can't even see them with the lights on. [00:34:38] Speaker B: I can't see anything. [00:34:39] Speaker A: So, Callie, you came to know the Lord when you were eight. Yeah. Just because your parents had constantly taught you about. [00:34:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:45] Speaker A: Yeah. That says a lot about how parents raise their. Are you. Are you a perfect person at this point in your life? [00:34:52] Speaker B: No. [00:34:53] Speaker A: Okay. So your decision to follow Jesus was simply a decision of obedience. What was the propelling thing that made you want to ask him into your life? [00:35:05] Speaker B: Well, I think it's because I'd always been around good influences, and obviously me and my parents always pray that night. I always wanted to be a culture. [00:35:17] Speaker A: Yeah. And you've been in church, and you've been constantly given this legacy of God loves you, Jesus loves you. He died for you. And now you've decided to give your life to Jesus. And that was eight years. You were eight years old. How many years ago was that? [00:35:33] Speaker B: Like six years ago? [00:35:36] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, and now you're deciding to be baptized. That's a big step, too. What does baptism mean to you? [00:35:43] Speaker B: It's a verbal commitment. It's a verbal commitment of accepting Jesus Christ into your heart. [00:35:50] Speaker A: Well, we're excited to do the deed today. Are you excited? [00:35:53] Speaker B: I'm excited. [00:35:54] Speaker A: Are you nervous? Not so much anymore. [00:35:57] Speaker B: Not so much anymore. [00:35:58] Speaker A: You did great. Didn't she do good? All right, you can go get ready. Head out.