SPEAKER_00: Well, I want you to think about for a moment a a hobby, an activity, something that you enjoy uh participating in?
SPEAKER_00: Uh maybe it's golf, maybe it's it's quilting, maybe it's hunting, maybe it's just hanging out with the grandchildren, perhaps it's cooking, video games, traveling?
SPEAKER_00: What got you into that hobby?
SPEAKER_00: What was it that made you uh be introduced to that?
SPEAKER_00: What resources are required for you uh to participate in that hobby?
SPEAKER_00: Do you find joy and satisfaction in doing it?
SPEAKER_00: How often do you think about this hobby?
SPEAKER_00: Do you like to include others in it?
SPEAKER_00: And what does it take in order for you to improve in that hobby to get to do it maybe even a little more or do it a little better?
SPEAKER_00: Well, two years ago this month, my life changed just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: I was um in my midlife crisis, I still am, but I decided that I was getting close to 50, so I probably needed to start exercising more, so I would make it up to the gym and try to work out, and I did not enjoy it.
SPEAKER_00: It was terrible.
SPEAKER_00: I was not made for weights, weights were not made for me.
SPEAKER_00: And every morning I would walk past uh this court, uh, a basketball court that had these glass uh windows, walls in them, and I saw a group of people playing, and I watched them play.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't really know what the sport was, um, but it looked a little more interesting than laying on a sweaty weight bench wondering why I was about to kill myself on a bar that was coming down on top of me.
SPEAKER_00: And so I started visiting with some of those guys who also were in the gym, and one of them invited me to play with them, and that's when I began playing a sport called pickleball.
SPEAKER_00: So, and if you're unfamiliar with what pickleball is, um just think it's a cross between tennis and ping pong.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I won't take the time, but if you're interested in knowing how they got the name pickleball, uh, I'll tell you later on.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's a pretty interesting story.
SPEAKER_00: But uh, you have a paddle, right?
SPEAKER_00: And you you have a ball.
SPEAKER_00: Uh you play on a court with a net that's very similar to a tennis net, uh, but the pickleball court itself is a little bit smaller.
SPEAKER_00: And so over the last couple of years, uh, I've learned a few things about pickleball that I didn't know.
SPEAKER_00: There are different types of hits in pickleball.
SPEAKER_00: There's the drive, there's the drop, there's the dink, and there's the lob.
SPEAKER_00: There's different ways in which you hit with the paddle.
SPEAKER_00: There's the forehand, right?
SPEAKER_00: And the backhand, and what everybody loves, the overhead smash, and then there's the fun one, it's called the shovel.
SPEAKER_00: You're just trying to protect yourself.
SPEAKER_00: You know, hopefully I can get out of this alive.
SPEAKER_00: Then you have things uh like the different way in which you use the ball.
SPEAKER_00: This ball is hollow, it's plastic.
SPEAKER_00: Uh if you play outdoor, it's usually this yellow one.
SPEAKER_00: There's 40 holes.
SPEAKER_00: If you play indoor, the holes are bigger.
SPEAKER_00: There are only 26 holes.
SPEAKER_00: Useless information.
SPEAKER_00: This is a heavier ball.
SPEAKER_00: It hurts a lot more than an indoor ball, I can tell you that much.
SPEAKER_00: But because it has holes, you can cause it to curve.
SPEAKER_00: If you hit it like this, that's a top spin, it causes this thing to spin and the ball will dive down, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so you can hit much harder if you have a top spin, because instead of flying out, it'll drop down.
SPEAKER_00: You can do a back spin, which will cause it to just go over, and then the bottom will drop out and it'll just fall down.
SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, there's the side spin.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can make it bounce either direction.
SPEAKER_00: Lots of different things.
SPEAKER_00: There's placement as where you might want to hit the ball.
SPEAKER_00: Usually you think I want to hit the ball far away from someone.
SPEAKER_00: That's sometimes the case unless you're playing with Jarek.
SPEAKER_00: And Jarek is way too fast.
SPEAKER_00: You can't hit it away from him, so you try to hit it right at him.
SPEAKER_00: My favorite place to aim for people is their left foot, because it's really hard to hit, and the right shoulder.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we call the chicken wing.
SPEAKER_00: Because if somebody hits the ball here, there's Tammy knows this.
SPEAKER_00: There's not an easy way to hit this, and so you you do like that, and it looks awful and funny, and it never works out well.
SPEAKER_00: Those are great hits to use.
SPEAKER_00: Um, there's different strategies.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you can aim for the weaker player if you're playing doubles.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of times the best place to hit it in doubles is where?
SPEAKER_00: Right in the middle of the court, because you have two people who don't know who is responsible for hitting this ball back.
SPEAKER_00: I've watched so many times two really good players watch a ball go right down the middle, and they look at each other and say, was I supposed to hit that one?
SPEAKER_00: Or were you supposed to?
SPEAKER_00: There's so much that I learned about it, and I began enjoying this game so much that I bought a paddle, I began practicing, and I set my alarm for 4:30 in the morning because we would meet at this gym when it opened at 5 a.m., and me and a bunch of guys would play pickleball.
SPEAKER_00: We played, we practiced drills, we shared tips, we talked strategy, we watched videos in our off time, and we would send the link to one another about different ways in which we could practice.
SPEAKER_00: We played more and more, we laughed, we challenged, and we hit each other with the ball a lot.
SPEAKER_00: We got hit all the time with the ball.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I went one morning without somebody getting hit, and usually it involved some kind of mark that got left on their body.
SPEAKER_00: Um and we invited new people.
SPEAKER_00: We invited new people to join us to play a game that we loved, and when they showed up, then we would accommodate them because we had gotten used to playing with a a higher skill level, and when you bring in a newcomer, they're at they start at the beginning and they don't know how to keep score, and you have to train them, teach them how to do that.
SPEAKER_00: And we would we would stop our the game that we love so we could teach somebody else about it.
SPEAKER_00: All the people that we played with came from different walks of life.
SPEAKER_00: Uh three of us uh were ministers, one was a judge, one was a teacher, we had several business owners, just people all came together, but we had something in common.
SPEAKER_00: We loved playing pickleball together.
SPEAKER_00: Typically we would rotate partners, but if it got around a tournament time, you had one partner that you worked with, and so you would stick with each other that whole time, and you would try to learn and grow and help one another.
SPEAKER_00: We had this one thing in common.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I love pickleball.
SPEAKER_00: It is a great hobby, it's a great way to lose weight, and it's a great way to be humbled on a regular basis, and it is just a hobby.
SPEAKER_00: It's something that I love to do, it's something that gives me joy, but I want you to know that I do not ever want a hobby to be more important than my love and dedication to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Over the last two years, I have learned a lot about pickleball.
SPEAKER_00: I've been so excited about opportunities to play and people who I'd get to meet, and I wanted to get better, and I don't want my Christian walk to be any different than that.
SPEAKER_00: Because Christianity is not a hobby, it's more than sitting on a cruise ship, hitting a plastic ball, or trying out a new recipe.
SPEAKER_00: Christianity is or ought to be an obsession and a lifestyle, a commitment, and a deep desire within your bones that just consumes you, and it's what you want to do more and more.
SPEAKER_00: You think about it, you spend your time getting better, and you use your resources so that you can improve.
SPEAKER_00: You want to learn more, you want to grow closer, and you want to be better as a follower of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And as a sold-out, all-in follower of Jesus, we want to be better.
SPEAKER_00: The word that we use to describe Jesus many times, and the word that we use when we sing about him is this word Lord.
SPEAKER_00: It means master.
SPEAKER_00: It's the one we listen to, it's the one who we love, and it's the one who helps us in our everyday life, not just on Sunday mornings.
SPEAKER_00: We don't dream about boats or game-winning shots or five-star hotels.
SPEAKER_00: We want nothing more than to seek him and to know him and to show him.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says this in 1 Corinthians chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Do you not know that all run in a race?
SPEAKER_00: That did you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?
SPEAKER_00: Run in such a way to get that price.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training, and they do it so that they can get a crown that will not last.
SPEAKER_00: But we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, as a Christian, I do not run aimlessly.
SPEAKER_00: I do not fight like a man beating the air.
SPEAKER_00: No, I beat my body and I make it my own so that after I have preached to others, I will not be disqualified for the prize.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, I'm laying it all out.
SPEAKER_00: This is the most important thing.
SPEAKER_00: In the same way that you would train for a marathon, in the same way that you would want to get on a cooking show and win first place, in the same way that you would run around chasing a silly little ball with holes in it, he says, you should run even more intensely, practice more fervently, and devote yourself every day to following Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of the reasons why I think baptism and the symbolism around baptism is so important.
SPEAKER_00: He did not say you run through a sprinkler, or you have a cup poured over you, or you stand in a bucket ankle deep in water.
SPEAKER_00: Think about this idea of baptism.
SPEAKER_00: We don't get near the water or on the water or around the water.
SPEAKER_00: We go in it and under it.
SPEAKER_00: Our feet that walk, they are surrounded by it.
SPEAKER_00: Our mouths that speak, they're covered in it.
SPEAKER_00: Our minds that think they are submerged in it.
SPEAKER_00: Your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions, they're all enveloped in the water.
SPEAKER_00: Included in that, of course, is your sin and your guilt and your hopelessness.
SPEAKER_00: That's buried.
SPEAKER_00: Baptism is actually just this ancient Greek word that we've transliterated into English.
SPEAKER_00: Transliterated means that we didn't translate the word.
SPEAKER_00: We just took the word, the sound of that word, and brought it into the language.
SPEAKER_00: It's from the Greek word baptizo.
SPEAKER_00: But if you were to translate baptism, do you know what it would mean?
SPEAKER_00: Immerse.
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what it means.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to ask you this question, and I hope you're not embarrassed to answer this one.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to raise your hand.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you are immersed?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, keep your hands up.
SPEAKER_00: Keep your hands up for just a minute.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you were immersed last year?
SPEAKER_00: How many of you are immersed today?
SPEAKER_00: Wait, that doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_00: I'm past tense.
SPEAKER_00: And see, this is why I think baptism is so important.
SPEAKER_00: And it bothers me a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: It's a head scratcher because when we talk about immersion, for some reason we think only to the day in which we entered into that water and proclaimed Jesus as our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We say, when were you immersed?
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you where I was immersed.
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you when I was immersed.
SPEAKER_00: It was July 6th, 1987.
SPEAKER_00: I was at Iron Springs Christian Camp, and in that pool, I got immersed.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about when that physical moment happened.
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about your spiritual life.
SPEAKER_00: When were you spiritually immersed in Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: And I think the answer should be, ought to be, you were immersed on that day, and every day since then, you have been immersed in a life of following Jesus Christ our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: It's more important than a pickleball.
SPEAKER_00: It's more important than a cruise ship.
SPEAKER_00: It's more important than any hobby you will ever do.
SPEAKER_00: Following Jesus is number one.
SPEAKER_00: It's not second place, it's not third place.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus makes it very clear he has no room for people in the kingdom who don't care about being followers of him.
SPEAKER_00: That being immersed means that living daily in a life of following Him.
SPEAKER_00: Baptism is not a one-day event.
SPEAKER_00: In August 2001, I hung my feet out of the opening.
SPEAKER_00: I slowly, slowly scooched my bottom to the edge.
SPEAKER_00: And out on the count, and on the count of three, I jumped.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's a lie.
SPEAKER_00: I leaned over and I fell.
SPEAKER_00: But sky falling doesn't sound near as cool as skydiving.
SPEAKER_00: That was nearly 25 years ago that I took my first jump.
SPEAKER_00: We can just take out the word first.
SPEAKER_00: It was the only jump that I ever did.
SPEAKER_00: Since then, I have been on a plane over a dozen times, but never with a jumpsuit on my body or a parachute on my back.
SPEAKER_00: That was my one and only jump.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a skydiver, I am a skydover.
SPEAKER_00: I did it that one time.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think about skydiving.
SPEAKER_00: I don't dream about it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not planning on my next jump.
SPEAKER_00: If I get out of a plane when it's mid-air, it's because none of the engines are working and the pilot is passed out.
SPEAKER_00: That's the only hope that I'm ever going to leave an airplane again.
SPEAKER_00: I went, I dove, I got the t-shirt.
SPEAKER_00: Literally, I got a t-shirt from it.
SPEAKER_00: I was more proud of the t-shirt than the fact that I fell out of that plane.
SPEAKER_00: I even have a VHS tape somewhere to prove it.
SPEAKER_00: If somebody had a VCR, I could show it to you.
SPEAKER_00: But none of that makes me a skydiver present tense.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let me just land the plane and get back to my point.
SPEAKER_00: What I'm trying to say may be a little controversial and maybe offensive, and it might even sound unbiblical if I'm not clear.
SPEAKER_00: So I want you to please listen carefully.
SPEAKER_00: Baptism alone does not make you a follower of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Christianity is not about a building you sit in, a camp that you went to, or some water you were in several decades ago.
SPEAKER_00: Christianity is a relationship.
SPEAKER_00: It's an attitude, it's a promise, and it's a covenant.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a hobby that you like.
SPEAKER_00: It's about a Lord that you love.
SPEAKER_00: Your dedication and devotion to God ought to take precedence over any games, hobbies, activities, or jobs you will ever have.
SPEAKER_00: God wants that relationship with you.
SPEAKER_00: I wish I could just pause for a second or wait an hour and just look into each one of your eyes.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know that God deeply desires a relationship with you.
SPEAKER_00: He wants you to love him and to serve him more than you do holding a paddle or a fishing rod or some golf clubs or a quilting needle or even your own grandchild.
SPEAKER_00: He wants you to love him in the way that he loves you.
SPEAKER_00: He wants your heart, your desires and your dreams.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to take you captive, wants to take captive your thoughts, guide your actions, and plan your future.
SPEAKER_00: He wants your hands, your feet, your mouth, and your eyes.
SPEAKER_00: But don't think that he is satisfied with simply what you do.
SPEAKER_00: He isn't a project or a cause or a Sunday morning ritual.
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to look like a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: It's even easy to do things like a Christian, but he wants you to be one.
SPEAKER_00: Boy, this is the one of the most difficult passages.
SPEAKER_00: Every time I read this, I struggle.
SPEAKER_00: It comes from Matthew chapter 7, towards the end of his Sermon on the Mount.
SPEAKER_00: He says this, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out many demons, and in your name perform many miracles?
SPEAKER_00: Then I'll tell them plainly, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: Away from me, you evildoers.
SPEAKER_00: I can hardly read that passage without my heart stopping for just a moment.
SPEAKER_00: I get goosebumps, and the hairs on the back of my neck stick out, and I get the lump in the throat, and I think does Jesus know me?
SPEAKER_00: But I want you to catch this about this passage.
SPEAKER_00: That's really important.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not talking about unbelievers.
SPEAKER_00: He's not speaking to agnostics.
SPEAKER_00: He is not describing fringe members.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is addressing faithful attenders, longtime leaders and full-time preachers.
SPEAKER_00: He's not addressing worship attendance, church membership, or class participation.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking to prophets and demon slayers and miracle workers.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want you to know I haven't done any of those.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking to a group of people who can do things that I've never done before.
SPEAKER_00: I believe in God.
SPEAKER_00: I believe that God does miracles, but I've never personally parted waters, fed the multitudes, opened eyes, or healed the paralyzed.
SPEAKER_00: That's not in my resume.
SPEAKER_00: I haven't done this.
SPEAKER_00: I read this and my heart just drops, and I think I'm doomed.
SPEAKER_00: Because I can't do any of the things that those other people have done.
SPEAKER_00: And he looked at them and he says, Get away from me.
SPEAKER_00: From me.
SPEAKER_00: But I want you to know that there is hope.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not just for me, it's for you.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if you can heal the sick or you can't keep your houseplant alive.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about what you do, it's about who you know.
SPEAKER_00: And more specifically, it's about who knows you.
SPEAKER_00: We are just two weeks away from Easter Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: And yes, it is just another Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: But it can be more.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, right now, today, you can begin.
SPEAKER_00: You can accept the invitation.
SPEAKER_00: And you can learn more about who God is, how he loves, and how he forgives.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Easter is another Sunday, but it's an opportunity, a catalyst, a starting point, or a renewal.
SPEAKER_00: Billions of people around the world will be celebrating Easter.
SPEAKER_00: For many of them, it will be about large bunnies, chocolate candy, and egg hunts.
SPEAKER_00: But we believe that it's more.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to reclaim Easter for my Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I want my relationship with him to be more important than anything I do or think about.
SPEAKER_00: I spent a lot of time practicing and drilling and playing and watching videos and talking to people and inviting people to come play and hoping that somehow a game would break out.
SPEAKER_00: I have my bag back here.
SPEAKER_00: I carry a paddle in it.
SPEAKER_00: This is the paddle that I play with it.
SPEAKER_00: I have a second paddle that I use.
SPEAKER_00: That's for Jennifer when she wants to play.
SPEAKER_00: I have a third paddle that's reserved just for Brandt Ball.
SPEAKER_00: Brent, here's the paddle.
SPEAKER_00: He borrowed it yesterday and he came up to me and says, Hey, I'm going to give you your paddle back.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't know I saw it and I took it.
SPEAKER_00: So he was probably freaking out the whole time thinking, but I got it right here.
SPEAKER_00: I have a fourth paddle in here because if a fourth person shows up, man, just think how much we can play.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want my love for pickleball to ever be greater than my love for Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I should be walking around with four Bibles.
SPEAKER_00: Because I got one for me and I got one for my wife.
SPEAKER_00: And anybody with, I mean, just read this.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want anything in my life to be more important.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I want to say one more thing and we'll close out, but but don't misunderstand me.
SPEAKER_00: I know you're busy, I know you're tired, I know you're exhausted, I know that you're overwhelmed.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not trying to say, I want you to do more, more, more.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_00: You come to know Jesus, you know what he's gonna call you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Get this.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna say, do less.
SPEAKER_00: He says, come to me.
SPEAKER_00: All of you who are weary and heavy burdened, i.e., that's all of us.
SPEAKER_00: He says, come to me and what's what will he give you?
SPEAKER_00: A list of jobs to do.
SPEAKER_00: How you can be work harder to be a better Christian so he can like you more.
SPEAKER_00: No! He says, Come to me and I will give you rest.
SPEAKER_00: He says, take my yoke and learn from me.
SPEAKER_00: Because my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
SPEAKER_00: He's calling you to rest.
SPEAKER_00: He's calling you to joy.
SPEAKER_00: He's calling you to peace.
SPEAKER_00: He's calling you to love.
SPEAKER_00: He's calling you to forgiveness and grace and mercy.
SPEAKER_00: And he's offering all of that to us.
SPEAKER_00: But we got to open our eyes.
SPEAKER_00: And we got to accept that.
SPEAKER_00: Now we can keep coasting.
SPEAKER_00: I can walk out of this place.
SPEAKER_00: I can go sit down, and while the invitation song is going, I could turn to my wife and ask the really, really important question.
SPEAKER_00: What are we doing for lunch?
SPEAKER_00: I could do that.
SPEAKER_00: I could leave my Bible on the dash of my car.
SPEAKER_00: I could sleep in and not take time to get up and pray.
SPEAKER_00: I can ignore God and I can check out in 10 minutes and check back in next Sunday and say, I am doing just fine.
SPEAKER_00: And hey, if that's what you want to do, I I can't stop you.
SPEAKER_00: But I can tell you, I just think you're missing out.
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm not reading the news and getting happier.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not scrolling on Facebook and finding joy in my life.
SPEAKER_00: There is nothing in this life, pickleball included, that is gonna provide me with a joy and peace that I can find in Jesus alone.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm not calling you, I'm not trying to crack the whip and say, oh, you're terrible.
SPEAKER_00: I'm inviting you to a table in which Jesus has placed a plate for you.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, Come and enjoy, be in my presence.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know me and be known.
SPEAKER_00: My prayer for you is that right now, whether you, when we stand up, if you come forward, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: We will pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you just stand up and you say, right now, today I'm gonna start.
SPEAKER_00: Set your alarm right now.
SPEAKER_00: If the song is being sung and you can't wait anymore, pick up your phone, set an alarm, and say, I'm getting up 15 minutes early, and God, it's gonna be your time.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna read, I'm gonna study, I want to learn more, and I want to share more, and I want to invite people to know you more.
SPEAKER_00: I think it'll be just the greatest decision that you'll ever make.
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't want to talk about how you were baptized 30 years ago.
SPEAKER_00: I want us to see how we are immersed in Jesus right now.
SPEAKER_00: Outside these walls, there's lots of hurting, angry, broken people.
SPEAKER_00: And what they really, really need is to see Jesus, and I think you're the perfect person to do it.
SPEAKER_00: Because you're broken and you're flawed, and you're forgiven, and that's who they are, and that's what they need.
SPEAKER_00: And so as we get closer and closer to Easter, my prayer for you is that you go all in and serve him this week.
SPEAKER_00: Don't wait any longer.
SPEAKER_00: Make him your Lord today.
SPEAKER_00: And I encourage you to do it as we stand and sing.