S2 Episode 26 | Left it in the water!

S2 Episode 26 | Left it in the water! this episode Pastor Leon discusses baptism, and the reason behind it. He also discusses the importance of making sure that we continue reflecting the love of Jesus after we've been saved.

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Unqualified Podcast with Leon Wilson. That's me. Thank you for stopping by. If you found yourself here for the first time, hit that like, subscribe, and um and notification bell so that you can be notified when we drop new videos. Um also thank you for all my long-term supporters and listeners and and all those around the world who have uh kept us in your prayers and and have stopped by and and supported us by all the different ways that you have. Um all those who listen in on our audio-only platforms, thank you so much. And and y'all are by far just um encouragement and and just love, man. Y'all are just love in body. Um, thank you to all those on TikTok who watch our um short form content and and who like and and um man, y'all just love on us too. Uh there's three or four videos on there that have gone well over 10,000. Uh one is has gone over a hundred thousand, and um it's just a blessing to to know that the Lord is using somebody like me to to reach y'all and uh and wherever you are, whatever you're doing, whoever you are, I love you and God loves you. Um this has uh been a just a wild roller coaster. I never thought in a million years um back in the day that I would do a podcast, never thought I'd be um doing any kind of radio broadcast or or anything like that. And we um when we started this, me and my wife um who she backed me 100%. And um I told y'all in the past, you know, I was gonna buy a camper, I was gonna use the money to buy a camper. I always wanted one, and I we even had it picked out, walked through it a few days ahead uh of this. And the day the Lord put the uh podcast on my mind, on my heart, I knew it was either follow the Lord in ministry or do the um get the camper. And uh I made the decision and and didn't look back, still hasn't haven't looked back. So I'm I'm thankful though, the uh the Lord's done some amazing things through this ministry and and um through a Mercy Church is the church I pastor, and it's in Packlett, South Carolina, and uh we're actually looking at a property that's a little closer to us, and um, and we're excited. We'll be um we'll be hopefully um looking at it, and if the Lord is willing, we'll move forward with that, and and then I'll probably turn one of those rooms into a studio and um you know, or not, I don't know. We'll see. Um I'm not making any kind of long-term plans or tentative plans. My my whole plan is to serve God, whatever he wants me to do. Later today, I'll be um baptizing almost 20 people in um in the river, and uh we're we're over the moon about it. We had VBS and six people got saved. And you know, to to know that folks are getting saved and they want to follow through in the commandment of baptism and and they want to uh push forward for the Lord, that is that is something. And uh you can there's a lot of Bible to back up baptism, and there's a lot of Bible about the uh uh uh about what it means and and you know to put it short, um there's when you get saved, when you get baptized, it is dying with Christ and then being resurrected with Christ, which is to say, I am dying to myself and I'm raising with the Lord. And the the the whole symbology behind it um is is that you are leaving your sins in the grave. And the the question that that begs me to ask is have you left your sins in the grave? Are you are you one of those people who you know did not change when you you went and you got saved and um you know maybe you were led through to prayer or whatever, maybe you were at a revival, maybe someone came to you in prison or in jail, or maybe you met somebody on the street or or or whatever, however you came to faith, you know. My my question is um what changed in your life after that? Here's the deal. And uh this is kind of an abrasive statement, but it it is a statement that has to get made, and and please understand that I'm saying it with all love. If you got saved, your life, the true the trajectory of your life changed, which means you're not headed to a devil's hell, you're headed to heaven. And if you are saved, then your life will change. And if your life has not changed, then there's some questions you have to ask. Did you get saved is chief among them. But then the other thing is why am I holding on to a life that isn't going to get me anywhere and cheapens what the Lord has done for my eternity? And and those questions are are pivotal questions to ask yourself. There's a song um that We the Kingdom um plays, and and and I like We the Kingdom. You can't use their music though because it's trademarked and all that other stuff, even though I have a license to use it. I I just um would rather not even get into those kind of conversations or whatever, but the their song is called I Left It in the Water. And you know, when Jesus talked to Nicodemus and he said, you know, you got to be born again, you know, this is this is the conversation that that we all have to make um and have with each other. That when you get saved, you know, how are you supposed to live your life? And here's the deal you're not saved by your works, but you're saved unto good works. So if I'm saved unto good works, it means that the me that that was there before Christ is the start position or the before the start position. You you don't measure the race by um you know by what they did the night before. You measure the race from the moment that the you know the person says go or the pistol shot or or the horn blows or whatever until someone crosses that line, the finish line. And in a lot of cases, you you know, the race don't start until they cross the first start line. And so either way, the the conversation is this you know, whatever you did before Jesus found you is what led up to the race. The moment you cross that start-finish line, which is when Jesus saves you, and you believe you came to faith through grace and or grace through faith, and and that you know you believe in Jesus Christ and and that he was sent by the Father to die for our sins, and that what he did on that cross is enough to save your soul, and that um he died and was raised again three days later, and then uh send it to God the Father and He's coming back, the gospel. And um, if you believe that, when you come to faith in that, that does a fundamental change inside you, and it does a fundamental change on what your end point is, which is salvation in eternity in heaven, eternity in in the garden, essentially. And so between now and and then, between now and the and the time that he takes us home, we have work to do. It's the Matthew 28, it it's uh go ye therefore. And uh, and so we are called to do that work, to to share the gospel. And the act of baptism is actually a a huge opportunity to show what God has done in your life. And uh to the Christian, you know, there's there are those who think that baptism is what savia, and there's those who think that baptism is um just a you know option, you know, whatever, and then you know, there are those who who hold baptism in a you know pretty high regard. Here's my point of view. I believe that if Jesus told us to do it, then we ought to do it. And what the the symbolizes, what it symbolizes, is important because it is an outward showing of an inward change. And so when we get baptized, we're not only being obedient, we are also showing others that what the Lord has done for me on this outside and on the inside matters to everybody around me, that I am not the person that I used to be. And and I I find it um eye-opening when when someone doesn't hold baptism in a a regard that that they that they think it's important or or unimportant. I I think that if you are saved, then you will want to follow through in baptism, and you will want to follow it if if for no other reason than that Christ wanted us to do it. He commanded us to do it. Um why would you not want to be obedient to Jesus Christ? That's my question. So I field that question with you, and I ask, you know, I ask humbly, you know, would you consider um the baptism? And here's the other thing like um when Jesus was baptized, he was fully submerged. That's you know, there's plenty of scripture. He was baptized in the river. It doesn't say that John poured water on him and all that, and when all the others who have gotten uh baptized, it doesn't say that they just dumped stuff on them or sprinkled anything on them. It it you know it gives the impression that they were fully submerged. And um, here's, you know, here's my thing. Here's here's my take on that. Jesus fully saved me. The least I could have done is fully submerged in that water to show complete and utter obedience to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and show this world that, yeah, there is a radical act in baptism. To some people, it's radical. To me, it's you know absolutely normal. But I want to be obedient and I want to show this world and those around me that I am all in. I am not just somebody who's a fly by night, you know, Christian who just wants to follow the crowd and whatever. I am all in. And so baptism is important. And I I believe that if you are saved, it's something that you would want to do, to follow through, and and to show the world that there is an inward change that has happened. You're not who you used to be, and that it's easy for them to do too. Here's what brother, here's what blesses my heart. Several today that we're going to baptize our children. And that may not mean anything to you, but to someone who's saved and understands the gravity of a child being saved and the impression that that has on that child's life. And the fact that they were excited to get in this river. There's only one that has reservations, and and her reservations are animals, so which is understandable. But you know, when it comes down to it, you know, we adults are reluctant to do almost anything sometimes for Christ. And you got children saying, I want to go, send me, do, you know, put me in that. You know, call me about that. Let me let me do that. And when I said, Do you want to get you want to get baptized here at church or you want to go to the river? Want to go to the river. Okay. And they're never going to forget it. And and that's amazing to me, that they want to do it, and it's going to be such an impact on them. But it's an impact on on me. It's an impact on the rest of us adults. That these children want to be a part of this, and they want to they want to go all in, and and that blesses my heart. But I hope that blesses yours too. Um, I preached this morning on uh Moses and on um the children of Israel murmuring and chiding him and uh fussing at him about not having water. And this is when he approached God. Um he was telling God, I'm afraid they're gonna stone me. And then um God said, Look, go go take the elders, um, go to the rock of rock of Horeb and strike the rock, and I'm gonna have water gush out, and um, you know, that way y'all can have something to drink. And then Moses named the place after them uh fussing at him. And so uh part of my um part of my sermon today was, you know, talking about people about our attitudes and and how we chide people, how we fuss at them, how we condemn them, how we um act like, you know, basically like we're we've got hate in our heart and everything. And and sometimes, you know, that's it's easier said than done to not give somebody down the road because of their attitude or something they've done to us or whatever. And and don't get me wrong, I'm human, you know, and especially in traffic, I, you know, I don't I don't like traffic at all. I don't like waiting in lines, I don't like traffic, and traffic is just one big line sometimes. And um, you know, having that conversation with the church today and and discussing, you know, the the principles behind us representing Christ and and you know, and and talking to people as a representation of Christ. And you know, I had spoken about being advocates and um ambassadors um about a month or so ago, and you know, and and I I will feel that opportunity for you to you know to grow too. You know, are you an ambassador for Christ? And if you're an ambassador for Christ, are you a good one? Are you showing people love? Are you showing people um you know acceptance? Are you uh are you trying to uh be a good uh example of a Christian? And and if you're not, then it's not too late to change. And uh, you know, I'll I'll be the first one to say it that you know I fall short, and uh, and I know you do too. We all do. And uh when we do fall short, you know, the are we quick to repent and and get it under the blood and and do we make positive changes? And if we're if we're not, then you know that's something to tackle. And these are all hard things to talk about. It's hard to bring up, it's hard to talk about, it's hard to ask questions, it's hard to deal with, and and all that. But the truth is, if we're not trying to get ourselves honed down to the image that we're supposed to be for the Lord, then what are we doing as Christians? It's it's one thing for someone who's unsaved to act out of character or act out, you know, pocket or or you know, be rude, obnoxious, or whatever. I expect that from them because they don't have Christ in their heart. What I don't expect is that someone who supposedly has Christ in their heart and exhibit all kinds of hate or uh disdain for this world or for people and things like that. It's one thing to be reluctant to interact with people because some of us are incredibly backwards, uh, you know, when it comes to our social lives and stuff. But to be all out, you know, just stanky toward people and and treat people like uh second-class citizens because of one reason or the other, I think is important to talk about. And you can watch my um we were on Mercy Church Life um on YouTube. If you search Mercy Church Life, uh you'll see today's um you'll see today's sermon on there. And um and and I'm also uh I live streamed on Facebook on Mercy Church Packlet um on Facebook. You can you can search either one of them. But you know, my my point is this there's a right way to treat people, and that right way is a good representation of God. Um God is love and God is a spirit. And so if we're going to talk to people and and try to represent God in the best way humanly possible, then we have to show spiritual love to people. This is what that looks like. Maybe I've had a bad day. And I walk into the restaurant, I get seated, me and the wife sit down, and here comes waitress, you know, and she seems like she's got the personality of a of a pickle, and um, you know, and she's coming over and you know, and we'll just it will just say, hi, my name's waitress, and I'm take care of you. What can I start you off with to drink? You can come at them in any kind of way, and you can just be like T, T, move on. Or you can say, Hey, so-and-so waitress. You know, my name's Leon, her name's Ashley. You don't use my names, use y'all's names. But you know, I I'm I'm glad we got you. Um I'll have uh whatever, and and he'll have a whatever or however you say those things, and then say, you know, we're gonna pray before our food. Is there anything you'd like us to pray about? And see how that dynamically changes that person's day. Or you can allow the conversation and the and the experience to spiral out of control, but it's up to you to do that. And I don't know your situation. You don't know that waitress's situation. She could have pulled this could be the double, it was sprung on her. Uh she was she came in, she was supposed to just work six and a half hours. She got her, she had to call her babysitter and tell her babysitter, look, I need you to, I gotta pull a double, I need you to watch them another six and a half hours, and and then one of them's sick, and all this other, she don't feel good, as you know, and and all this other, but whatever the case is, you know, and I'm just saying, whatever the case is, you don't know how it's affecting her. But we're so quick to treat people in a disrespectful way because it's convenient for us, or because we didn't get what we wanted. I'm not gonna eat this steak. Look, it ain't even cooked right. It's too done, or it's too, it's too rare, or whatever. I can't eat blood or I can't eat burnt steak or however your conversation goes, or my potatoes this, that, or the other thing, or whatever. All I'm saying is you can make a stink about something and not show Jesus. You can show exactly what the world's showing, or you can say, look, I'm not usually one to complain, or you know, whatever. You know, I just want to know, could we slap this on the grill for another 30 seconds on each side? Or um, you know, I'm gonna eat this, but I think y'all need to check your grill because someone else might be a lot less understanding than me. And this is way, way more done than what I asked for. And like I said, I'm gonna eat it because it looks juicy, but you know, I'd rather y'all save yourselves some trouble down the road and not have to cook another steak for me. But there's it's a completely up to you how you handle those situations. I'm just simply asking you the question, and I'll ask it yet again. Have you been a good advocate and a good ambassador and a representation of Jesus? Or have you not? And let me leave you with this. It is absolutely not too late to change. Listen, I love you. God loves you. This has been the Unqualified Podcast with Leon Wilson.