Kerry Shook - River Monsters
Have you ever watched one of those extreme fishing shows like River Monsters? How many of you have watched River Monsters or something similar? I love watching the reruns now. It ran for about nine years, and this guy, Jeremy Wade, said the reason he stopped doing it, even though it was so popular, was that he had caught every river monster in nearly every river in the world. He goes to the ends of the earth to catch the biggest and most dangerous freshwater fish that lurk in the muddy waters of the world’s rivers. Jeremy Wade, the extreme angler on River Monsters, first went to the jungles of the Amazon to catch piranhas and this Arapaima. Just look at this fish. Oh, isn’t that wonderful?
Can you imagine swimming in a dark river with those swimming all around you and not knowing it? I hate to swim in muddy rivers or in Galveston because, even though the water is so warm and nice, you can’t see anything. I mean, I want to see what’s about to eat me. I don’t like swimming in Galveston because I can’t see under the water except maybe once or twice a year, and I hate muddy water. But really, you don’t have to go halfway around the world to catch a river monster.
There are actually river monsters next to our new downtown campus, Woodland Church East River! All you guys at Woodland Church East River, you need to know this because East River is right downtown next to the east side, and the East River development includes Buffalo Bayou. There are definitely some river monsters in the middle of downtown Houston. Just watch! In this area, they like to eat mullet. Below the Houston skyline and through thick brush, there’s a fishing spot along Buffalo Bayou catching Peyton Moore’s eye. A lot of people will come out here for the scenery; they’ll come out here to run, and they’ll come out here to walk their dog without ever knowing that there could be a fish weighing 100 pounds or more right underneath their feet. Peyton is a conservationist and a YouTube fishing sensation.
Oh my God, he hooked Houston’s biggest bayou beast! He’s going to go through the rope, catfish, carp, and monster alligator gar. Earlier this month, he reeled in this gnarly fish, one of very few like it, weighing roughly 300 pounds-an 8-foot alligator gar! What a miracle, and the knowledge that fish like that live in ecosystems like this is a little bit more common among fishermen, but the general public is always still very surprised to see one of these ancient-looking animals being pulled out. There are surprisingly big fish lurking right through downtown Houston. Crazy, isn’t it?
So all you guys at Woodland Church East River downtown, next Sunday, bring your fishing pole! Just bring your fishing pole! And by the way, we have a baptism next week-our first one in Buffalo Bayou! It’s going to be wonderful. No, we’re not doing it there. I am starting a new series today called River Monsters because, even though most of us aren’t crazy enough to search for river monsters in life, we all have to face river monsters that seem impossible to overcome.
Maybe it’s a river monster of doubt or a river monster of fear or failure, or a river monster of despair or disappointment. There are many different species of river monsters. They come in all different shapes and sizes, but they all have one thing in common: they make rivers uncrossable. Maybe right now, you’re faced with what looks like an uncrossable river in your life. Looming in front of you is a river that seems impossible to get over. You’re facing a barrier that you can’t seem to break through. Joshua chapter 3 tells us how to cross the uncrossable rivers in our lives because you will face many uncrossable rivers in your life.
As chapter 3 begins, the children of Israel are on the banks of the Jordan River. Behind them is the desert. In front of them, just on the other side of the river, is their destiny. Behind them is 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. On the other side of the Jordan River is the Promised Land. The only thing keeping them from moving out of the desert into their destiny is the Jordan River. All they have to do to finally get out of the desert and set foot in the Promised Land is to cross the Jordan River, and God gives Joshua the job of leading the people across the river. But there was a river monster in their way. The Jordan River was at flood stage, and instead of being just 100 feet wide like it normally was, it was a mile wide with raging rapids that would have overpowered an Olympic swimmer. And Joshua was supposed to lead hundreds of thousands of Israelites across an uncrossable river.
I can just see Joshua and the Israelites looking out over the Jordan River, feeling pretty overwhelmed, but being able to barely see on the other side the Promised Land they had been waiting for, for 40 years. And the reality of the situation sinks in: this is impossible. This is an uncrossable river. If we’re going to get through this, God is going to have to do the impossible. God is going to have to perform a miracle. I know there are some of you today who are standing on the banks of a river that looks like an uncrossable river, and reality is sinking in. You realize if you’re ever going to get through this one, God is going to have to do a miracle. You can’t get around it, and you can’t get over it; you can’t get through it. God is going to have to do the impossible. But that’s exactly what God did for the Israelites, and that’s exactly what God wants to do for you.
So I want us to look at the miracle. We want to get right to the good part when the miracle happens, and then we’ll look back to see how God worked the miracle and what he wants us to do to teach us how to cross uncrossable rivers. So would you stand in honor of God’s Word? We’re going to begin with Joshua chapter 3, verse 14. So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the Ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away at a town called Adam, in the vicinity of Zarethan. While the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah-that is the Dead Sea-was completely cut off, so the people crossed over opposite Jericho. You may be seated.
So the people crossed over! So the people crossed over! God worked a miracle, and the people were able to cross over what had been an uncrossable river. Did you know that the word Hebrew literally means «to cross over»? Those who have crossed over. Hebrew means «those who have crossed over.» Abraham, the first Hebrew, crossed over from worshiping pagan idols to worshiping the one true God. God called him to leave his home in Ur of the Chaldeans and cross over the Jordan River into the Promised Land that God had promised would be his and his descendants. Then God used Moses to deliver the people from slavery in Egypt so they crossed over from slavery to freedom. They came to the Red Sea, and God parted the Red Sea, and the people crossed over on dry ground, while the enemy army was drowned. God named his people «those who cross over.»
People who cross over uncrossable barriers! God was saying, «With my power, there is no uncrossable river for you! You are the people who cross over!» That’s who you are! So don’t run from your river. Don’t run from your river -that’s not who you are! That’s not who you were made to be! You’re made for the river! You were made to cross over because that’s who you are. That’s your name. You are the people who cross over! And I want you to know, if you’re a Christ follower, you are one who crosses over because of the cross of Christ. You have crossed over from death to life! With God’s power, there’s no river that you can’t cross over. There’s no uncrossable river for you! There’s no barrier that stands in your way that God can’t break through! Don’t you dare run from your river! Turn to your neighbor and say, «Don’t run from your river!»
Don’t run from your river! Unless you see one of those Arapaimas there, then you run, swim, do whatever you have to do. But don’t run from your river because God made you as one who crosses over! You were made for the river you’re facing! Did you know that God made you for this moment? God made you for the river that you’re facing? And there’s a miracle in the river! That uncrossable river is not uncrossable for you because of the cross of Christ! God wants to work a miracle in the river, so don’t you dare run from your river!
Now, 40 years earlier, the children of Israel had been right on the edge of crossing over into the Promised Land. God raised up Moses to lead the people out of Egypt, and God led them straight to the Promised Land. It only takes eight days to get from Egypt to the Promised Land, but they ended up wandering around for 40 years. At first, they went right there, and they sent 12 spies into the land to scout it out. Ten of them came back and said, «Hey, the Promised Land is beautiful, but there are too many barriers! Those barriers are giant enemies in the land, and they’re too strong for us, so we can’t cross over!» Yes, the Promised Land is amazing; it’s a blessed land, but there’s a barrier in front of the blessing, so we can’t break through.
God had promised them the land, but they believed the barrier instead of God’s promise. Why? Because they saw the barrier-they saw the giant enemy warriors-and they forgot about God’s promise. They believed the barrier instead of believing God. God said, «The blessing is yours to take! You cross over and take it, and I’ll give it to you!» But they said, «We can’t take it because there’s a big barrier in front of the blessing.» Because of their unbelief, they didn’t realize there’s always a barrier in front of a blessing! That’s just the way it works: there’s always a barrier in front of the blessing, and the bigger the barrier, the greater the blessing. In fact, the barrier is really the bridge God uses to take us to the blessing!
It’s an amazing thing! The greatest barrier you’re facing today-that overwhelming problem, that river that looks uncrossable, that barrier that you just can’t seem to get through, to get over, to get around-that barrier is really the bridge that God wants to use to take you to the next level! The miracle is in the barrier! The miracle is in the river! That’s what God wants to use. It’s not really a barrier at all; it’s a bridge disguised as a barrier to you. Ask God to open your eyes to see that God is going to use that very barrier and turn it into the bridge that’s going to take you to the blessing.
See, the real barrier is the way we think about barriers! The real barrier is the mental barrier we get stuck in. Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, said, «Sure, there’s a big barrier in front of the blessing, but God is bigger than the barrier! He can knock it down easily. He’s already given us the blessing! All we have to do is cross over and take it!» And, by the way, isn’t that our name, guys? We’re the people who cross over! That’s what we’re made for! That’s what we do!
But they got outvoted by the rest, and because the people were stuck in a barrier of unbelief, instead of crossing over into their destiny, they crisscrossed the desert for 40 years. And 40 years later, all those who were stuck in a barrier of unbelief died off, leaving only Joshua and Caleb to lead a whole new generation of Israelites who were tired of crisscrossing the desert and were ready to cross over into their destiny. And they are there again, right on the verge of crossing over, but there’s an uncrossable river in front of them. There’s another seemingly impossible barrier in front of the blessing. But this time, Joshua reminds them, «Remember, there’s always a barrier before a blessing!» In fact, God is going to turn the very barrier into the bridge that takes us to the blessing. This time we’re not running from our river! We were made for this river! We’re not running from our river!
Turn to your neighbor and say, «Don’t run from your river!» Don’t run from your river! You’re going to remember that -don’t run from your river! So here’s Joshua’s secret: he didn’t deny reality. He knew it was uncrossable in his power. But let’s go all the way back to chapter one. Look at it with me. In chapter 1, verse 1, after the death of Moses, the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses' assistant. He said, «Moses, my servant, is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I’m giving them.»
God says, «Joshua, the time has come for you! It’s your time! It’s your defining moment! Joshua, the time has come for you to stop crisscrossing the desert and to cross over into the Promised Land! The time has come for you to step up and lead the people to step into their destiny! The time has come for you to lead the people to cross a river they thought was uncrossable!»
And I believe God is saying to you today, «The time has come for you! You’ve been wandering in the wilderness far too long. The time has come for you! This is your moment! This is your time! The time has come for you to stop crisscrossing the desert and cross over to the next level! The time has come for you to stop complaining, to stop focusing on the barrier, and focus on believing God and his power! It’s time for you to cross over! The time has come for you to stop focusing on your fears and your failures and step into a life of faith, trusting and obeying God! The time has come for you to let go of the hurt you’ve been holding onto and let God heal you! It’s time! It’s time for you to cross over! It’s time to leave the wilderness behind! It’s time to stop staring at the river and start looking to God and his power because you were made for this river! You are the people who cross over! You don’t run from rivers! You face them, and with God’s power, you cross uncrossable rivers!»
Then God goes on to say this in verse 3: «I promise you what I promised Moses: Wherever you set foot, you’ll be on land I have given you!» What an amazing promise! God gave Moses the promise, «Hey Moses, wherever you set your foot, it’s your land! I’ve already given it to you, but you got to step out and claim it.» So Joshua, I’m giving you the same promise: if you step into the river, it’s yours! And then, when you step into the Promised Land, wherever you step, that’s yours!
You see, the giant armies were still in the land. Once they crossed over the Jordan, they were in the Promised Land, but it wasn’t the perfect land. But it was their land. God says, «I’ve already given it to you!» But here’s the thing: in faith, you got to step on it! You got to put your foot on it and claim it. You got to put a stake in the ground! Those armies were still there, but God said, «Wherever you step, it’s yours!» And God says that to you today. That’s a promise from God for you! Wherever you step in faith, it’s yours! That victory is yours! It’s already yours, but you got to claim it! You got to claim it!
You see, wherever they would step, if they stepped in faith, then God would take care of the enemies and they would claim the land that God had already given them. God said, «It’s already yours!» I think there are so many unclaimed blessings that God has for us-so many unclaimed blessings, packages with your name on it that have been there for years, but you’ve never claimed them. You haven’t stepped in faith!
You see, we’re always waiting for God to part the waters, and then, «Okay, then I’ll have faith to walk through!» «God, if you’ll open that door, then, oh yeah, then I’ll walk through it!» But God says, «You take a step, and I’ll open the door! You take a step into the river, and I’ll part the water! You take a step onto that land, and it’s yours! I’ll defeat the enemy! I’ll defeat the giants!» But you don’t run from the giants! You face the giant! You don’t run from the river! You face the river! And you’ll see my miracle!
Because if you run from your river, the river just gets bigger and starts moving faster in your mind. The mental barrier becomes bigger when you run from the river! And you can’t run from the rivers because God always leads you back! That’s why, for those 40 years, it was just one more lap around Mount Si. You ever felt like that? It’s like, «God, I think I’m in the same place! I’m screwing up in the same way! I’m dealing with the same thing! I thought I got through that!» No! God will bring you right back until you deal with it. It was 40 years taking laps around Mount Si, and they’re back, and they got to go through the river!
You can’t run from the river! God uses those rivers to develop your character, to build your faith! You can’t run from the river! You’ve got to face the river because that river-that’s where your destiny is! That’s where the miracle is! And so God said, «You take a step; it’s yours!» And that’s the way it is in the Christian life! God’s given us victory! God’s given us victory over sin! God’s given us victory, and he’s provided life and provision and his peace and all those things! «Well, Carrie, why don’t I experience that? I’m struggling! I’m struggling with sin! I’m not seeing God’s provision!» On and on it goes, because we don’t step in and claim it!
We go to God and receive forgiveness in Christ for our sins, and he’s always there to forgive, but he says if you want victory over your sin and your struggle, then you got to tell another believer that you trust and admit it to them! It says you go to Christ for forgiveness, but you admit it to someone else for healing and victory! And God wants us to live in victory! It’s there, but we just got to step and do what God says! Take a step of faith! And so the blessing is there! The provision is there! God says, «I’m going to provide and meet all your needs,» but, oh, you got to put me first in your finances! You got to take a step of faith!
So many times, we’re making the same mistakes over and over and over again, and we find ourselves back in the same place-take another lap around Mount Si because we run from the river! And God says, «That river is what you were made for! You’re the people who cross over! It’s time for you to go to another level!»
But let’s look at what happens in Joshua 3:14. So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. And so God told Joshua, «Here’s the way I’m going to do the miracle. I want you to gather the priests, and they’re going to carry the Ark of the Covenant. They’re going to go first. I want them to create some space between them and the rest of the people because I want the people to see this. Plus, you know, the Ark was where God’s presence dwelt. It was where the reality of God’s presence was most revealed. And don’t get too close to that. You need to have that awe of the holiness of God.» So the Ark went ahead of them, and it was so that the people could look ahead and remember God is going before us.
Whenever you face what seems like an uncrossable river, you need to remember God has already crossed that river. God’s already crossed it! He’s already arrived on the other side to lead the way! He goes before you to power the way and to part the water! He paves the way! He goes before you! He’s not limited by time and space! So he’s in the past, present, and future all at the same time! And so God’s already there tomorrow waiting for you! Maybe you have a fear of the future. You don’t know what’s going to happen, but you know God’s already there! You don’t have to fear the future because God’s already there! Nothing surprises God! He’s already there waiting to take care of you! He goes before you!
Whenever you have to cross what seems like an uncrossable river, just know He’s already crossed it! He’s already there, going, «Hey, come on! Watch me! You just take a step of faith; I’m going to take you there!» The Ark of the Covenant was also a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ, who was to come-the Messiah! The Ark of the Covenant is just a box made out of wood, overlaid with gold. The wood represented Jesus' humanity-He came to this earth as all human-and the gold represents His deity, that He was also 100% God. So, when we see the Ark of the Covenant leading the people of Israel into the Jordan River, we see this beautiful picture of Jesus, who leads us across the uncrossable barrier created by our sin and into the river of forgiveness! He came to the cross, and He died for our sins so we could cross over from death to life!
Imagine this: just what happened. The Ark of the Covenant went down into the Jordan, and then it came up out of the Jordan. It went from the desert down into the Jordan, back up again into the Promised Land! Did you know where it went into the Jordan was the exact place in the Jordan River where Jesus would be baptized when he came into the world by John? The exact same place where they crossed over right there! That’s where Jesus was baptized! As Jesus went down into the Jordan to be baptized, it predicted his death and burial; as he went down into the water and pictured his resurrection as he came up out of the water! What a beautiful thing! Jesus always leads the way! He leads the way! He’s already crossed the uncrossable river!
Let’s look again at Joshua 3:15. It says it was harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho. Did you get that? They had to put their feet in the water before the miracle happened! They had to step in the river before the river parted! They had to get their feet wet! And the only way to cross a seemingly uncrossable river is to step into the river in faith and let God do the miracle!
Don’t run from your river! You’ve got to step into the river! You’ve got to face the river! You’ve got to take a step of faith! God always does it that way! I say, «God, part the river, and then I’ll have some faith!» And God says, «You step in the river! You get your feet wet and you watch me work! You have to step into the Jordan River!» Joshua knew it would take a miracle! It was a river they had never crossed! It was a river the people of Israel had never broken through!
So what is the river that’s keeping you from your destiny? Is it a river of shame from all your past failures? Don’t you dare run from the river of shame! You have to run right into that river! You’ve got to face that shame and experience God’s river of forgiveness just washing away your sins! Don’t run from that river of shame! You run right into it and say, «Yes, God, I feel this shame! I don’t deserve this! I want to run away from you because I’m not worthy! I’ve made so many mistakes, so many failures, and sins! But I need your forgiveness!» And you step into that river of shame, and it becomes a river of God’s grace! Don’t run from the river!
Don’t run from the river and act like it’s not that big a deal. «Well, my sins are okay.» Don’t anesthetize that pain! You run into the river of shame and say, «God, yeah, I don’t deserve it! I need your forgiveness!» And that’s when you find the river’s grace. Don’t run from the river because you’re running from the river of God’s grace!
Or maybe it’s a river of resentment because you’ve been hurt so deeply. You’ve been running from that river! But when you run from the river of resentment, that resentment just takes hold of your life, and the river gets deeper and wider. A river of bitterness takes over. No! You run into that river! Say, «God, it hurts so deeply! I don’t get it! I don’t understand! It makes no sense! Why did you allow that person to hurt me? I don’t feel like it, but I choose to forgive them because you command me to! I choose to forgive them with your power!»
You don’t have to feel like stepping into the river of forgiveness. You just take a step of faith! Say, «God, I don’t feel like forgiving! They don’t deserve it! But I’m going to step in faith! I’m not going to run from that river of resentment! I’m going to step into it! I’m going to choose to forgive them!» And then you feel the river of God’s healing flow through your life. Then you can take a step of faith into the Promised Land of God’s healing and peace and leave the rest to God! He’ll deal with it! Don’t you run from your river! Step into the river!
Maybe it’s a river of obedience where God, in His Word, says something very clearly: «Obey me in this!» You go, «God, not in that one! I don’t know! I don’t really like that one, so I’m not going to do that! But you got another one for me?» And God says, «No! I’m going to bring you back to this river over and over and over again until you take that step!»
Because obedience brings blessing! The blessing is on the other side of the river! Don’t stay in the desert wandering around in the desert! Don’t run from the river! You’ll stay in the wilderness! Take a step into the river! And God says, «I’ll work the miracle! Take a step of obedience, and then you’ll see the miracle happen! The promise will come true! When I say, 'I’ll do this if you do this, ' God says, 'I’ll always keep my word! You step into the river, and I’m going to take care of it! But you have to step into the river of obedience.'»
What’s really amazing to me is it says when the priests put their feet in the water, and by the way, you know the priests led the way. If it had been me, I’d have sent the praise team out first to see what happens! See what happens, you know? «Hey team, y’all go out first! Let’s see what happens! I' ll wait back here!» No, I wouldn’t have done that! I would’ve sent all the other pastors out first, and then I would have gone! No, no! But they sent that — it really is a symbol like, «Hey man, we’re going to lead the way! We’re the leaders! We’re going to lead the way!»
And that’s the way it should be in the church! You know? «Hey, I’m going to do what I preach! I’m going to practice what I say!» Man, that’s a challenge for me every week because when I’m preaching to you, I’m really preaching to me! I need these messages a lot more than you do! And so it’s like, «You guys lead the way!» But here’s the amazing thing: they put their feet in the water, and at the moment they did, the miracle happened!
But it happened upstream in a little town called Adam, by Zarethan, where the Jordan River was coming through there, 20 miles upstream! The water started piling up! So what that means is that 20 miles upstream, it started happening, but when they put their feet in the water, nothing really happened where they were! They couldn’t see the miracle happening!
But they couldn’t see the miracle, and so they step into the water and go, «Okay, do we keep going? What’s going on here?» «God, I don’t see this happening!» But it was happening! It was just happening upstream! And it was about to meet them right where they were at! They were right where God wanted them to be! The miracle was coming their way! It was just happening upstream!
For some of you, God’s working upstream in your life, and you can’t see it! But something is happening upstream, and it’s big, and you’re about to get out of the river! You know, you got your feet wet! It didn’t go exactly the way you thought it was going to go right away! God didn’t just instantly take it all away or instantly work the miracle! And you got your feet wet!
And you say, «God, where are you?» It’s happening! It’s just happening upstream! You don’t know it yet, but you can know it in your heart because it’s happening, and it’s about to come your way! Don’t you get out of the river! Let the miracle go by! You stay in the river! Don’t run from your river!
It’s happening upstream, and this is a huge miracle of God! We think of the parting of the Red Sea as a big miracle, of course! But this is a big miracle! I mean, the wall of water would have been over 100 feet high at least, you know-going on for a mile! I mean, the people there in that little village, like, something’s happening! They couldn’t see it, but it was upstream, and it was coming their way! And it’s coming your way! You keep trusting! You keep obeying!
And really, this whole miracle comes down to the river of surrender! That’s what it had to come down to for Joshua and the people of Israel! God said, «Hey, it’s time for you to go!» Well, it didn’t look like a good time! God says, «The time has come for you to go!» And I’m sure Joshua was thinking, «Well, I don’t think this is a good time because this is flood season! Maybe in two months, God, it’ll look like a better time!» But God said, «It’s time!» God said, «No! It’s my time! And God’s time is always perfect!»
God’s standard time is the perfect time! You can look around and go, «It’s not a good time! It’s not a good time for me to take a step of faith! This isn’t a good time! It’s not a good time for me to put God first in my finances! It’s not a good time for me to really share Christ with this person or invite them to church! It’s not a good time for me to be baptized to show that Christ is in my life! It’s not a good time! This isn’t convenient! It’s not a good time!» But God says, «The time has come for you!»
It didn’t look like a good time! It didn’t look like a bad time, but it was God’s time! And God’s time is always a good time! And I’m telling you it came down to surrender! Joshua just said, «Okay, God, I trust you! I don’t get it, but we’re going to step into the river, and we’re going to trust you because I know we were made for this, and I know you’re going to make the miracle happen!»
So we trust you! It had to come down to, «I can’t get over this river! We can’t get around it! We’ve been crisscrossing the desert for 40 years, and we were made to be people who cross over! So now, God, I give it up to you! If you don’t come through, we’ll drown!» Surrender! That’s what surrender is! «God, I surrender! I come to that place of death! I enter the Jordan River, die to myself, so you can raise me up to new life! God, you got to come through! You’re my only hope!» That place of surrender-the river of surrender-that’s what salvation is! You come to the place of surrender where you go, «God, I can’t save myself! I’m tired of trying to manage my own life and trying to be the general manager of the universe! I can’t do this anymore! God, I give up, and I give it to you! I ask you to save me! I can’t save myself! I’ll drown! I need you to save me! God, I need you to get me to perfect heaven! I can’t! I’ve sinned! I need your forgiveness! I surrender to you to be the Lord of my life!»
That’s salvation!
And the very first step of obedience after salvation, the Scripture says, is baptism! Isn’t that amazing? In the river of surrender again, where God says, «I want you to be baptized! Go in the river of surrender to show that I’ve washed your sins away! To show that I died, was buried, rose again. I’m alive in your life! It’s your public profession of faith in me! It’s an outward expression of an inward commitment that you love me!»
And Jesus put it this way in Matthew 28:19: «Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.» We are commanded to be baptized! After you receive Christ, you’re to be baptized to show that Christ is in your life!
Now, when should you be baptized? The Scripture is crystal clear! It says after you make a faith commitment to Christ, you’re to be baptized! Not before, but after you receive Christ, you’re to be baptized to show that Christ is in your life!
Then why do some churches sprinkle babies or baptize babies? Well, at Woodland Church, we dedicate babies. We don’t have baby baptisms. And here’s why: Because, you know, in Scripture, you came to Christ when you were old enough to understand, and then you were baptized to show it’s your decision!
We have baby dedications here in our chapel! It’s amazing! If you have a baby, you ought to sign up for the baby dedication! The parents stand before God and the church there in the chapel, and we have a ceremony! We pray for the child, but then the parents make their commitments that they’re going to do what they can, with God’s power, to raise their child to fall in love with Jesus! And it’s really more for the parents than the child -they’re making the commitments!
And then, when the child’s old enough to understand what they’re doing, then they’re to be baptized to show it’s their decision! I know that so many at Woodland Church, or most people who come to Woodland Church, were baptized or sprinkled as babies. And I want you to know that when your parents stood before the church and did that, they were making a great commitment! They were saying, «We’re going to do what we can to raise our child to fall in love with Jesus!»
But then, you got your head wet and cried! You didn’t know what happened! It didn’t mean anything to you because that wasn’t really your baptism! Your baptism is when you biblically, after you’ve received Christ, then you’re to be baptized to show that it’s your decision, that it’s your call, that you’re following Jesus with all your heart!
Well then how did sprinkling babies get started? The first few years of Christianity, it wasn’t a thing! But how did it get started? Well, in the Middle Ages, during the Dark Ages, there was a perversion of a biblical doctrine! There was a biblical doctrine called original sin, and it’s true; the Scripture teaches we’re born with this bent toward wanting our own way-bent toward sinning! But then they perverted it and said, «Well, that must mean it’s original guilt! And if a baby dies before they’re baptized, then they’ll go to hell, you know, for eternity, separated from God,» which is ridiculous according to all the context of Scripture! That’s not the God we serve!
So they said, «Well, we got to baptize these babies!» The only way to baptize was to fully immerse because the word baptized comes from baptizo in the Greek, which means to fully immerse underwater! So they started immersing babies, and some died, and a lot of them had trouble, so they then began to sprinkle them, and that’s how it started!
Now I know some churches today that baptize infants say, «Well, we don’t mean it that way anymore; it’s more like a dedication for the parents.» And man, that’s great, but really, we just want to stay as close to Scripture as we can at Woodland Church because obedience brings blessing! So once you’ve received Christ into your life, you’re to be baptized by immersion to show that you love Jesus!
And it best symbolizes that your sins have already been washed away, that Christ died, was buried, rose again, and He’s alive in your life! And it’s the way Jesus was baptized! It’s the way everyone in the New Testament was baptized because that’s what baptism is! Baptized means to put completely underwater!
And why did God say do it that way? I don’t know! He could have said all kinds of stuff! He could have said, «You know, throw ice over everyone’s head!» I don’t know! He could have said, «Dive off the high dive!» He could have said all kinds of different things! But He said, «Do it this way!» And obedience brings blessing!
And I’m telling you if you were baptized or sprinkled as a baby, like so many at Woodland Church, I biblically challenge you-get rebaptized this next weekend! I challenge you! It’ll be so meaningful! Obedience brings blessing! I have rebaptized thousands of people who were sprinkled as babies, and I’ve never had one come out of the water and say, «Pastor Carrie, my first baptism was much more meaningful than this!» Never!
It’s always people come and go, «Why is this so powerful?» Obedience brings blessing! When you obey God, He’ll bring you back to the river over and over again! The time has come for you! You can think of a thousand different reasons why not to do it next weekend, but the time has come for you! God says it’s time! It’s God’s standard time! It’s time for you to step into the Promised Land!
And something happens when you take that little step! It propels you way ahead in your Christian walk, seeing God’s blessings in your life! Obedience brings blessing! And so I really think it’s going to be amazing! What do you do next weekend? Well, what you do is come, and whatever service you’re coming to, you bring your baptism clothes-if you want shorts, dark shorts, and shirts. We’ve got all that-all different sizes of dark shorts and shirts! We’ve got everything! If you forget, we’ve got towels, makeup, blow dryers in the dressing room!
We’ve got everything! Bring whatever you want in a bag, and then at the end of the service, when I dismiss everyone to go out, you go to the dressing rooms with all the others, and you go into your dressing room, and you get ready! You come out, and we just have a party cake! We just have ice cream, all kinds of fun! You invite friends, neighbors, relatives, or just come by yourself! You come into the pool, and we’ll have our pastors down there, or one of our pastors will just take you under the water and right back up! It’s as simple as that, and it’s something powerful! When you take that step of faith, then God works miracles in your life!
It’s one of the most beautiful things we do at Woodland Church because it represents what Christ has done in your life! It represents life change! Hey, I’ve baptized families together all the time-families of six, seven, eight, nine! I baptized a family of 15 not too long ago! It was cousins and uncles, all at the same time! It was amazing! And so we’ll baptize your whole family together next week!
And if your children are old enough to understand what it means to place their faith in Christ and be baptized! And when kids get to be seven, eight, or nine years old, they start asking tough questions because the Holy Spirit is speaking to their hearts! And we have our children’s pastors out there, and they’re really good at talking to your kids to see if they’re ready! And if they’re not quite ready, that’s okay! You know, we baptize the rest of the family, and they’re in there with you, and we’ll tell them what it is! And we dedicate babies while parents are being baptized; it’s really powerful!
We have so many married couples that go into the water together to be baptized together! What a beautiful picture to say, «We’re going to build our marriage on Jesus Christ!» I mean, what a beautiful picture! We’ve had three or four proposals from engaged couples or couples that were dating during the baptism right before the baptism! Two rejections-it was really sad! I mean, it’s like, «You guys still going to trust Christ to get baptized or is this… I mean, are both of these out now?» No, we really didn’t! I think it’s four for four right now -you could be the first! Who knows?
But it’s like, «Wow, that’s pretty bold!» But God bless you! You know, «Put the ring on to get baptized!» But it’s saying we’re going to build our marriage on Jesus! We have so many single adults baptized who say, «We’re going to stand for Jesus!» It’s an amazing thing what God does!
We have given you a little card. You can use the QR code to go online and sign up for the baptism! You can just fill that card out and turn it in to the offering basket in a moment! But I’m telling you, this is your time! It may not be a good time, but it’s a God time! This is your time! And in those defining moments, you got to take a step of faith!
Because if you run from the river, you know, the people of Israel-they ran from the river the first time. You know, they ran from the Promised Land! But then the next day they said, «Oh, oh! We don’t want to wander around the desert! We want to go back in! We believe you now, God!» And you know what God did? He said, «You’re not ready!» Forty years for that step back! Something happens in a defining moment! When you step back in fear rather than stepping forward in faith, it sets you way back!
But when in a defining moment you step forward in faith, it takes you to a whole new level! It’s not one step; it’s like a thousand steps ahead to receive the blessings of God! Obedience brings blessing! I want you to hear from Leslie, who was one of those thousand baptized last year in the Super Summer baptism. Just watch!
«My life was chaotic. There was a lot of heavy drinking, heavy partying. There were a lot of times where I don’t remember what happened the night before. I struggled with the hookup culture; I struggled with the drinking and the partying scene. It’s not necessarily my proudest moments, but it’s my journey. While I was going through this partying phase, I lost my great-grandmother. When I lost my great-grandmother, I went to Puerto Rico. After we celebrated her life, we ended up going to a barbecue. This barbecue was behind a beautiful waterfall. I decided to climb up, and the only way down was to jump off this waterfall. There was a voice that told me, 'Feet first! ' I believe that was the Holy Spirit telling me, 'Feet first! ' and I’m thankful that I did because I hit a rock on the way down and broke my leg- and lots of tiny bones. There was no way possible if I would have gone headfirst, I wouldn’t be living here today! That was God! I had to learn how to walk again! It took a year to recover! And that right there was an 'aha' moment for me, to wake up and say, 'Okay, maybe this lifestyle of partying, hookup culture, and stuff, maybe I need to rethink about this! '
I think Jesus was trying to pull me in closer, which He did, but it was very slowly. It still took a long time for me to get to where I am now. My friend invited me to the Woodlands Church, and it felt like home! I always craved that relationship with Christ, and I always wanted to get closer! But I think a lot of people get that misconception of, 'I have to be a better person in order to come to Christ! Maybe I’m not ready! I’m still partying! I’m still this! ' It’s just this mental thing going on in my head! But when it was explained to me, 'Hey, do you believe that Jesus is your Savior? ' Then I was just like, 'You know what? Yeah! What’s holding me back? ' So when I came here and was told, 'Hey! You can give your life to Christ, like, now! ' I was like, 'Yeah! ' Christ accepts you for who you are! He truly does!
When I went under the water, I remember thinking like a big flashback of a lot of those partying days! Like, 'All right, this is your time to die with your past! ' And then I came up and was like, 'Wow, this actually happened! Jesus is just cleaning up my life from my past! ' And He’s still doing it, by the way! From the party girl that I used to be when I gave my life to Christ, I feel I feel like I’m at peace! I don’t ever have to think about, 'Oh, okay, I’m lonely! ' or anything like that. I’m looking at life so much differently now!
My story is to be continued in a good way! Christ in me! For I’ve been born again! My heart is free! The hope of heaven before me, the grave behind! Hallelujah! You brought me back! I won’t forget the moment I heard you call my name-out of the grip of darkness into the light of grace! Just like Lazarus! Oh, you’ve brought me back to life! And where there was dead religion, now there is living faith! All of my hope and freedom are found in Jesus' name! Just like Lazarus! Oh, you brought me back to life! And no longer I who live, but Christ in me! For I’ve been born again! My heart is free! The hope of heaven before me! The grave behind! Hallelujah! You brought me back! How can I begin to thank you for all that you’ve done for me, Jesus? To fully praise you, it will take all eternity!
Just like Lazarus! Oh, you brought me back to life! You brought me back! You brought me patience! You brought me patience! You brought me back! Thought he had me, but Jesus said, 'You are mine! ' The enemy thought he had me, but Jesus said, 'You are mine! ' The enemy thought he had me, but Jesus said, 'You are mine! ' The enemy thought he had me, but Jesus said, 'You are mine! ' The enemy thought he had me, but Jesus said, 'You are mine! ' The enemy thought he had me, but Jesus said, 'You are mine! '
He had me, but Jesus said, 'You are mine! ' No longer I for Christ, for I can’t and my heart is free! You’re open! Hallelujah! You brought me back! That’s what it’s all about right there! Life change in Jesus Christ! I mean, if that doesn’t move you, I don’t know what would! Because when someone’s life is changed, their eternal destiny is changed! Generations get changed! Jesus died, was buried, rose again! He’s alive!»
You can be seated! I hope that you’ll take this, fill it out, and come ready next week or sign up online! It’s going to be an amazing celebration!
Right after this, each service, we’re going to have a big baptism! Let’s pray! If you’ve never received Christ, it’s time for you to go to the River of Surrender right now! Just say these words in your heart: «Jesus Christ, I need your forgiveness! I admit I’ve sinned! I admit I’ve tried to do things my way instead of yours! I surrender to you! I step into the river and receive your free grace! In heaven one day, come into my life and fill me up! Flood me with purpose and meaning and be the Lord of my life from now on!» In Jesus' name, I pray! Amen!