Louie Giglio - Resurrection Power
It’s great having Patrick here today. Patrick, thank you so much for writing an anthem for the church and an anthem for our church. So much so that we’re in the midst of a series wrapping up today: Breakthrough Miracle Power. We started with «Breakthrough» a few weeks ago; last week we shared miracle stories. I love it! You can’t deny when you have the lives of five people who’ve been transformed during a pandemic by the gospel story of Jesus. Today, we’re ending on «Power,» and God wants you to know that whatever you need, He can supply.
I think so many times our narrative begins with and is often dominated by «I can’t.» I can’t do that. I can’t make that happen. I’m not going to be able to pull that off. I’m not going to be able to get through this season. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to reconcile that. I don’t know if I’m going to have the strength to overcome that. «I can’t» is often the starting point, but not just the starting point; many times, «I can’t» is the overarching narrative of our story. Today, God wants to address every little «I can’t» and every huge «I can’t,» and He wants to speak the hope of breakthrough miracle power. The reason we came to church today is that we already knew we couldn’t. But if we all just knew we couldn’t, there wouldn’t be any point in gathering today. We gathered because we knew we couldn’t, but God did, and what God did was more than we could ever do. Therefore, we came today to proclaim a God who can. So we begin with «I can’t,» but we journey with «But God, You can,» and the narrative of our lives changes by the power of the gospel.
There are a few things God wants you to see today, and He says that to you and me right in the text. Our text today is Ephesians 1. If you have your scripture, I want to encourage you to open it with me to that chapter. In this chapter, Paul prays for this particular church. He wrote this letter to a church, but in the process, he’s praying for the church—meaning he’s praying for you. So God is writing a prayer for you today. The prayer is that you and I would see something, but not with our eyes—with our hearts—so that we would come to know something truly.
The goal for us today, for the next few minutes while the power of this word moves, is that you and I would come to know something that impacts what we do. That’s possible for you and me. The prayer begins in verse 15, where he says, «For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.» He keeps asking, and now he’s going to unpack what the prayer is. But I want to make sure we don’t miss the beginning of verse 15, where he says, «For this reason.» In other words, something prompted the Apostle Paul to pray this prayer for you. He wasn’t just rolling along saying, «Hey, I’m going to pray for you; bam, here’s a prayer!» He was praying in the context of «for this reason,» and before this reason, in verses 1 to 14, there is a subheader in my text that says «Spiritual Blessings in Christ.»
In those verses, God discusses how He miraculously took you from a place of not having anything to having everything in Christ: how He chose you, loved you, blessed you, invited you, adopted you, redeemed you, forgave you, showed you the mystery of His will, made you one of the first to hope in His glory, and given you the seal of His Holy Spirit as a promise of a day when He is going to redeem you fully into His presence, into eternity. He’s starting with you: you were nobody, and now you’re a son or daughter of Almighty God. You did not have a shot with God, but by grace, through His love, mercy, and forgiveness, you’re now adopted into the family of God. You didn’t have what you needed, but now you have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Everything about you, when you joined your life to Jesus, has changed the story. In these verses, we repeat «in Christ» over and over.
The story here isn’t about me anymore; it’s about me joined together with Jesus. And joined together with Jesus, I’m a brand-new person in a brand-new place with brand-new possibilities with God, at the end of which, He says you’re going to be sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of His glory. In other words, you’re going to get the Holy Spirit now, and He’s like the down payment on an eternity with God that can’t be taken away from you.
So do you see where we are? We’re here now—"in Christ"—everything’s changed! We’ve got a down payment that we’re going to be in eternity standing with Him, but in between, it’s going to be rough because we’re going to live it all out on a broken planet. So in the middle, given that this is who you are and this is where you’re going, I want to pray something for you in light of that. There are three things He wants you to see, beginning in verse 18: «I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you…» Here’s the first one: may know the hope to which He has called you.
The first thing Paul wants you to know in the middle is that you have a reason for being—that there is a calling on your life, that you have a future to look forward to, that God has a purpose for you. In other words, you’re not just floating around among 7.8 billion people. There is a reason for your life, and God has called you into a hope and a purpose. Destiny is written over your life! The second thing He wants you to see is a little bit of the upside-down side of the gospel that no one ever preaches: the second thing is He wants you to see the riches, catch the words very carefully, of His glorious inheritance—that His is God’s.
So I’m going to say that again so we don’t miss it. He wants you to see the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints. Hello! See, we weren’t transposed; I want you to see God’s glorious inheritance: what would we say for the saints? You got saved, adopted, called, received the Spirit of God. You have a future and a calling, and there is an amazing inheritance waiting for you with God—that is true. But that isn’t what he’s saying is the second thing he wants you to see today. He wants you to see today that God’s inheritance in eternity is you.
Now, I’m going to lose my mind for the next few minutes, and you’re not, apparently, so that’s going to be awkward—but I’m going to lose my mind just for a minute, okay? See, the gospel always seems to be me-focused, always seems to aim in my direction: God loves me, God’s saving me, God’s doing stuff for me. When I die, I’m going to heaven. When I get to heaven, I’m walking on streets of gold. When I get to heaven, I’ll see Jesus. When I get to heaven, no more tears. When I get to heaven, crystal sea. When I get to heaven, a crown of glory. When I get to heaven, there’ll be the applause of all those who cheered me on. It’s always kind of an «aim toward me» thing. My great reward in life is to make it to the end of the day, and I get to be with Jesus.
It has never dawned on the average Christian that God is also looking forward to eternity. What He doesn’t need is any more stuff because He owns everything on planet earth. He doesn’t need to make anything else because He’s pretty happy with the cosmos. He doesn’t need to say anything else because He has been the eternal Word since the beginning of time. He’s sitting on a throne above all thrones. His title is above every title; He doesn’t need a promotion. He doesn’t need a pat on the back; He doesn’t need any applause. Since eternity past, He’s been good, He’s been God—the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit—totally and completely sufficient. Since there was no time, He’s been good.
But at a point in time, He decided to make you. He made you unlike anybody else who’s ever been made. So there are a couple of things He wants you to see today: number one, you have a future; but number two, you have value because God made you. You might say, «Yeah, but I did this, I did that, and they said this.» Oh, that’s great; that’s like not even in the picture of the moment where God uniquely created you. Do you know why He made you? He made you for Himself. He didn’t make you because He needed another little soldier to go out in His little army. He didn’t make you because He needed another worker bee to make His kingdom work. He made you because He wanted to have a relationship with you.
We all have the same gospel, we all have the same Jesus, we all have the same story, we all have the same access through grace. But each one of us has a little bit of a different relationship with God. We all have the same scripture, the same Lord, the same baptism, the same church, the same God and Father of all—but we all have a little bit different relationship with God. When He made you, He made you for Himself, and He proved that to you when He needed to come and find you and redeem you. Because if He didn’t really want a relationship with you all that bad, when things went sideways, He would have said, «Well, too bad! I’ve got 7.8 billion other people alive right now.»
But no, He sent His Son onto planet earth on a rescue mission, relentlessly pursuing you. Some of you, He’s still relentlessly pursuing you right now so that He can ultimately say to you, «I love you and I want you. I desire you; I created you, and I’ll fight for you. I will burst through whatever obstacle to get to you to tell you I love you, and I want to be in a relationship with you.»
And when you find that grace and come alive in Christ, not only do you have the hope that you’ll be redeemed into an eternity with God, but He has the hope that He’ll get to spend forever with you. The only thing He has to add to forever is you. You are what He is looking forward to in heaven because He already has everything else that’s there, and you are His glorious inheritance. He’s waiting and believing that you’re going to make it to that moment because He wants to spend eternity with you in the same way He was hoping to spend Saturday with you.
He’s saying, «I’m praying because I need the eyes of your heart to open and see this: you’ve got a future and you’ve got value.» But I’m telling you, if we know you have a future, you have to pray that people’s hearts will be open to see and understand something. Then it’s very clear to me that the enemy is working in the same way to say there are a couple of things he doesn’t want you to see, and he doesn’t want your heart’s eyes to be open to. He doesn’t want you to know that you have a future, and he doesn’t want you to know you have value. Therefore, there’s probably someone sitting here right now, and you’re like, «I don’t see any plan for me. I don’t know what my purpose is on planet earth. I don’t even know if I have a purpose on planet earth, and I’m really not hopeful about the future.» Or, «I don’t have any value. Nobody even notices me. I don’t think my life is really worth much. I know God probably doesn’t care about me at all.»
Of course, there would be people like that because if God is saying, «I want you to know three things,» the enemy is saying, «I don’t want you to know three things. I don’t want you to see three things.» But God wants you to know before leaving this place today that you’ve got a future. You’re already a part of a future, and you have a calling on your life. He wants you to know today that your life has value, and it’s not just about what you can add; it’s about the fact that God desires to have a relationship with you.
A lot of us made it to church, and that’s great! I mean, I’m thrilled we’re here today, but it’s not what the end goal is. The end goal is to make it to a relationship with your Creator. Then He said there’s a third thing I want you to know as well. I want you to know that you have a future; I want you to know that you have value; but I also want you to know that you have the potential to overcome anything you think you can’t. And here’s the way He says it in verse 19: «And His incomparably great power for us who believe.»
I mean, can one person say amen? Can anybody say amen? Does anyone need to know today that God can open your eyes to see that in any «I can’t» situation, God is making available to you His incomparably great power to all of us who believe? Then He doesn’t describe the future; He doesn’t really describe the glorious inheritance and our value, but He really wants to drill down into the power that’s available to you. He says that power—that power that’s yours—this incomparably great power is like the working of His mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power, and dominion, and every title that can be given—not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
To amplify, God placed all things under Jesus' feet and appointed Jesus to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way. How many times can He say power? I mean, how many ways can you say power? He’s saying wherever you are, whatever situation you’re in, whatever you’re facing, whatever you can’t do, I want to give you some encouragement, and that’s available to you: verse 19—incomparably great power for us to believe. That power! Let me describe it; it’s like the working of His mighty strength—a different word now—which He exerted in Christ.
When He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand—four different ways He describes the power in this verse, but He gives it a reference point at the resurrection. He says, «This is the power that I exerted in Christ when I broke through death, hell, and the grave, and raised My Son out of the depths to brand new everlasting life.»
I want you to know you have that power. I want to make sure your eyes are open to see that you have access to that power. So maybe your narrative starts with «I can’t,» and a lot of times it really does. But it should never continue with «I can’t» because you have access to incomparably great power—the kind of power I exerted when I raised Christ from the dead is available to you.
We’re a few weeks away from Easter, and I think what we do is we’re kind of always on the way to Easter. It’s a highlight of the year for followers of Jesus! I mean, what more can you celebrate than that Jesus took our sins on His life and died in our place, then was raised out of the tomb by the power of Almighty God? We’re a few weeks away from Easter, but what I think God is trying to say today is, «I don’t want you to live on the way to Easter; I want you to live on the way from Easter.»
I want you to get in the empty tomb. Look around, take a deep breath, take stock of where you are, and then I want you to come back to wherever you were standing before that and operate out of that. I don’t want you to take the resurrection power of Easter or of Jesus and copy it and paste it into Easter. I want you to take Easter and copy it and paste it into this coming Tuesday, and that’s available to you! So we should be praying with Paul today: «God, I need you to open the eyes of my heart because I’ve been living in an 'I can’t' narrative, and you’ve told me right now that I’ve got a future and a calling on my life; that I have value because You’re looking forward to spending eternity with me, and thirdly, that I have access to the incomparably great power that raised Jesus from the dead.
And I need You to open my eyes to see that today. I need to get the word miracle back in my vocabulary. Amen! It’s breakthrough miracle power, and we’re here to serve a breakthrough miracle God. We need to get miracle back in our vocabulary; it shouldn’t be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I experienced a miracle, or I prayed for somebody, and they got a miracle. We should realize we are living in a miracle narrative every single day of our lives!
In fact, exhibit A: we all woke up this morning! So you’ve been handed one miracle to steward called today because everybody didn’t wake up today, but we did! Who knows how many miracles happened on the way to getting here today? It’s possible God saved you from five different things getting to this building today. You don’t know how He’s praying for you, how the angels are fighting for you, and you don’t know what He’s doing on your behalf while you’re sitting in this chair right now.
God is working on your behalf right now, and here’s miracle number two: you woke up. Number one, you woke up; number two, God knows your name. That’s a miracle! Number three, He’s for you and fighting for you right now. We’re in a miracle story. I meet people all the time; they’re like, „I don’t know about miracles. You know, Jesus walked on water, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, and did all these incredible miracles, and I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced a miracle like that.“
I’m like, well, if you’ve never experienced a miracle, I would encourage you to get saved, and then you’ll be able to say your whole life that you have seen God do a miracle. If nothing else happens—or surely something else is going to happen—there are going to be more miracles in your story. But if there were no other miracle in your story, you would at least be able to say, „Oh man, I’ve seen the breakthrough miracle power of God. I’ve experienced walking on water, even greater than walking on water, greater than sight to the blind, greater than healing the leper; I was dead, and God, by the power of Jesus Christ, brought me back to everlasting life! I am spiritually alive in Jesus; I’ve experienced a miracle in my life!“
But I think what God is trying to break in today with is to start expecting them, start believing for them, and start having the eyesight sensitivity to see them, acknowledge them, and then to say it: „God worked!“ When He makes a way where there’s no way, it’s a miracle. When He brings me through, from „I can’t“ to „I did,“ it was a miracle! God was in the gap and gave me the power I needed to overcome.
And it doesn’t always have to be the dead raised or walking on water. I mean, the gospel says that we’ll do greater miracles than Jesus, and that perplexed me a lot because I’m like, „So I gotta walk farther on water than Jesus did?“ But that wasn’t the heart of what Jesus was saying. He was saying, „You’re going to get access to kingdom power, and you’re going to be part of a family that takes that kingdom power all over planet earth, and you’re going to see an explosion and revival in the church like has never been seen during Jesus' lifetime, and you will be part of the immeasurably more of the kingdom of God—that’s what God has in mind for you.“
As we close today, we’re headed to baptism stories, which I love. But in the baptism stories, we’re going to see that this power is available, and I want you to know that it’s available to you. A couple of quick things: number one, this immeasurably more, this incredibly great power, is available to everybody today. The first person to the empty tomb was Mary Magdalene, and it says about her in the text that Jesus cast seven demons out of her.
So we don’t have the most religiously fit person at the tomb as the first witness of the resurrection power of God. We have somebody who needs the resurrection power of God and who probably has counted themselves out of the Jesus story. So don’t let the enemy get into your mix today and say, „Hey, this power is for everybody else, but it’s not available to you. You’ve strayed too far, didn’t believe in God enough, don’t have enough faith,“ or whatever else your story is. This power is available to everybody!
Secondly, we need to be clear that the power is available through the Holy Spirit. So we’re not talking about meditating or tapping into some ethereal power source or digging down within ourselves or finding an extra level or a new dimension. We’re talking about power that has a name, and His name is the Holy Spirit.
So we’re calling on the one that we’re now sealed with and filled with to be in us more than „I can’t"—to be that «I can.» God can do, and we know that from the immediate text. It says right above the prayer that we’re sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Then Acts follows after the gospels. What does Acts say? It’s Jesus telling the disciples: «Don’t go anywhere until you get the power.» He’s telling you that today: «Don’t go to work without the power! Don’t have that conversation with your sister-in-law without the power! Whatever you do, do not go into that meeting at work without the power!
Do not try to fold the laundry today without the power! Do not do that! Do not go there! Do not respond to your co-worker who just invited you on that outing without the power! Wait,» Jesus said, «to His followers, wait in Jerusalem until you receive the promise.» And what was the promise? The Spirit of God. We got a church busy running, doing things, without the power!
A few verses down, He says, «When the power comes, you’ll receive the Holy Spirit and then go! Go be My witnesses here in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and everywhere.» So the power is available to anybody, but you got to know that the power is a person. So when you’re going to call on it, you’re not just going to say, «God, I need Your power.» You can get more personal than that. You can say, «Holy Spirit, I need You now. I need You operationally active right here, right now, in this moment.»
The third thing I want you to see before we go is that the power operates best when you are quick to admit that you need it. Grant started in Luke 10 with blind Bartimaeus, this guy by the side of the road, and he’s yelling out because he heard Jesus was coming by: «Son of God, have mercy on me!» They try to shut him down, but he won’t have it. Eventually, Jesus hears him and says, «Bring him to me.»
Verse 51: crazy verse! Jesus is standing there with a blind man; Jesus heals the sick and does miracles, so you know what’s going to happen. Why doesn’t Jesus just say, «I know who you are; I know what you need; bam! You can see!» He asks him in verse 51—crazy question: «What do you want Me to do for you?» Remember that from Grant’s message?
«What do you think I want you to do for me? I’m blind! What do you think I want you to do? You’re Jesus Christ, for crying out loud, and I haven’t been able to see! I want to see! Why are you asking me this?» I think it’s Jesus sort of putting it into focus today. Maybe the gap between you and the power source that’s available to you is just that you’re not willing to say that you need it. It didn’t take Bartimaeus two seconds to say, «I don’t know if this is a trick question or what the deal is here, but I want to see.» Just to go on record, «I need to see! I need sight. You’re here; I’m here, and I have a need, and that need is I’m blind, and I want to see!»
I think so many times we would have been at the other end of that question, «What do you want Me to do?» You know, I’m good; I just want to say, «Hey, you know, I got my little cup here, and people drop coins in it every day or so, and I’m getting by, and paying the rent, and you know, I got my cloak and my little mat that I lay on, and I’m good; I just wanted to meet you. You seem like an amazing guy.» That would be the story of a lot of us in our lives: «I’m good; I’m fine; I got it; I’m all right!» instead of saying today to somebody nearby, «I’m in trouble, and I need help. My marriage is on the rocks, and I need help. I am going under a tide of depression; I need help! I am addicted, and I can’t get free; I need help.»
I’m not afraid today to say to God and the people around me, «I need breakthrough miracle power!» I admit it! I’m opening up about it, and I’m being honest about it: «I need people around me to help me on that journey.» For some of us in the gathering today, the power is right there! Your eyes need to be open to see it, but it’s available and operative at the moment you’re willing to say, «I need God to do a miracle in this area of my life.» We lose alone and win together! Amen? Some of us are losing today! You’re losing right now! Your front still looks good; your game still sounds strong, but you are losing today, and you know it. And you’re losing because you aren’t willing to say where you are so that you can then access the power that God has already made available to you.
And that power, although it is great, is available for the biggest thing you need and the smallest thing you need today. You can’t offend God by saying, «I’m struggling; I just need peace of mind today about my Thursday!» I need breakthrough miracle power, and God can say, «Okay, let’s reverse engineer! Let’s get from right here and get inside the tomb for a minute.» Come on! Let’s get in here! All right! Let’s look around in here! Let’s take a deep breath of in here! Let’s breathe some of this air! Let’s remember that God has already done the greatest thing that’s ever been done!
Let’s remember that Jesus said it is finished on Friday, but let’s remember that God said, «Arise, My love,» on Sunday. You need to hear Him say over your life today, «Arise, My love!» Yes, it is finished, but arise, My love! It’s gonna be good on Thursday. You’re like, «Oh yeah? Okay!» Then you get back over here on Thursday where you felt overwhelmed, but somehow you have been able, by the grace of God, to reverse engineer back to, «Wait a minute! I’ve got power! I am not going to be wiped out on Thursday! I’m actually going to endure on Thursday! I’m not going to get steamrolled by my responsibility today!
God’s gonna give me supernatural power for my responsibility today! At the end of this day, I won’t say, „Man, I don’t know how I made it; do I need another drink?“ At the end of this day, I’m gonna go, „Thank You, God! I couldn’t, but You could! Thank You for getting me in the tomb early so I could get back over here and get my mind right and get my expectations right, get my prayers right, and start believing right, that You were going to do more than I could ever do!“
See, we want to just sit in what we’ve lost, and He’s like, „No, you’ve got to get over here and start with what you’ve gained!“ We want to stay over here with what’s died in our lives—the vision or the dream or the relationship or the job opportunity or whatever it was that died. He said, „No, you’ve got to start over here with what’s alive and who’s alive in your life.“ Then you reverse engineer back to the other side of the equation. You can’t sit over here in the darkness of Friday’s cross; you’ve got to start over here in the sunrise of Easter resurrection.
Then you’ve got to get back over here in the grit and the grind of whatever it is that you’ve got to navigate today. You’ve got to navigate it in the power of God. It won’t offend God if you say, „God, even this little thing right here today, I need a miracle.“ He’ll say, „Okay! I got power for that! I can change your attitude right now if that’s what you’re asking. Are you asking Me, as the Holy Spirit of God in you, to help you change your attitude to that person before you respond to them right now? I got power for that! Let’s do it!“
At the end of the day, you’re like, „Man, I saw a miracle today!“ They’re like, „What happened? What happened? What happened?“ „Yeah, I was coming down the interstate, through downtown, and unbelievably, my lane just parted, and I drove straight through downtown—unreal! I’ve heard of Moses, but he’s got nothing on me!“ No! Somebody says, „What happened? What happened? What do you mean a miracle? What kind of miracle?“ I was at work, and I got a dart right between the eyes and was two seconds away from throwing something into that conversation that was gonna ignite a fire. I remembered that I have access to incomparably great power, and I asked the Holy Spirit to change my attitude, and He did!
And when I responded, I said, „I think we should talk about it later.“ Can we give God some praise? Can we have a little praise moment? Your friends are like, „Yeah, praise God, breakthrough miracle power!“ What?! Somebody got healed? „Uh, well, about on that level! Because when’s the last time you saw me hold my tongue? When’s the last time you saw me not punch somebody back? When’s the last time you saw me not say, 'I’m gonna win this one; watch me go! '?“ It was a miracle, people! And that’s what’s available to you and me!
And as we see these stories today, I’ll close with this: I wish I could preach a whole message on it. That power that we’re talking about is primarily—not solely, please understand—but primarily to help you and me propel the gospel story to the ends of the earth. So if you really want to see a miracle, I want to show you where to start. This is the easiest way to start. Do not start with „I need a parking space—I prayed for one!“ If you want to, I do, and you usually get one. It doesn’t normally have to be the one at the front! „Lord, I need a parking space. You should have been more specific; you’re parking over there by Target and walking!“
Okay! „I need that parking space! I need them to move right now, and I need to park in there!“ If you want to see a miracle, don’t start with that. If you want to see a miracle, start with somebody that you’re burdened for who’s lost, and start praying that God would miraculously open their eyes and give them sight and that He would give you the sensitivity and the wisdom to serve them well, love them well, and the courage to tell them the story of Jesus when the time is right. Would that not be a big miracle for a few people in this room? That would be a miracle, right? You’d be like, „I don’t know if I could do that or not. I’ve never done that!“ Well, I’d see that be a miracle, and you’d be able to tell your people when you got home, „I knew I had a miracle today!“
What happened? „I actually told my friend at the gym about my relationship with God!“ Hello! The power primarily is to enable the church to survive the gap as the people of God until the moment that we see Him again and to give us the anointing we need to proclaim the story of Jesus to the ends of the earth. The power is primarily not to improve your life, but so that somebody else can come to life! And if you start praying that way, living that way, leaning that way, and asking the Holy Spirit that way, it won’t be long before you have a miracle story. Then you’re going to start seeing miracle stories ripple in every different direction!
But yes, God wants to meet your needs! And if you can’t pay your rent this month, you should be asking Him for a breakthrough! If you’re facing cancer, you should be asking God for a breakthrough—either healing you, giving you the grace to sustain it, or the ability to be light in a chemo ward—whatever God wants to do in that moment through you. But if you get someone on your radar that’s not a part of the body of Christ, the Christ who is the head of the church, who has the title above every title and sits above every power and dominion and who has been raised there by God’s mighty exerting strength, then you’re not going to know fully all of what God has for you. You’ve got a future and a calling—I’m telling you today: don’t let the enemy hide that from you! You have value today, and you’ve got access to power today!
Jesus, thank You. I pray and ask, as Paul prayed by the Spirit—the same thing for Passion City Church today that was prayed for the church in Ephesus—will You open the eyes of our hearts, that we may see what You want us to know is true and give us the grace to act on it in Jesus' name. We celebrate baptism because it’s breakthrough miracle power. It’s God’s power breaking through in someone’s life to bring them to life. You don’t get saved by being baptized; you get saved by the grace of God through faith. But you celebrate that story by the picture of baptism, and you tell the world what Jesus has done for you.
So Mary is going to kick us off, but I want to ask the family and the friends and anyone who knows the person being baptized to stand as they’re baptized. This is a way of standing in solidarity with them. Mary is going to share the story, and then we’re all going to celebrate together. Then we’re going to bounce over to Cumberland for a baptism over there, and we’re going to worship together.
Thank you, Louie. This is Brooke Skokas. Brooke and I met about a year ago on Zoom when we were in an online launch group together. We took our online friendship offline and have spent the year getting to know one another, and so it is my joy to share her story with you this morning. Behind that beautiful smile is a young lady who has struggled with depression and anxiety for a long time. She says that she grew up and experienced bullying and unkindness that led her to believe that something was wrong with her and that she couldn’t fit in; that no one would ever accept her for who she really was. So she learned to put on a mask, she says, and put on a persona that would allow her to blend in. But that behavior led her to places that she never wanted to be: drinking, partying, relationships with guys, thinking that by fitting in and getting the love and acceptance of other people, it would fill up what was missing in her life, but it never did.
She had grown up going to church and felt safe there, but as she got older, she drifted away, and it wasn’t a priority in her life anymore until January of last year. She says it was late on a Saturday night when she had a very bizarre thought pop in her head that she should get up and go to church the next day. We might call it a prompting. The amazing thing is that Brooke did that. She got up that next morning, and that decision led her here to Passion City Church. It was in this room, singing along to the words of a worship song, that the Holy Spirit pierced her heart. She says that she fell to her knees, overwhelmed by the reality that what she was singing was true: that Jesus was what she needed and nothing else, and that only He could make her whole. As she cried out to Jesus, she put her trust in Him, and that is when Brooke went from death to life in Christ.
Since that January, over the course of the height of the pandemic, Brooke jumped into this house out of a desire to know Jesus more and to learn more about Him. She completed Launch, she has a Flourish mentor walking alongside her, she is loving the community of her family group from young adults, and she’s serving as a door holder on Production. It’s amazing to witness! Today, she would tell you that she knows that she is fully known, fully loved, and fully accepted in every way by Jesus Christ. That she is the daughter of a King, that He’s bringing healing to her broken places, and that she has a joy and confidence like never before because of her relationship with Him.
So, Brooke, because Christ died and rose for you, because you’ve put your trust in Him, it is my joy to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.