Hope Church LV Sermons
The Social Network :: Week 2
We are living in a world that has gone social networking crazy. It is, I actually even this week on a major news broadcast, they did a whole thing on the craze of social networking that is taking place in the world. Last weekend I gave you a statistic that is still somewhat mind boggling for me. I want you to look at it on the screen again. There are now more social networking accounts than there are people in the world. There are more social networking accounts than there are people in the world. There are active 10 billion social networking accounts on the internet. Now they are found on a variety of different sites and networks but the biggest of them all is Facebook and we talked about Facebook a little bit last weekend. Think about this, one out of every 13 people on planet earth has an account that is active on Facebook. One out of every 13 people on planet earth. Why is that? Well you see people all over the world are longing and looking to connect with others. The whole premise of the social networking phenomena is rooted in the desire that we have as human beings to connect and live our lives in relationships with other people. The biblical reality is that God hardwired us as human beings for relationships with others. Last weekend we began a new series here at Hope simply entitled The Social Network. And we ask one basic question, what is God's perspective on my relationships? The social network and we are taking six weekends and we are kind of unpacking God's perspective on relationships. One of the things that you do on most of the social networking sites is you are asked to give your relationship status. And we are going to be looking at several relationship statuses over the next several weekends. We are going to look at the status of being a parent, the status of being married, the status of being single, the status of just being a friend. We are going to be looking at what the Bible has to say, what is God's perspective on each of those different relationships in our life. But we have devoted these first two weekends to the most important of all relationships. And that is our intimate love relationship with God. We gave you last weekend a defining statement and I want us this weekend to read this statement out loud off the screen. So you are here or in Boulder City, I want us to read this together out loud off the screen. All right. Let's look at it. My capacity for loving others is born out of my love relationship with God. All right. Now once you do it one more time, like you mean it, okay, with some passion. Let's do it again. My capacity for loving others is born out of my love relationship with God. We said that last weekend, that it is the love relationship that we have with God that is the foundation for every other relationship in our lives. Every other human relationship we enjoy can only be enjoyed to its fullest possible measure out of the overflow of an intimate love relationship with God through the person of Jesus Christ. Now one of the reasons that we're excited this weekend at Hope is because over the last month, counting last weekend, we've had over 100 people indicate a brand new relationship with Jesus Christ. And we thank God for that. Now when I say over 100 people, I don't mean 100 people that have simply raised their hand. We do that sometimes in our service and we've had way more than I'm talking about in the last month, we've had over a hundred people that have given us their information and said, I have for the very first time given my life to Jesus Christ. And based on that defining reality, that relationship with God will begin to transform every other relationship in their life. It's a relationship with God that changes my marriage. It's a relationship with God that changes my friendships. It's a relationship with God that changes my relationship with my children. It's a relationship with God that changes my relationships at work. Every other relationship is built on my intimate love relationship with God. Now for those who've begun a new relationship with God, the first significant step of obedience that Jesus Christ calls us to make as His follower is what the Bible calls baptism. For those who have trusted Jesus Christ, those who have begun a relationship with Jesus, the first step of obedience is baptism. Now why is baptism such a big deal? And why would we even talk about baptism in the context of a series on relationships? Let me tell you why. Because baptism is a public celebration of my relationship with God and my relationship with others. You see baptism is a public celebration of my relationship with God and my relationship with others. Because we say it this way at hope, being a Jesus follower is all about what? Relationships. Being a Jesus follower is all about relationships. You say what do you mean by that? Well first and foremost we've said that following Jesus is about an intimate love relationship with God. You see God's not invited us into a system of rules and regulations. He's not invited us into religion. He's not invited us into a system of do's and don'ts, rights and wrongs. God has invited us into an intimate love relationship with Himself. And everything in my life is to be lived out of the overflow of intimacy with God. First and foremost it is about a relationship with God. Secondly it is about a relationship with others. What's about a relationship specifically with other believers? Once I've come to know God, once I've been born again into God's family I'm then brought into a relationship with you as my brothers and sisters in Christ. We are the children of God and because I have a relationship with God I now have a relationship with you. What is it that unites all of us together? I mean if you look around the room where we come from different places, we look different, we have different backgrounds, what is it that unites us together? Let me tell you what it is. We each have a relationship with God that has now given us a relationship with each other inside of the family of God. Following Christ is about a love relationship with God that spills into my relationships with other believers but that's not all following Jesus is about. It's also about a relationship with those who don't know Christ. It's about a relationship with the world, both locally and globally my neighbors and the nations. As you and I follow Christ, as we live out this thing called the relationship with God, it's first and foremost about an intimate love relationship with Him that then spills into our relationships with others and thirdly engages both our neighbors and the nations under God's glory to introduce them to the person of Jesus Christ. Baptism is significant because baptism celebrates all three of those relationships. Baptism, let me give it to you in a definition, is a public celebration testifying that I am a Jesus follower. That's what baptism is. Baptism doesn't save anybody, baptism doesn't secure us a place in heaven, no. Baptism is simply a public celebration that is testifying, I am a Jesus follower. What's a Jesus follower? Somebody who has a relationship with God and they're living out their relationship with God and fellowship with others and through those relationships are engaging their neighbors and the nations through relationships to bring them to the person of Jesus Christ. That's what baptism is. Let me show it to you in the Bible. Turn to Acts chapter two, we're going to read two verses of the scripture tonight out of Acts chapter two and I want to unpack these three principles for you and then we're going to be finished tonight. Acts chapter two verse 41, listen what it says. So then those who had received His word were baptized and that day there were added about 3,000 souls, now skip down to verse 47, praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. What is the Bible talking about here? The Bible is describing the very first baptisms that ever happened after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. On this particular day in Acts chapter two, Simon Peter stood up in the city of Jerusalem. It was a city where 40 days earlier, Jesus had been crucified, 40 days earlier, Jesus had been marched through the streets of Jerusalem, he'd been beaten by Roman guards, he'd been run through a series of mock trials, he'd been crucified, he'd been buried and then he rose again from the dead. In this city where there had been so much hostility to the person of Jesus Christ, Simon Peter stands up and he preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Bible says that 3,000 people respond to the gospel, embrace the person of Jesus Christ and are baptized. I want to point out three things about the baptism that took place right here. Number one, baptism publicly declares my relationship with Jesus. The Bible says so then those who had received his word were baptized. The word received here is a word that means to embrace or to take fully. Let me tell you who these people were, these 3,000 people. These were not 3,000 people who wanted a relationship with God. These were 3,000 people who had embraced the gospel. The Bible says they'd been pierced to the heart. They embraced, they received, they fully took the gospel of Jesus Christ and now they were being baptized as a public celebration, a public declaration that they'd given their lives to Jesus. The best illustration I've ever heard about baptism is the illustration of a ring. When you see this ring on my left hand, what does it tell you about me? It tells you that I'm what? I'm married, right? This is what we call a wedding ring, right? Now I can take this ring off and I can place it right there. Does that mean I'm not married anymore? No, right? Because this is just a what? It's a symbol, right? It doesn't give me a relationship. It doesn't qualify me for a relationship. It simply gives a testimony about a relationship that already exists in my life, right? Now, Scott's sitting right over here. He could take this tonight and he could, or Stephen, I'm sorry, I called you Scott, Stephen. Stephen's sitting right here and he's embarrassed I picked on him. Stephen's a single guy, but he's looking, all right? So if anybody's interested, Stephen's right over here, Stephen's a single guy. Now, Stephen could take this ring tonight and put it on, but does that make him married? No, because this is just a what? Just a symbol, right? Now, when you've committed your life to someone, now that I've 19 years ago next month committed my life to my wife, now this simple ring becomes a testimony about a relationship that exists in my life. Let me see what that is. That is baptism. Baptism doesn't make someone a Christian. Baptism doesn't introduce someone to God. Baptism doesn't guarantee a relationship in heaven and you cannot get baptized and have a relationship with God, right? But baptism is putting on my wedding ring and publicly telling everybody else I am a follower of Jesus Christ and I am not ashamed of it. Listen to me, what if I went home tonight to my wife and I said, sweetheart, what I would like to do is I would like to take this ring and I would like to just put that in a drawer and not wear that anymore. How do you think my wife would respond to that, probably like his did, right? Popped him right in the head when he said that. Yeah, see, why? Because she wants me to be public about this relationship, right? She didn't want me to be private about this, and that relationship wasn't meant to keep just personal between us, right? Hey, it's a public declaration and that's exactly what baptism is. It is a public testimony. You know what's going to happen this weekend as we baptize? Some people are going to put their wedding ring on. They already have a relationship with God. They've been born again by the Spirit of God. They're part of the family of God, but they're going to put their wedding ring on and testify once and for all. I am a Jesus follower and I'm not ashamed of it. Let me make two statements. Number one, the only baptism in the New Testament is a baptism of believers. As you study the New Testament, there's a lot of debate about baptizing infants or baptizing children, and I'm not here to answer all of that debate, but let me just say what I do know with certainty. The only baptism in the New Testament is a baptism of believers. Every example we have in the New Testament of baptism is when someone had embraced the gospel. They'd given their lives to Christ. They were then baptized. They were baptized. I've heard people say, "Well, you know, I was baptized when I was a little kid, but I came to know Christ recently or I've come to know Christ as an adult. Should I be baptized again?" Well, let me try to answer it this way. What if I told my wife when we got married? You know, I have this ring, and actually an old girlfriend gave it to me, and I'd like to just use this ring when we get married. Is that good with you? Right? No, why? Because that stood for something else. Listen, baptism is a public celebration that I'm a Jesus follower, and baptism is only baptism after I've given my life to Jesus Christ. That's New Testament biblical baptism. Here I've embraced the gospel, I'm putting on my wedding ring as a public testimony that I've given my life to Jesus. Secondly, the second statement is, "The New Testament knows nothing of believers not being baptized." We live in a culture where people give their life to Christ, and they say, "You know, let me pray about this baptism thing." Listen, when Jesus commands it, you don't have to pray about it. There's no reason to pray about it. He's commanded it. Baptism is the first step of obedience for those that have given their life to Christ. And if you read the New Testament, man, when people gave their lives to Christ, they were baptized many times almost immediately, some of them in the middle of the night, that their examples as you read the Scripture, the Acts chapter 2 account, these 3,000 were saved and immediately they were baptized. In Acts chapter 8, the Ethiopian unit came to Christ and immediately he was baptized. In Acts chapter 10, Cornelius gave his life to Christ and immediately he was baptized. In Acts chapter 16, Lydia and then the Philippian jailer gave their lives to Christ and their households and immediately then they were baptized. The New Testament knows nothing of a believer not being baptized. If you're here and you have given your life to Jesus Christ, the next thing you need to do is follow him publicly in baptism. As a testimony, I've given my life to Jesus and I'm not ashamed of it. Here's the second thing we know about baptism. Baptism publicly identifies me with the family of Jesus. Notice what the Bible says here in verse 41, it says, "So then those who had received his word were baptized and that day they were added about 3,000 souls." That's interesting, the word added. That means to join together with. He says it here that day they were baptized and added about 3,000 souls. We know, theologically, that as soon as someone is born again, they put their faith in Jesus. We understand that we are born again into the family of God. Then what does it mean here? Who were they joined together with? What were they added to? Let me see what they were added to. On that day, they were added to the visible of community of believers that existed there in Jerusalem. Up until that point, there were only about 120 believers in Jerusalem. That's how many had gathered in that upper room in Acts chapter 1. In Acts chapter 2, 3,000 people embraced the gospel and immediately they were baptized and the Bible said when they did, when they were baptized, it was a public joining together with the body of Christ. They were joining together with the family of Jesus. You see, two statements were being made as they were being baptized. Number one, the community of believers made a statement and here was their statement. These new people, they are us. Now those that were being baptized, you know what they were saying? We, we are them. This weekend in all of our services, we're going to be baptizing people. When we baptize, why do we do that and ask everybody to come be a part of that? Why do we want you to stay around and see that? Because when we baptize, listen, that's not just a personal little ceremony for some no, it's a public testimony about a relationship with Jesus and there is a statement being made at that baptism. Believers that are already a part of this fellowship are acknowledging these new members of the family of God, they belong with us. We accept them. We embrace them. We're locking arms with them. We're going to walk hand in hand with them. We're going to encourage them. We're going to pray for them. We're going to disciple them. We're going to love them. We're going to be the body of Christ to them. And those new believers, as they're being baptized, we're saying those new Christians, here's what they're saying to you, listen, we want to belong. We want to be a part of this family. We understand that God's birth is for a relationship with Himself and a relationship with others. And we want to connect in this fellowship and it is a very, very meaningful moment. In our culture, our culture is very individualistic in the United States. And we've lost some of the significance of what happens in that moment of baptism. But it's not lost for a minute if you travel around the world. You go to the Southeast Asia or to the Islamic world and you may tell you when people get persecuted in that part of the world, not when they believe the gospel. Let me tell you when they get persecuted, when they get baptized. You know why? Because baptism is a public statement that I belong to Jesus and I belong to His family. This weekend, we're going to make a significant statement to each other as we celebrate baptism. Third statement, baptism publicly introduces Jesus to those who don't know Him. In verse 47, the Bible says, "And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." That phrase was adding. It's literally continuous. He was continuously adding day by day. Friends and scholars tell us that within six months in Jerusalem, now think about this, within six months in Jerusalem, 100,000 people had embraced the gospel, followed Jesus in baptism and become a part of the family of God. Could you imagine that? What if in the next six months, a hundred thousand people in Las Vegas gave their life to Jesus Christ and were publicly baptized and became a part of His family? You know, one of the problems we have in our church in America today, we don't even expect God to do those kinds of things anymore. How do you think the gospel exploded all over the city of Jerusalem like that? I mean, we're talking about the place where they pretty much made their statement about what they believe about Jesus, right? I mean, you remember this is the city that nailed Him to a cross. They lined the streets and screamed, "Crucify Him, crucify Him." You didn't need to do any opinion polls into Jerusalem to understand what their view of Jesus was, right? How did the gospel spread so fast? Well, I think one of the first things that happened was on that day when they baptized those 3,000. You ever thought about the simple math of that? How do you baptize 3,000 people in one day? There's only one way to do it that I know of. Only one way in the city of Jerusalem where they were located, all over the city of Jerusalem. I can't prove this, but all over the city of Jerusalem, there were pools of water, gathering places where people would come to find refreshment or gathering places where they would find water for their animals and their livestock. And I believe what must have happened on that day is when those 3,000 people responded. Simon Peter said, "Hey, John, you take this 150 and you go that way. Andrew, you take these 300 and you go that way." Man, all over the city of Jerusalem, there was this collection of people being baptized and as the crowds were passing through Jerusalem at this pass over time, which would have been the height of the population ever gathered in Jerusalem, as the crowds were roaming through the streets and witnessing what was happening all over the city of Jerusalem. I think people would come up and say, "What's going on there?" And they'd say, "Well, they're being baptized. What do you mean they're being baptized?" And they would begin to explain what had happened to these people, and one by one as they begin to tell that story, people begin to embrace the gospel and the gospel begin to spread like wildfire, because you see, baptism is a beautiful picture of the gospel. Listen to what the Bible says in Romans 6, 4, says, "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so Me too may walk in newness of life." You see, when someone's baptized, here's the picture. How do we baptize by immersion? Well, we believe it's the biblical model. We believe it's the biblical paradigm. We also believe it's the biblical picture. You see, when someone is taken under the water in baptism, it's a picture of being buried with Christ, their sins being taken away by the prayer. It doesn't happen in the water. It's a picture. It's a symbol. But it's a symbol of being buried with Christ, that Christ died for our sins and was buried and we've been buried with Christ. Our old man is dead and then we're raised up out of the water as a symbol that we've been raised now to walk in newness of life, that Christ is not just our death, Christ is now our life. As we begin to live our lives out of the overflow of intimacy with God, it's literally Christ Himself living His life in and through us. baptism publicly testifies that I have a relationship with Jesus. Baptism publicly identifies me with the family of Jesus and baptism publicly introduces Jesus to those who don't know Him. Baptism is a picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So baptism really is a celebration of relationships. It's a celebration of our relationship with God. It's a celebration of our relationship with each other as the family of God and it's a celebration and a proclamation of the relationship that we desire for all to have through the person of Jesus Christ. [BLANK_AUDIO]