Today I want to try to clear some things up about baptism. I don’t want you to miss what baptism means, and my goal is to give you an understanding of what we do here, why we do it, and what the Bible has to say about it. 

For Some – refresher, that’s alright! For others, I hope it will answer some of the questions that you have. 

Following our Lord Jesus Christ will assuredly divide many families and reconciliation, in this instance, is impossible, unless all come to faith in Christ.  

People are responsible for their decisions concerning Jesus. It is best that people seek to be reconciled to Christ before that final day of judgment arrives, when it will be too late.  

May none of us be a part of this second group. Jesus in His first coming has already endured the “fire” of God’s wrath. He has already died for the sins of men. Trust in Him and you will never need to fear His second coming.  

Be reconciled to God through Christ and do it before you face Him as your judge, and before you face the fire of His wrath.  

2 Peter 3:9 

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 

There are two kinds of people that have knowledge of Jesus. 

If you were to do a life inventory, where do you land?  The encouragement from this passage is to stay dressed for action, keep the lamps burning, and live every day in expectation of our master’s coming.  

When he comes, we will be blessed and will sit at the banquet table, life forever in the house of the Lord. 

According to D’Amore Mental Health:

When referring to Adults who were abused as children.

"They become overly independent because they don’t have to rely on others for anything ever again. Other ways childhood issues play a role in an adult’s life are they become anxious and exhibit signs of social anxiousness. They will create relationships with people but never feel 100% secure in these relationships.”

How does this connect to those who have not been abused? An Ipsos survey from February 18 to March 4 of 2022 finds that, on average across 30 countries and 22,534, 30% of adults say most people can be trusted.2  Of course that means that 70% said most people cannot be trusted.

It would seem that regardless of environment, most people would say they have difficulty trusting. The truth is that lack of trust does lead to worry. According to Diane E Dreher Ph.D., in an article from Psychology Today where she quotes The Edelman Trust Barometer report, when discussing the erosion of trust in the world today:

“This lack of trust coincides with escalating rates of loneliness,  anxiety, and depression worldwide (American Psychological Association, 2022).

THE ANSWER TO WORRY IS TRUST IN GOD

The only real way for us to move from worry to trust is found in moving from self-reliant to God-reliant.

Luke 12:22 22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: 

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 

If you internalize this teaching, you will experience Isaiah 26:3. Isaiah 26:3

" You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you."

If you do not internalize this teaching, the opposite is true.

You are more likely to experience:

* Increased anxiety and depression.

* Damaged relationships because you may turn more judgmental

and cynical about people.

* Loneliness because you have difficulty with vulnerability.

* Distance with God because you may be too independent.

All of this will lead to a lack of joy, some irritability, perhaps anger. It is likely that you will not connect well in your faith and possibly push God even further to the side.

THE ANSWER TO WORRY IS TRUST IN GOD

Jesus is after something significant in this story about the "Rich Fool". In this success story, there is something tragically missing. God is never found in his story or even acknowledged in any way. Greed had replaced God in his life with things. In other words, money and possessions had become his gods. Instead of wanting more and more of God it was more and more of things. Success is a wonderful thing, but getting acquainted with God is even better.

Hypocrisy is not something that we are to hold in our lives. It leads to entire corruption of our soul. Jesus encourages us to deal with it and rely on His saving grace instead.

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Here's the deal, Pathway Community Church cares about one thing more than anything else: Jesus Christ. Pathway is a family of individuals that have found life in Jesus, and simply want as many people as possible to experience that exact same thing!

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Look deep into your heart and ask the question when your friends are your neighbors see you do they see a faith that represents what you say? Or, are you saying one thing and showing another?  

Are your actions and your motives lining up with one another? If not, whether you even realize it, you’re doing exactly what these Pharisees, these experts in the religious law did in Luke chapter 11. 

How could we miss Christmas, when we spend so much of our energy purchasing things for Christmas?” Yet I am convinced so many millions will miss Christmas this year. Today I want to talk to you about four groups of people who did not welcome Jesus that first Christmas and 4 who did. 

One of the things we learn from the book of Genesis is that sin is progressive. Genesis 3 records mankind’s first sin. Genesis 4 records mankind’s first murder. It doesn’t take long for sin to start its downward spiral. And because of sin, we are all wanderers on this earth. 

We are going to look at several examples of wandering in the scriptures this morning. We will look at Cain as an example of wandering as punishment for sin. We will look at Israel as an example of wandering due to lack of faith. And then we will look at Christians as wandering sinners found by God who are now citizens of heaven and wanderers in this world. 

Watching for the return of Jesus is not a staring at the sky but an active, hopeful, watch that will go on until His glorious return!

News | https://www.pathwaycc.net/news

Giving | https://www.pathwaycc.net/give

Website | https://www.pathwaycc.net/

Here's the deal, Pathway Community Church cares about one thing more than anything else: Jesus Christ. Pathway is a family of individuals that have found life in Jesus, and simply want as many people as possible to experience that exact same thing!

Social Media

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/wearepathway

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/wearepathway