Lightly edited for readability while preserving the speaker’s meaning and substantive statements.
sit back down you stretching your legs Bobby you can come on up come on you come on bring this now I'm going to tell you why we don't do this often I know there's churches that do it every week and some Churches do it once a month I don't do it because I don't want to kill you and I'm going to read it here they're going to get the elements you can divide them up here what we're going to get y'all to do this is uh y'all just y'all can take your top off here in a second and um everybody can get back up in a second and come get your in fact why don't you just do that everybody come and get your stuff while I'm looking up these verses go ahead and do it you know and while we're everybody's still getting their things I will say this let me explain something about Christianity because I I actually have somebody attacking me on on social media because they say that I say you don't need to be baptized to be saved let me explain the way I feel about this okay first of all you have baptism water baptism we have communion um now either we believe like the Catholics that when we have communion that somehow we turn this cookie or this cracker to the literal blood you know flesh of Jesus Christ which to me is creep but that's what they believe but to us Protestants we believe that these are symbols that these are symbols of his body and of his blood and that this we're doing in remembrance of him this is not some type of mystical ritual here okay well the same with water baptism now this is what I believe about water to baptism the thief on the cross was not water baptized now some people say well that was before the New Testament was instituted no it wasn't because Jesus said at the Last Supper when he took the cup he said this is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you I believe that's when you initiated it but if you don't believe that I believe the moment he went to the Garden of Gethsemane and he began to sweat great drops of blood and then they began to beat him he began shedding his blood for our sins and for our iniquities and for our sicknesses he began doing that before he even got to the cross the cross was the final shedding of his blood and then there was one more well I should say one more when they came to see if he was dead remember they if if they weren't dead and they'd been hours they're going to break their legs right but when they came to Jesus he was already dead and so they didn't break his legs to fulfill the scriptures said that his bones would not be broken right but they took a spear and remember he's up on the cross and the soldiers down
here and the soldier Roman soldier takes the spirit and says he pierces his side but what he did was he pierced his side up into his pericardium which is the sack around your heart and it says out of that flowed blood and water okay when the Bible says we are born of the spirit and of water where we're born again we're born of Spirit In The Water that's what it's talking about that water that came out of Jesus from around his heart and the Bible says that the life of the flesh is in the blood so when Jesus shed his blood it literally his life Spirit Force is in his blood so when we are born again we are literally baptized into the body of Christ through the water and the blood that came from Jesus that is why Jesus could look at the thief on the cross and say today you will be with me in Paradise baptismal Waters getting baptized in waters yes you need to do it but not because that is what saves you or washes your sins away it should already have happened and I tell people this because there are some ridiculous people out there that believe unless you get water baptized you're not saved well what about the person that got saved and just hadn't he's got his he schedules his water baptism for two weeks from now because that's when the church can do it and then he's in a car wreck and dies he going to hell because he wasn't water baptized see the ridiculous stuff that people start believing stop with the Catholic nonsense these are symbols water baptism is a symbol of something that should already have happened in your life and as Protestants that's what we believe that these things are symbols not that they have some kind of intrinsic power and that that's what makes us oh you have to take communion you know see the Catholics teach if you don't partake in communion or what they call the Eucharist you are not saved if you don't partake in this they've got a whole little system if you don't get sprinkled and you don't get confirmed and you don't take communion and if you die you don't get your last rights over you you remember the the in the in we and what was it Saving Private Ryan in the movie I thought one of the most pathetic things was watching that Catholic priest crawl around the beach at Normandy giving people last rights who were dying on the beach and I'm like your last rights don't save anybody it's being born again through faith in Jesus Christ and when we have water baptism the reason you should get water baptized is you are publicly saying you are testifying before men and women I identify with the death the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and your Republic saying I am not ashamed of him it's a public thing it's the testifying before other men and women but that doesn't save you
I mean whether the Church of Christ oh you got you want to get saved let's find some water to dunk you in no there's a lot of people that get dunked in the in the baptismal pool that are not born again and are not ready to go to heaven but the Church of Christ would tell them oh you got baptized you're saved and then there's another one there's churches that say that if you're not baptized in the Holy Spirit if you don't speak in tongues you're not saved well guess what there are a lot of times for people there's a gap between getting saved and getting filled with the Holy Spirit baptizing the holy spirit in the gift of tongues operating if you die in between time again are you going to hell no so hear what I'm saying symbols the most important thing and I say this again and again the most important thing is that you truly make Jesus Lord of your life you confess your sin you repent of your sin you take up your cross and you begin to follow him as a disciple until you know I mean you do it forever but you you will if you really do it from the heart you will get the witness of the holy spirit that you were born again taking communion doesn't save you water baptism doesn't save you are you washed in the blood and the water that flowed From The Heart of Jesus you hear me and I can say I am and coming down to that you shouldn't take communion though unless you know that you are saved and that you are walking with him and you are right with him because this book says that I'm going to read it this book says if you if you take this unworthily like you you're you're showing everybody yeah I'm in Covenant with Jesus but you're really not what you are is a liar you like ananias and Sapphire and you're eating and drinking damnation to yourselves what the Bible says but let's read it before we do this the good thing is if you've committed sins you can bow your head we're going to have a moment to make sure you bow your head if there's something in your life you need to deal with you need to ask God to forgive you and wash it away before you take this but here's what Paul said he says now this is verse 17. now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not that you come together not for the better but for the worse for first of all when you come together in the church I hear that there be divisions among you and I partly believe it for there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you when you come together therefore into one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper for in in eating everyone taketh before other of his own supper one is hungry and another is drunken he said what have you not houses to eat and drink in so he's saying this is this is not supposed to be some big Feast that's what he's what
he's explaining to you but verse 23 he says for I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus in the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me and after the same manner also he took the cup and when he had stopped saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood this Duty as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you do show the Lord's death till he comes so what this is is a public demonstration all right and again it's a good time to explain to new people unbelievers young believers what it's all about but he goes on to say verse 27 he says wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord but let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh Damnation to himself not Discerning the Lord's body for this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep or are dead for we would for if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged so I tell people all the time make sure you are right with the Lord make sure you have confessed your sins and repented make sure that your heart is in the right place following him before you take communion that's the most important thing because you don't want to be found a liar because what you're saying by doing this is I am in Covenant with Jesus and a covenant is a commitment it's like a marriage covenant I we're in we're in relationship we're committed to each other I'm committed to him he's committed to me and I'm showing this so when you take this that's why it's serious that's why you don't want to be found a liar amen all right well let's pray I want to pray first father we thank you God for everything we thank you for this we thank you for God the ordinances of baptism and and of course the communion the Lord we know these things don't save us it is the water and the bloodshed from Around Your Heart Lord from your body that you gave as a sacrifice for our sins because only you could only you could live the sinless life and only you could give us eternal life so Lord we come today and come in the mighty name of Jesus and we we bless this bread in this cup Lord and we're doing this in remembrance of you and we thank you that we can and so when he had given thanks says he broke
it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you this dude remembers of me take your the bread and after the same manner also he took the cup and when he had stopped saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood this do ye as often as you drink it in remembrance of me let's take the cup Lord we do this in remembrance of you on this New Year's Day on our calendar now on this New Year's Day just saying Lord that we commit Our Lives our hearts our mind everything that we have that you've blessed us with we committed all to you we declare our that we are in Covenant with you and we're grateful that within this Covenant Lord there is forgiveness of sins there is Mercy there is Grace there is love that you love us that you're patient with us and Lord we ask you Lord to truly take us deeper this next year Lord in your presence in our relationship with you and our ability to hear your voice to walk with you to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit the gifts of the Holy Spirit help us or we want 2023 to be a year that we live close to you closer than we ever have that your gifts and power work through us that souls are saved through our witness that lives are changed that the sick are healed that demons are cast out we pray this for 2023. and whatever you have for us whatever you want for us we pray your kingdom come and your will be done and it's in Jesus name we pray amen [Music]