All right. I see you I see you guys all using connect cards as like fans. I'm [laughter] sorry it's so hot. It's part of summertime here. Um and uh you know this is why we get tax dollars is so they can maybe crank up the air a little bit more. But I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. But uh happy baptism Sunday again. Like I said, we're going to be uh sharing uh we're going to see four individuals coming up here and sharing their story about how they have found and followed Jesus. That's all what we're about here at Destination is helping people find and follow Jesus. And we're going to hear stories of just that. And what baptism is is that it's this uh it's this inward commitment that these people have made. Um, and it is outwardly expressed to all of you and you get to take part in that. So, this is the part where you smile and get excited because you get to take part in that and it's going to be a lot of fun. Uh, if you're kind of confused about what that means or what that looks like, we call baptism around here the wedding ring of faith. Okay? So, I want you to think about it like this. You probably heard me share this if you've been at destination for some time, but that gives you a really good way to explain to your friends, your co-workers, how uh how was your weekend? When they ask you that, you can say, well, I I went to a baptism service and they say, what's a baptism service? And you can tell them it is an outward expression of people who were inwardly committed to Jesus. And it's kind of like a wedding ring. This wedding ring represents my marriage to Chelsea. And taking this wedding ring off does not mean I am not married. It does not mean that I do not have an inward commitment and inward love for my wife. It is simply an outward expression of that commitment and of that love that I have for her. And so that is what baptism is. It is that expressed. And I know for some of us, this wedding ring um is is something that we never want to lose, right? Something we never want to really even I I barely ever take mine off cuz I know that's going to be the time that it just falls down the vent cover just right. Right. Um but for some people, I'm hoping not anybody in this room, but for some people, they're not as excited to even like wear their wedding ring. Now, this isn't a marriage sermon, okay? But I got to tell you, when I bought my wife's wedding ring, this is kind of how it went. I was uh going to sales a couple of weeks in a row and I was spotting out rings and getting prices and figuring out uh how much in debt I was going to be and how much I couldn't afford a ring. Okay. Um, and I remember going back and just like that outward or that inward love and commitment that I had to my future wife was just driving me going back to this ring store and trying to finally get that ring. And I remember the moment that I bought it, there was this uh older gentleman there that was looking at I don't know what he was looking at, maybe watches or something. and he sees me purchasing my engagement ring for my future wife and he looks at me and he looks at the ring and he goes, "Well, with that ring, there goes your freedom." And I feel like that's just kind of like, man, what's wrong with you? Like, do we need to have a conversation? Right? It it might just be something that hopefully nobody in this room would say. But it it didn't matter to me because the inward commitment that I had trumped whatever somebody else had to say to me at that time. But for some of us, this is where we are with Christ. Some of us would say that a relationship with Christ or even a relationship looking uh at Christians or looking at the church or looking at any kind of what we're doing today. looks not like freedom but almost like uh bondage that there's more rules there's more responsibilities there's more restrictions and that it actually takes freedom away and so what I want to do in just this short time before we move into baptisms is answer this question does following Jesus cost you freedom or lead you to it and to do that we're going to open up the word of God so go ahead and grab those blue Bibles you can pull Open to John chapter 8. It's on page 920. And hey, if you don't have a Bible, I want to just encourage you, take this one home with you. It is our gift to you. We have gifts at our welcome table as well. But these Bibles, we believe in in purchasing them and giving them and putting them into your hands so that way uh God can move in and through your life as well. And so in John chapter 8, here's kind of the context. We were in the book of John earlier this year and I didn't get to finish out chapter 8. So I'm really excited for today. But here's what's going on. There is a bunch of arguments happening around who Jesus is. Okay? And um everybody's trying to figure out who Jesus is and what it means to follow Jesus and truly be set free. And so what Jesus does is he's going to give us a short teaching about this very question. Does following Jesus actually cost you freedom or lead you to it? So here's what I want you to do. I want you to keep your Bibles open. I want you to follow those numbers down to the number 31. And that's where we're going to read. And I'm just going to break this down very quickly. Uh just a couple of verses here. Verse 31 says this. To the Jews who had believed, Jesus said this. If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. >> So I want to pause right there and I want you to see something very significant about what Jesus is saying here. That freedom begins with following. In the kingdom, freedom begins with following. And that kind of seems to us a little backwards because we think that freedom means well nobody tells me what to do, right? But Jesus says freedom begins when you look to me, when you hold to my teachings. If you notice here in just this section of verses uh just in this sentence, there is kind of a domino a cause and effect happening. Jesus says, "If you hold to my teachings," meaning if we're studying the word, if we're learning and listening to Jesus, if we're in community like we are today, then as a result, you are my disciples, which is you're my followers. You are actually doing what the teacher teaches, right? And then he says, as a result of being my disciples, you will then know the truth. You will know what is actually right and wrong, what brings joy and what doesn't. What brings temporary happiness and what brings lasting hope. You'll know the difference between the two. You'll know the truth. And by knowing that truth, what does it do? It will set you free. Right? If I've lost you in this, I'm going to give you an analogy. It's kind of like um when you get your driver's license. So, kids, this is what you're aiming for in a few years. And everybody maybe in this room remembers the moment that they got their driver's license. Or maybe you're like, man, I don't remember that moment. But let me just kind of refresh your memory on what the process of that looks like, right? You start out doing what? You're taking uh permit classes, right? You have to sit under these teachings. And these teachings kind of are things that you need to study and know in order to what? get your driver's permit, right? It's similar to the first part of this verse to holding true to these teachings, right? And then what? You get to do the wonderful thing of doing behind the wheel with the instructor with your parents. And you have to learn how to do what? Follow the rules of the road. Okay? Similar to us as Christ followers, we need to learn how to follow Jesus. Okay? And then there is that moment, the driver's test, where we all find out if you know the truth, right? If you know how to truly drive. For some of you, it took you a couple of times to learn if you truly knew how to drive. Okay? And then once you got the license, you were free, right? I remember. Do you remember that moment like when you got your license and and you were first uh driving without a parent in the car? Like think to that moment and that is that is this freedom, right? And so that is what's happening here. There is a process that happens that leads to freedom that doesn't necessarily look like freedom. It's the athlete who goes into training. It's the driver who is learning how to drive. It's the doctor that goes through years of surrendering free time to learn and grow and go to school. All of those things, listen, do not look like freedom at first. Because the greatest freedoms in life usually begin with a commitment. They usually begin with a commitment. And commitment is difficult. Freedom is hard to find and to continue to walk in. And sometimes the hardest chains to break are the ones that you don't even know are there. And that's what the people respond with to Jesus. They say uh in response to Jesus saying that the truth will set you free. Look at verse 33. It says, "They answered him, we are Abraham's descendants, and have we never been slaves and have never been slaves to anyone? How can you say that we shall be set free?" You see, the Jews here have a really odd answer. Their answer is, "We've never been slaves." And this is super odd. And I'm going to tell you why. Because about half of this New Testament that or Old Testament that we read, all of the the stuff in the Bible before this time, the Jewish people are what? They're in and out of slavery, right? And even at this very moment, they're not necessarily slaves, but they're they're facing Roman oppression. Okay? And so they're almost being treated as if they are already in bondage and already in slavery. So, this statement is really funny when you think about it because their response to uh Jesus setting them free is just to say, "Well, why would you set us free? We've never been slaves to anything. We've never been under the threat of slavery. We've never been uh in that spot before." But before we're too hard on the Jewish people that are pushing back on Jesus, we need to know that we do the same thing. that we do the same thing that we pretend like we're not going to be enslaved to something or under the threat of being enslaved to something. We pretend like our phones or AI is our slaves when really we are being enslaved to it and to its influences. You think maybe, well, I'm not addicted. Okay, well, let's look at your screen time, right? We pretend like we can go to bed without the drink or get through the day without caffeine or plan our lives around a person or a job or something instead of a savior. >> And what happens is it creates an invisible chain that we don't even know that we're enslaved to. And some of us might be in that place today. Some of us might be in the place where we realize and we know that there's something that is keeping us from experiencing this freedom that we read about or hear about in Jesus. And so we think that it doesn't exist. But this is what Jesus goes on to say. Look at verse 34. His response. He says, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now the slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever." So if the son sets you free, then you will be free indeed. So here is the bad news in what Jesus says first. He says, "Listen, if you continue believing that you have not been enslaved to sin, then you will become a slave to that sin." Let me just break down what that means. The thing that you run to that is not Jesus ends up being Jesus in your life. It ends up being the drink, the foam, the thing that you run to for wisdom, for comfort, for whatever it is that you put in front of Jesus. We call that in the church an idol. It's something that is in front of Jesus. But what Jesus is saying is if you are to give that sin to Jesus, then you are a son and you belong to Jesus. And if the son sets you free, then what? You are free. Indeed. It is a guarantee that you are free. And the thing is when we read this section of verses, we see this word slavery. And to us, that word is just something that we read about in the history books. But for them back in biblical times, slavery was a very real thing that they experienced. And even for uh figures through history that we read about and learn about, we even uh learn all of the different ins and outs and stories about slavery and how uh it felt to truly be set free. And I think one of the most famous ones that maybe you learned about in history class at some point was Harriet Tubman. You guys remember Harriet Tubman? >> She was born into slavery in Maryland. Okay. born into slavery and she endured endured years of physical abuse, mental abuse. She was abused so much that she actually had head trauma. And when she learned that they might move her further self into deeper slavery, she decided to travel 90 miles through a dark tunnel called the Underground Railroad until she finally reached Philadelphia. And for the first time in the her life, crossing that line, she was what? Free. She was free. I want you to picture that for a second. For your own life, for just a moment. To be born into a situation that maybe you didn't want to be born into. To be mistreated and abused and walking through darkness. And finally, you are free. the feeling of freedom and that is what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus is talking about when you really experience freedom in Christ then you are really free indeed. And this is what a relationship with Jesus does. You see following Jesus doesn't cost you freedom. It leads you to it. That's the answer to that question in the beginning. It's true freedom. Money won't get you there. Power, relationship, status, all of those things, they will maybe hold you in a false sense of freedom, but ultimately do not lead to real freedom. Real freedom is found in Jesus. And for us as Christians, not only are we set free, but listen to this, we are adopted. Okay, this is where you can get excited. This is really good news that you are adopted into the family of God. Okay, think about this. If you are a slave and you are enslaved, okay, and then all of a sudden you are set free and you have nothing to your name, what Jesus is saying is not only are you set free, but you are then adopted. That means you get all the rights of the family. You get all the treasures, all the riches, all of the inheritance that the family has. And guess who's adopting you? The king of the universe, Jesus. Okay? And that is the good news. That is the freedom that Jesus is saying that you get to walk in. And so for us, what that means is we want other people to be in that freedom. I want you to hear me on this. If you are not walking in freedom, my prayer for you today is that those chains would break and that you would find freedom in Christ today. Okay? And that is exactly what even in the story of Harriet Tuppin what she ends up doing. [clears throat] Just think about it. She is free. Okay? She's done. She has experienced the freedom. But for her, the freedom was so amazing that she couldn't hold it to herself. Cuz what did she do? You remember this from the history books? For the next 11 years, she went back in that tunnel of darkness in the railroad and rescued friends and family and strangers to bring them to freedom. And you know what she got to do? Each time she brought them out of the tunnel, she got to see their faces of experiencing freedom. That is the amazing thing. That is the outward expression of this inward hope that we talk about. And so know that as I bring these people up to share the test, their testimonies today, they are doing the same thing that Harry Stman did for these slaves. They're trying to lead you into this um this place of freedom that Jesus wants you to be in. Now, it's not a physical slavery, but it is a spiritual, mental, emotional slavery. So, I'm going to bring these people up, but I want to say four things before I do. Okay. Uh the first of which is that here at Destination, as a part of baptisms, we do interview testimonies. Okay? I don't make them stand up here with a mic by themselves and share their testimonies. Uh but I I interview them. And what I want you to think about today is this. I want you to think about how this is what we're about to do a trailer to a movie. Okay? You're not going to get the full length feature of all their stories unless you really want to get sweaty and be in here for a long time. Um you're just getting a snippet. And so, please ask them questions and talk to them afterwards. They'd love to uh talk with you more in depth about their stories. Um, a couple more things that you need to know before I bring them up. Um, know that just because they are coming on this stage does not mean they have it all figured out. Right guys? >> Right. And so, know that they don't have it all figured out. But here's what they do have. They have Jesus. and they want people to know about it. They want the world to know about it. Okay. Number three, um we have four participants today and I want to say something uh really important. We have six, okay? Two of them are not able to make it because of sickness and and just things that happened this week. I want you to know that as you sit there and wrestle with your own baptism and saying, "Hey, should I proclaim my faith in this way, I want you to know that there is a really real spiritual battle going on through your heart?" And that we want you to experience today and want to take that same step of being baptized. And I promise you, it's going to be a great experience. And lastly, number four, before I bring them up, they should know uh they all know this and I want you guys all to know this that this baptism, what we're about to do uh for the rest of the service today does not stay. Only a relationship with Jesus does. And so today is not motivated for them by making sure they get into heaven. It is motivated by them in the hope that they found in Jesus. So, can we welcome our four baptism participants to the stage? [cheering] [applause] All right, we have Amy, Kelly, Todd, and Dale, which is going to be hard to call him Dale from stage. This is my dad. Um, so, uh, what we're going to do is I'm just going to ask them a couple of questions and they're going to be up here and they're going to be really nervous. Um, What? >> Oh. Uh, can somebody grab Amy's notebook for me? >> It's in the yellow bay. >> In the yellow bag. >> Go to the last row. Yellow bay. [laughter] >> All right. Um, but what I was saying here is uh each of them are going to answer a question. They're going to be a little uh probably nervous answering the question. So, this is what you guys are going to do. you're going to be the most supportive, awesome people ever for them taking this bold step, right? So, let's hear the round of applause. [cheering] [applause] So, here is uh the first question. I'll start with you, Amy, and then we'll just go down the line. What was your life like before you began following Jesus? >> For me, Jesus has always been a part of my life. I grew up in a Christian home um and tried to raise my kids as Christians. I've never really felt my connection that I do. Fear, anxiety, loneliness, loss, self-doubt. Grew up in a single family home. Dad left. We were without a dad for many years. teenager making tons of very poor decisions, destructive decisions. Um, always went to church, but my game didn't really stay with me. Even youth groups kept doing the same things, the same. So, I knew something had to change. It was going to take a lot. >> Yeah. For me, uh, mine was, uh, one of them very quiet stories. Um, we I've always been a believer, grew up in a Christian home. Um, we went to church. We did all of the things that you're supposed to do. But I didn't fully trust God until I got into the situation where I really truly All right, hold on just a second. I promise I would not let microphone things happen. Um, we're going to have that boom. I'm going to try your microphone. Okay, I'm going to pass this to each and every one of you so that way all of them can hear you. >> All right, go ahead. >> Well, my life was a little bit more messier. My mom died when I was four years old. I was verbally and physically abused by my dad almost daily. I had many broken bones and stitches over the years. The broken bones heal verbal abuse since I was a broken child and physically. When I was in seventh grade, my dad went to jail and I was placed in a foster home where I was beat by older foster brothers and forced to steal and do drugs. I was placed in several different group homes and institutions. My life was a mess. I even tried to kill myself. I hated life so badly. But for some reason, someone wanted carry with me a lot of fast hurt. Okay. So now for uh Amy uh the next question is how then where's the change? How did you come to put your trust in Jesus? >> My trust in Jesus. My son-in-law was in an accident. Um we didn't help. He was going to survive. Um, the trust came where I just we had to put all of our trust in the Lord that he would survive. My daughter would not become a widow and a single mom until I was six. Um, I just learned to pray over the situation and I learned to put all my trust in the Lord that he was going to make this situation right and that our life would be okay. interested in that um driving back and forth to do um numerous times with my granddaughter to visit. I just need to say one particular song came on the radio every time I was in the car and it was rest in the father as he and everyone needs to hear that when you're going through a rough time that is truly believe >> I started to let go of shame and start to lean on God and forgiveness. Started to forgive myself for decisions I made. Started to forgive my dad, which was really hard, but um was a big part of my journey towards faith. I we hear a lot about freedom. I started to feel free by praying and and going to church and letting these things go. Um, and then when times were at their worst, and there were many where my dad did die of cancer, when we had built that relationship prior to that, um, my the hardest thing for me, my family, was when my mom was diagnosed with dementia and she was my best friend. But walking through that journey with her is really a turning point for me in life with God because He took control of everything and I couldn't have gotten through any of it without him. >> For me, um I guess the the the turning point for me was I had a child life. her mother was an alcoholic drug addict and I couldn't I couldn't do I couldn't I couldn't hold it all together. So I I found out that I needed to take steps to to gain custody of her for her. But I felt very powerless in I felt as as a man trying to get custody of his little daughter in 1995 here in county. That's a that's a big hard step. Um it's not something that comes easy and and I couldn't do it alone. I couldn't I couldn't I had to trust God and that was tough for me. Um it was very difficult. Um over the course of that years God showed me how trusting him allowed everything to fall into place in a very short period of time. He he he brought me my wife and um and through that uh in one year's time we we we got custody of my daughter, my oldest daughter. She's in the audience with me. Um and uh we uh bought a house. Um I was six guys started the company. Um quit my job. So, no security whatsoever. Um, my my wife quit her job and I laid there on the floor of our new house and we were just laughing. I said, you know, this is the craziest thing ever. I I we have literally gotten custody of the daughter, bought a house, um, which and then both quit our jobs. with absolutely zero security. Um but through it all we trusted God and and that is what brought me and uh later in my life I felt God answered my prayers and prayed to Mary Tracy now son. God also saved me from death many times. I always thought God was there, but he started coming more real to me in 2016 when I heard Josh preach. When destination started, it was like something inside changed. It was like God was more more than just answering my prayers, but felt more like a physical relationship with Jesus. And the biggest thing Jesus helped me do was to forgive my dad. >> Yeah. So for uh for all of you then why why today? Why did you uh decide to be baptized today? I chose to get baptized today because I feel strongly that people need to know and follow the Lord and hopefully our testimonies up here today will lead more people to Christ. >> Yeah. because I know now God's true faithfulness and what that looks like in my life and I just feel ready in a good place and church has been very encouraging and Josh especially and I appreciate that but um it just feels like the right time to do it. Um, for me, God has been calling me for a long time to make a public declaration. And I always felt like doing it in a large church amongst a bunch of people that don't matter to me um, felt very hollow. It felt like it was an open declaration to a Roman opening. And but coming here and helping this church, all of you matter to me. So I wanted to do this in front of all of you amongst the people that really mattered to me. >> I feel in my next step wait I feel this is my next step in my faith. I feel like God has been speaking to me and this is my time to my faith. I'm so honored to be baptized by the two people that rocked to Jesus and my wife and son. Um [applause] so for all of you then uh just a quick little side question here. Um what have you experienced over the past year here at Destination that's maybe made you like Tom you kind of shared some of it like I just love to be around the Destination family and want to make the proclamation. You guys want to add anything to that? I had to just step out of my comfort zone and not overthink it when the launch was starting. You know, obviously I had family there, so that's comfort, but it wasn't about that. I was searching for something new in my life. And it came at the perfect opportunity. And so I just jumped all in, started launching children's ministry. And in just a short time, I can't believe how much I've grown um personally in faith. Well, like Kelly, I definitely stepped outside of my comfort zone and not knowing anybody when I started on this launch team. Um, being a part of Destination is being like part of a family. Um, the Lord brought me here for a reason and I'm so connected to the people here and I couldn't be more happy at this church and it just really helps me to grow more in my faith being here. >> Yeah. >> Awesome. Can we give it up for all of our amazing messages, [applause] too? You're going to get a little bit. I'm going to bring uh the worship team up. And before we transition outside, uh we're going to respond in worship. And before we respond in worship, um I just kind of want to give you guys, all of you, just a couple of things. Um, as you heard all of these stories and you heard them share and courageously kind of come up here and tell their stories, um, is there one that maybe you resonate with a little bit? Is there a story in here that maybe makes you think a little bit about your faith and about your life and about your freedom? Because for all of us in here, we have an invitation to truly take the chains off and to truly walk into freedom with Christ. So would you just for this moment just bow your heads and close your eyes just for this moment? And I just want you to reflect today on maybe how God is speaking to you. Because maybe for some of you, the first step in this freedom is to find and follow the one that truly sets you free. Know that these stories, the things that we share from stage is for you to truly find Jesus, to follow Jesus. And so if you are here today and you want to experience and you want to you want that lifechanging freedom that Jesus offers, I just want to invite you in a moment of boldness with everybody's eyes closed, heads bowed, would you just raise your hand? If you are in here today and you have never made the decision to follow Jesus, but you want to today, would you just so boldly raise your hand so I can pray for you? Maybe you're here today and you still have some questions about it. Maybe you're here today and you've been following Jesus, but you know that there's maybe some some chains and some things that have been holding you back from this freedom. And so I'd like to just pray over all of us as we go into a time of worship. God, I thank you for everybody in this room. I thank you that you are here, that you are in the midst of these stories. God, if it were not for some of these stories, some of us would not be here today. God, if it were not for the ways that you've saved, we wouldn't hear these amazing stories of of how you've moved and and and been in all of these people's lives. And so, God, we just come to you. We worship you. We thank you. We proclaim your goodness, your glory. We lift it all up to you in Jesus name. Amen. >> Would you stand as we close in worship together? [music] >> Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? >> Yes. [music] >> And I baptize you in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. >> But you guys got to get LOUDER THAN THAT. [cheering] >> [applause] >> I DON'T WANT TO GET YOU WET. >> Thank you. >> Don't hold the water. >> You believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. >> Yes, I do. >> And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. >> [applause] [laughter] >> Oh, this is awesome. [laughter] >> All right, Todd, do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? >> Absolutely. >> And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. LET'S GO. [cheering] >> [applause] >> LET'S DO IT. >> YAY, DALE. >> So nice. >> Dale, Dad, my father, you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And I [music] baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. [cheering]