Flip Flops: John The Baptist

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

Alright, well my name is Brandon and I get the honor of being our student pastor here at Eastside. And not only that, I get to be a part of our teaching team here, and I’m excited you guys are here this morning. Thank you so much.

We’re starting a new sermon series today called “Shoes” where we’re going to be encountering Jesus through other people’s shoes and understanding more what Jesus is really all about.

And now before I jump in, I have to reflect on this past Sunday. David and his band do an absolutely phenomenal job this past Sunday. Come on, let’s give it up for them. They were absolute blessing to our church and it was just a lot of fun. And if you missed out, there’s always next year. It’s the same thing we do almost every single year, 4th of July weekend. But today I get to talk about my favorite topic of all time.

I get to talk about the coolest dude who have ever walked the face of the planet and his name is Jesus. And I hope today through the message that I would introduce you to someone where you would just stop and you would say, wow, I’ve never quite met anyone like this man named Jesus. And maybe if you already know him, I hope over the course of the next couple of weeks you’ll learn more about who Jesus is and what he was all about. And you’ll fall that much more in love with Jesus. And now it was looking at the life of Jesus that revolutionized my life. It’s what fully changed my life. And I know we’ve said it before around here in many different ways, but Jesus did not only come to die and raise from the dead so that we could be forgiven, free and live forever.

Now, that was a huge part of the gospel and a huge part of what Jesus was all about. But Jesus also came to this earth to show us what God was really like. And I think about it this way. I was saved when I was 10 because I was compelled that Jesus died for me so that I could be forgiven free and live forever. But it wasn’t until I was 18 and I learned about who Jesus really was, that I started to follow Jesus and that Jesus truly became the Lord of my life. And one of the things that I learned about Jesus that is really powerful is that Jesus hung out with all kinds of undesirables showing that in God’s eyes that there’s no such thing as that undesirable to the Lord. See, I look at it this way, the people who were least like Jesus were the people who loved Jesus the most, and Jesus actually loved them a whole lot as well.

Learning this about Jesus actually gave me a lot of hope for my own life. And it made me believe that Jesus kind of likes me too and that he loves me far more than I ever realized. And my hope is through this sermon series, as we slip our feet into different people’s shoes and we encounter who Jesus really is, that you’ll start to experience and understand that Jesus loves you a whole lot too.

See, when I think about the word shoes, I think about the famous movie Forrest Gump. Anyone ever seen the movie Forrest Gump? All right. He quoted his mama at a bus stop. And this is what he says about shoes. He says, “Mama always says there’s an awful lot that you could tell about a person by their shoes, where they’re going and where they have been.” And no, I’m not going to try the voice, so all right, forget it.

But he makes this quote, and I would just ask the question, what do your shoes say about you? What do your shoes say about you? Where have you been? How did you get there? Where are you going? Because when you look around the room, there’s a lot of different shoes and they say a lot of different things about different people. Some shoes make a bold fashion statement and say, Hey, look at me. Some shoes say I’m more reserved. Some shoes say I’m on my feet all day. Some shoes say I can run really fast and really far, right Judah? Yeah? Some shoes say, I just like to be comfortable.

Now, the shoes that you see me wearing today pretty much say that this guy found a style that he liked in middle school and he’s not letting it go. Alright? I’ve been rocking these Chuck Taylors for a long time. I got the blessing by my wife to wear them in my wedding. I absolutely love these shoes.

But for all of us, as much as I love these shoes, you love your shoes, it is good for all of us to step out of our own shoes and to step in the shoes of other people. Why? Because it makes us a little bit more like Jesus. It makes us kinder, it makes us more gentle, it makes us less judgmental. It makes us less cynical and more empathetic. And so for the next several weeks, we’re going to be putting ourselves into the shoes of different people who have encountered Jesus. And this is what we’re going to experience. We’re going to experience real people with real issues. We’re going to experience real people with real pain, real confusion, real struggles. And I think that we’re going to be captivated. I hope we’re going to be captivated by the way that Jesus just meets them where they are and how he sees deep inside them. He sees deep inside them to their greatest needs. And hopefully just like all of them, we will walk away today a little bit more changed and transformed.

And now next week we’re going to be trying on a pair of stilettos, some high heels. We’re not actually going to be putting them on, okay? I’m not even going to attempt it, but we’re going to be looking at the story of that. And then the week to follow, we’re going to be looking at a pair of worn out work boots. But today we’re going to be slipping into a pair of these. Anybody love flip-flops? Anybody rocking flip flops this morning? You wearing them? Love Flip-flop season. I love flip flop season. They make fun of me because I wear flip flops with jeans. I call it my comfortable dad. Look, if you see me that outfit, come talk to me in a good mood. Alright? But I love Flip-flop season.

And these kind of shoes, they typically represent a type of person who is simple, who is carefree. Maybe they have some creativity and maybe they love the outdoors, maybe they’re kind of a non-conformist. And I would say that this most certainly describes the guy that we’re going to talk about today, and his name is John the Baptist or John the Baptizer, as some other people will refer to him.

And now like Jesus, John dies around the age 30. But unlike Jesus, there’s not a whole lot in scripture written about this man. And I know this is going to sound like a stretch or maybe a big exaggeration, but I think prior to the arrival of Jesus, John was the greatest man who had ever lived prior to Jesus showing up on the scene. John was the greatest man who ever lived. And now I know that he doesn’t have the most impressive resume as other people in scripture. He never really led anything. He never really conquered any lands or armies. He never wrote the bestselling book. He never got an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, a Nobel Peace prize. And he certainly didn’t have the look that reflects greatness. So what was there about John that would elicit such praise from Jesus? What made John so great? What helped him live this stellar and miraculous life? What made him awesome in the eyes of Jesus? And for the next few moments, what I want us to do is I just want us to slip our toes into John’s flip flops. I just want us to walk in the shoes of John and really understand what this flip flop desert dude was all about.

And now I think one of the things that helped John be onto the path of greatness to be noticed by Jesus is he lived his life in this way. He just was content with being God’s limited edition. He was content with being God’s limited edition. What do I mean when I say that? Does John embrace who God had created him to be. And I think we can all take a lesson from John because there is no one else in the world that is like you. There has never been anyone in history quite like you, and God has created you to be his limited edition. And when we lean into how God has created us, we can step fully into who we are and who God has called us to be.

And see, I love the way that King David marveled at this idea about all of us being created as God’s limited edition. Look what he says in Psalms 139. David writes,

“You made all the delicate inner parts of my body. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. Your workmanship is marvelous. How well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.” 

(Psalm 139:13-15)

Man, David marveled that we are all God’s limited edition. And I would just hope that you know that God takes great delight in you being you. God takes great delight in you being you. He loves your nose, he loves your lips, he loves your eyes, he loves your hair or lack of, sorry, Brian. He still loves you. He loves your acne. He loves your wrinkles. He loves your walk. He loves your limp. He loves your bulging biceps. He loves your bulging love handles. He loves you. He loves everything about you. You are his workmanship. You are what he marvels at. You are God’s limited edition. And there is quite no one like you.

I love the way John Ortenberg puts about God’s limited edition. This is what he says.

“When you allow the Holy Spirit to work inside of you, you don’t just become holier, you become you-er.” 

(John Ortenberg)

“You don’t just become holier, you become you-er.” And he’s just saying you become God’s best version of you. And one of the qualities that Jesus loved about John the Baptist is he just tried to be who God created him to be. He was content with who God created him to be. He was comfortable in his own skin. He saw himself as a one of a kind limited edition.

And can I tell you, John was extremely unique. He was an extremely unique character in a whole lot of ways. His clothes were woven together from coarse camel hair. He wore this leather weird leather belt around his waist that he kept his food in. He ate locust and honey. He was most certainly a non-conformist and a countercultural. The way that he dressed was most certainly a contrast to religious leaders of that day. They wore the absolute finest. John got his clothes from a thrift store and he got this dude. He was weathered, he was the outdoor man. He was strong and he was courageous. He ate a low carb, high protein, keto diet. He was just probably crazy. He probably has some long hair, he probably has some tattoos. I don’t know. But John was most certainly a very unique character and counter-cultural to everyone around him. It was because he embraced who God had created him to be. In this limited edition, John, he had a very unique calling on his life.

And this is what the gospel of Mark says about John’s calling starting in chapter one. It says, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. As it is written in Isaiah, the prophet says, see, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,” Referring to John.

“He will prepare your way. A voice of the one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make his path straight.’ John came baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance and for the forgiveness of sins, the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River confessing their sins.” 

(Mark 1:1-5)

This limited edition had a very unique calling on his life. In John’s unique calling, it was to prepare the way of the Lord, to prepare the way of the Lord, to get people ready and to get hearts ready.

And I don’t know if you know this or not, but that’s exactly the calling that all of us have on our life is to prepare the way of the Lord. I don’t care if you’re a stay at home mom or dad, your job is to prepare the way the Lord for your kids. If you go to school, if you’re on a soccer team, basketball team, football team, doesn’t matter what team you’re on, your calling is to prepare the way of the Lord for those people around you. You may work at a bank, you may work at a movie theater, you may own a business, you may work on a construction site. You may be a leader in the community, but your job, your calling is to prepare the way of the Lord for somebody.

Maybe right now you’re in a season of taking care of some elderly parents or someone that’s sick. Your job is to prepare the way of the Lord for them. Maybe you feel called to go to underdeveloped parts of the world and to bring healing and hope to people. I think about the people who just got back from Prince of Peace in Guatemala. They went down there and they prepared the way of the Lord for those little girls telling them how valuable and love they are in the eyes of God. No matter what it is, we just need to be grateful for the unique gifts and opportunities that God has granted us because we all have the same calling, which is to prepare the way of the Lord for other people in our lives so Jesus can encounter them. So what’s our calling? It’s to prepare the way of the Lord. Prepare the way of the Lord.

And so how do we best prepare the way of the Lord for other people in our life? I think John teaches us it’s to be God’s limited edition. The best way we can prepare the way of the Lord for other people in our life is by being God’s limited edition.

And this morning, as we walk in the shoes of John, I want to let John show us three ways that he leans into being God’s limited edition so that we can prepare the way of the Lord for other people in our life.

The first way we see John be God’s limited edition is he goes low and lifts high. John “Goes Low and Lifts High.” And so what do I mean when I say this? See, there was something else that made John great in the eyes of Jesus and it was the very fact that John did not see or consider himself as great. See, I believe you could take this whole message that I’m saying this morning and turn it into a very self-centered message.

You can go home and say, “Hey mom, hey dad. Hey honey. Hey sweetheart. You heard what the pastor said today? He said, I got to just be myself. I just got to do me and you are just going to have to deal with it.” Right? But there is no humility in that. There is no humility in that. There’s no greatness in that. And John, he did not think that way. See, John was in a position that he was starting to build a following. He was baptizing people like crazy. And he even started to gain people who referred to themselves as John’s disciples. And in Luke chapter three, everyone is expecting a messiah to come. They’re getting eager and they start to look to John and said, “John, are you the Messiah? Are you the person that we’ve been waiting for?” And look how John responds with a go low lift, high answer. This is how he answers them. He says,

“I baptized you with water, but the one who is more powerful than I am is coming. I’m not worthy to untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the water and Holy Spirit and fire.” 

(Luke 3:16)

And so what is John saying? He gives a go low lift, high answer. He says, “I know you think it’s me, but I’m telling you it’s not me. It’s Jesus.” It’s Jesus. And this is how we can be God’s limited edition. We go low and lift high. See, when people wanted to raise John the Baptist up; when they wanted to put him on a pedestal; when they wanted to get him more and more social media followers; when they wanted to put the spotlight on him; when they wanted John to buy into his own self-importance, he would always say the same thing.

“You yourselves know how plainly I’ve told you I’m not the Messiah. My calling is simply to prepare the way of the Lord.” See, it’s the bride groom who marries the bride, but it’s the best man that is simply just glad to stand there and to hear the vows. It’s that simple success that fills him with joy. And John is saying “He must become greater and greater and I must become less and less.” Jesus must become greater and greater and I must become less and less. And one day John is baptizing yet again in the Jordan River. And then the moment finally happens the moment that he has been waiting for. And it says in John 1 29, it says this,

“The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and he said, look, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” 

(John 1:29)

John finally had his moment. He said, “See, I’ve been telling you there’s one who is greater than I is coming. And here he is and he long existed before I was ever here. I told you I’m just the warmup. He’s the main event. He is the headliner, he’s the alpha, he’s the Omega, he’s the beginning, the end, the Messiah to come. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” And you and I, we have to do the exact same. He must increase, we must decrease. He must become greater and greater and we must become less and less. And see, that’s exactly what we believe here at East Side. We believe in going low and lifting the name of Jesus High.

And see, there’s a lot of people who believe that east side has a different agenda. They believe we have a social agenda. They believe we have a political agenda. They believe we have a financial agenda. They believe that we want to put people over the Lord. And I want you to hear me because I’m going to say it again. Our only agenda is Jesus!

“Our only agenda has ever been Jesus. And it will always be Jesus.” 

(Brandon Bunch)

And sometimes I believe that people feel challenged and when they feel challenged, they get uncomfortable. And God actually wants to use that uncomfortability to help you take a next spiritual step. But when we don’t want to move, we take the responsibility off us. We put it on the church and we say that they have a different agenda and that’s why I can’t move. But let me tell you, our only agenda is to go low and to let high the name of Jesus. Our job as a church, we exist to prepare the way of the Lord for other people when they come to this church.

So I want to ask this question, who is God calling you… Who is God calling you to prepare the way of the Lord for? Who is God challenging you with to lift high the name of Jesus to. Who’s God calling you to prepare the way of the Lord for? Because we exist to help people encounter Jesus. And the reason that you sit in the seat, the reason I sit in the seat that I sit in is because someone in your life prepared the way of the Lord for you. And I’ll just ask the question. So who is God calling you to prepare the way of the Lord for? And so we must go low and lift high.

The second thing that John teaches us with his life is simply to be honest with God. Be honest with God. And I don’t want to stay here too long because this is pretty straightforward. We just need to be honest with God. This is exactly how John lived his life. John was radically honest with God and God calls us to do the exact same. And some of you this morning, you just need to go be honest with God because you don’t feel like God’s limited edition.

Some of you, you need to go be honest with God because you don’t like the way that you look. You’re like, “God, I love most things, but I can’t be your limited edition. I wish I looked like this or I wish I looked like that, or they look better than me. Why can’t I look like that?” And you’re just wrestling with this. But you need to go be honest with God and say, “God, I don’t like the way that I look. I know your scripture says you don’t make any mistakes, but I’m just struggling.” And so you just need to go be honest with God this morning.

One of the small things I complain to God about all the time, and it’s unimportant to you, but it’s sometimes important to me, is I complain about how tall I am. I just go to God with how honest I am. You know why? Because I love weightlifting and every time I do a bench, a deadlift and a squat, I got a mile to go both ways. And it works against me. And it’s annoying and it’s frustrating. And sometimes as small as it is, I still with everything have to go to God. And be honest, some of you this morning, you need to go be honest with God because it is so hard for you to humble yourself and to lift high the name of Jesus. It’s hard for you to go low and to lift high. And maybe the reason that you struggle with humility, maybe the reason you’re the center of your own universe is because you’ve had to fight your entire life to get where you’re at. Maybe you’ve had to build up walls, maybe you’ve been encountered with pain and hurtful statements, and maybe people have made you feel less than what you are actually created to be. And you just struggle with humility and you need to go to God and say, “God, I’m just being honest. I struggle with humbling myself and coming before you.” John, he lives his life fully honest with God. And one of the ways we can be God’s limited edition is by being honest with God as best as we know how.

And the last thing that John teaches us about being God’s limited edition is this, “Live like you’ll die tomorrow, but die knowing you’ll live forever.” Live like you’ll die tomorrow, but die knowing you’ll live forever. And John, this is exactly what his life looked like. John was willing to die if it meant that he got to live his calling out in a life full of purpose, a life full of purpose. If he had to die for Jesus, he was up for that. He was okay with dying because he knew that Jesus was the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And so John knew that that meant his sins would be taken away too. And he knew that if it meant it cost his life, he was going to die knowing that he was going to live forever.

And so for John, the final chapter of his life, it plays out pretty extreme. It kind of plays out like a soap opera or an episode of Dateline or maybe an R rated episode of the TV show, Game of Thrones. It’s pretty intense. You got this guy who’s in a situation and it’s sick and it’s tangled, relationships, lustful, passion, drunk and deceit and violent murder. This is the way John’s life ends.

And so I want to set the scene for you before I read it, but you got this guy named Herod who was a Jewish politician. He was referred to as King of the Jews, and Herod ends up sleeping with his brother’s wife. Pretty crazy. The historian Josephus actually writes about this and it says, Herod and Herodias happen while Herod was on his way to Rome. And so Herod is on his way to Rome. He stops at his brother’s Philip’s house, sleeps with his brother’s wife. He agrees to dump his wife, she agrees to dump his brother, and they live sinisterly ever after. Alright, pretty awful. And then you got this guy, John. John being John. He speaks out against this moral corruption. He goes to Herod and he says this, “So-called Leader of God’s people. I want you to know that you’re absolutely wrong. You’re wrong for cheating on your wife. She’s wrong for cheating on your brother, and you’re absolutely wrong for what you’ve done to your own brother.”

And so Herod gets pretty frustrated with John for calling him out. And so Herod has John thrown into prison to shut him up for a little while. And then one night, king Herod, he’s throwing a big party, having way too many drinks and having way too much fun. And then Herodias, her daughter is in there dancing around the king, and it says in scripture that King Herod was pleased with the daughter. And he looks at the daughter and he says, in a drunken voice, too many shots in says, “I’ll give you anything that you want.” And he says this in front of all of his friends and family. And so the girl runs out of the room to Herodias says, “What should I ask for?” She says, “I want you to ask for John the Baptist’s head.” And so this is where our story picks up.

Mark Chapter Six. It says, at once she hurried back to the King, King Herod and said, “I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head on a platter, immediately.” Although the king was deeply distressed, he realized what he had done because of his oath and the guests, he did not want to refuse her. The king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring John’s head. And so he went, he beheaded him in prison, brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl gave it to her mother. And when John’s disciples heard about it, they came and removed his corpse and placed it in a tomb.

And when you look at the life of John, you might say, what a tragic ending to an incredible life. And it most certainly appears that way. But when John’s disciples went to go get John’s body, John was not there. He had slipped out of his flip flops into eternal life. John knew that he was willing to give up his life because he knew he was going to live forever. I love the way the apostle Paul writes about this in Philippians 1:21.

He says, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” 

(Philippians 1:21)

Meaning that we can live our lives knowing we may die tomorrow, but we can die knowing that we’re going to live forever. And when you and I can unconditionally trust God, when you know that the cross in the empty tomb has made a way for you to live forever, you can live your life knowing, “Yeah, I could die tomorrow, but when I die, I know I’m going to live forever and ever and ever.” And then you start to live your life not scared of death. You don’t fear death anymore. And when you don’t fear death, you walk in faith. And when you walk in faith, you start to take faith-filled, courageous steps. You start to really lean in that I’ve been called to prepare the way the Lord.

And so I believe that God is challenging this room this morning, and I want to challenge you this morning. Are you going to use your life, your calling to prepare the way of the Lord? Because the best way we can do that is by leaning in to being God’s limited edition, being content with who God has created to you to be. And we do that by having humility going low and lifting the name of Jesus High. We’re God’s best limited edition when we’re honest with God, when we’re fully transparent and we just tell ’em where we’re at, how we’re feeling, how we’re doing and what’s going on. We’re God’s limited edition when we can say, “I don’t know what tomorrow brings, but if I don’t wake up, I wake up in glory, I’m going to live forever.” Our life, our calling is to prepare the way of the Lord. But this morning as I close, I want to focus on this last trait that John had where he was living life knowing he could die at any moment but dying, knowing he was going to live forever.

See, I know that some of you, you’re here this morning and you can’t confidently say that. You can’t confidently say that. You’re saying, “I don’t know if I’ll live forever. I don’t know where I’m going if I die. I don’t know if I can posture that quality in my life because I’ve yet to make things right with God.” Some of you are here this morning and you can’t say that because you have yet to make Jesus the king of your life and the Lord over everything. Some of you, you can’t say that because you’ve not yet reserved your spot in heaven.

And maybe as you’ve been listening to John’s story this morning, this interesting and unique character, you feel compelled. Maybe you feel challenged, maybe you feel encouraged. Maybe you just feel eager and you’re ready to start following Jesus because you just desperately want to know this man, Jesus, that John knew so well. You want to buy the power of the Holy Spirit to become God’s best version of you. You want to live honestly with God and you want to have the confidence knowing that if I don’t wake up tomorrow, I have eternal life to look forward to.

And so if you’re here this morning, maybe you would say, “I’m ready to follow Jesus. I’m ready to make things right. I’m ready to make heaven my home. I’m ready by the power of the Holy Spirit become God’s best version of me.” It says in scripture that “Today is the day of salvation.” And what does that mean? It means simply that Jesus is saying today he is ready to adopt you in to his family. And so maybe you’re asking the question now, “How do I accept Jesus? How do I make heaven my home?” And I love that Jesus. He actually gives us an answer in John chapter three, verse three.

Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 

(John 3:3)

And so the real question becomes, have you been born again? Have you been born again? And the good news is if you haven’t been born again, that can happen right now in this very moment. And the thing I love about John’s life, because of John preparing the way of the Lord, it gives us to have the opportunity to invite Jesus into our hearts today. And so if you’re here this morning, you’re like, I want to be born again here at Eastside we say Being born again is as easy as A, B, and C.

The letter A means to “Admit.” This means to simply admit that I’m a sinner. I’m broken. I don’t have my life put together, and I cannot do it apart from God. Need to admit that you have sin in your life and you need to ask Jesus for forgiveness.

And then the letter B means to “Believe.” This means to believe Jesus is who he says that he is, that he did step out of heaven. He lived a perfect life that you and I could not live. And that he went to the cross with you and mind, and he bled for the forgiveness of your sins. And even though he went to the grave, he conquered death so that someday you can make heaven your home. You have to believe that Jesus is the real deal.

And then the letter C means to “Confess.” It means to confess Jesus as your Lord and as your Savior. You’re given Jesus full reign and access of your life that you’re no longer in control, but you give God full control.

And so if you’re here today and you would say, I want to be born again, I want to die knowing I’m going to live forever. I’m ready to make heaven my home in Jesus my savior. In a moment I’m going to ask you to do something for me. I’m going to ask you, in a moment, to raise your hand. And the reason I want you to raise your hand, and it’s not to embarrass you, but it’s simply so I can count the hands around the room so I can make sure you’re included in on the Born Again prayer. The Born Again prayer is something that we pray around here and all it does is it simply guides you to receive and seal the deal to accept Jesus into your heart.

Right now, I want to invite everyone, just bow your head. I want to make space for anyone who’s here, who’s ready to invite Jesus in. But you’re here this morning. You’ve heard John’s story. You’ve heard where he is walked, what he’s went through. You heard that his calling is to prepare the way of the Lord. Your calling is to prepare the way of the Lord, and you want to be God’s limited edition. You want to believe that wholeheartedly. But you’re here saying, I don’t know if I’ll live forever, but I want to know that I’m going to live forever.

If you’re here this morning, you say, I want to be born again. I want to make heaven my home, and I want to make Jesus my Savior. Would you just right now in this moment, just raise your hand, raise it up real high. Anyone? Got one, two, see you…

Right now. I want to invite everyone to look up the screen and together as a congregation, we’re going to read this Born Again Prayer. And the reason I believe it’s so important for us to read it together is because it’s such a beautiful reminder of what Jesus has done on our behalf. But for those two that have raised your hand, I want you to lean in and pay close attention to what you’re about to say because you’re about to make the best decision of your life. And so this is what the prayer says.

It says, “Dear Lord Jesus, I believe that you’re the son of God. I believe that on the cross you took my sin, my shame, my guilt, and you die for it. You faced hell for me so I wouldn’t have to go. You rose from the dead to give me a place in heaven, a purpose on earth, and a relationship with your Father. Today, Lord Jesus, I turn for my sin to be born again. God is my Father. Jesus is my Savior. The Holy Spirit is my helper, and heaven is now my home. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

(Sinner’s Prayer)

Can we celebrate those two? Come on. Amen.