Come on, Jesus, you are the promised provision of our lives. That you meet all of our needs according to your glorious riches, and you satisfy our desires with good things. And so in Jesus' name, may that provision be released right now into your life. If you're here and you need healing in your body, may that healing in the name of Jesus be released. If you're here and you need reconciliation in an important relationship in your life, may that reconciliation be released. If you need financial provision for the needs of your life, may those resources be released. If you need a breakthrough that's been holding you back, in Jesus' name, may that breakthrough be released into your life. If your mind is knotted up and there's anxiety and worry and depression and fear, may the Prince of Peace release shalom into every thought, into every part of your being, in every way, shape, and form. In Jesus' name, may the things you don't even know you need be released by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. May he be the one that satisfies all of your desires. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Come on, receive that in Jesus' name.

Why don't you go ahead and just grab a seat with me just for a moment, whatever campus you're at. And let me go ahead and just once again welcome you to Valley Creek. We are so glad that you are here with us today. And whatever campus you're at, come on, let's give it up for each other. If you're in Denton, let's give it up for Denton. Come on, Gainesville, let's give it up for Gainesville. How about Lewisville? Come on, everybody, give it up for Lewisville. Flower Mound, come on, everybody, give it up for Flower Mound. And how about online all over the world? We are so glad that you are here with us. We are one church that meets in multiple campuses, carrying the hope of Jesus to thousands of locations. One church, one heart, one vision, one set of values, one Lord, one King, one set of leadership, one vision that we're pursuing together. We are a unified people that meets at multiple campuses, why? So we can serve different parts of the region, so we can serve the city, so we can reach more people and develop more leaders that carries the hope of Jesus to thousands of locations. See, the church is not a building or an organization, it's a people. So wherever you are, that's where we are. So Valley Creek is in thousands of locations because wherever you are, that's where Valley Creek is. We are a Jesus-focused, spirit-filled, life-giving church, Jesus-focused. We're more focused on what Jesus has done for us than what we have to do for Him. We are not focused on religion, trying harder, behaving better, or doing more. No, we are focused on Jesus, who he is and what he has done and what that now means for us. We're spirit-filled, which simply means we want to walk in the character and the power of Jesus and we're life-giving. We want to receive and release the life of God everywhere we go. A movement of hope for the city and beyond. A whole bunch of individuals that have come together for a period of time in this life with a vision and a purpose to use what we have to bring the hope of God's kingdom into the city and beyond to see his kingdom come and his will be done. And I love where we're going. I love what we're doing. And I love how it's going in you because we are a people of movement and transformation in Jesus' name. And so, last week was Easter. We had a really beautiful Easter. Very simple, very profound, and we looked to Jesus. And so many people's lives were touched because of what we were able to do lifting up the name of Jesus. And so, if you are new or you're new today and all of this is new to you, I'm believing that in Jesus' name, He is revealing Himself to you. Sometimes we have a light switch experience and sometimes we have a sunrise experience. Sometimes literally like walking into a dark room, the light flips on and like your eyes are opened, and you just see Jesus, and it all makes sense. But then sometimes it's this slow sunrise where the sun is coming up, and things are getting brighter and brighter and clearer and clearer, whether it's a light switch or a sunrise in Jesus' name, I believe he is revealing himself to you. And for all of you that are a part of our church, I just want to celebrate you and say so many of you invited people to come to Easter last week. I think it was probably the greatest single weekend invitation that we have ever had as a church. So many of you with faith and humility just stepped out, and you invited somebody to come, and maybe they said “yes,” maybe they said “no.” And if they said “yes,” you planted, you watered, and God is going to make that thing grow. And if they said “no,” you planted, you watered, and God is going to make that thing grow. Our job is not to make it grow. Our job is to plant and to water. And what I love about Easter is Easter is really like practice for the rest of the year. See, we think Easter is the game for mission. No, Easter is the week we all practice together and remind ourselves, this is how I'm supposed to live the other 51 weeks of the year. I am on mission as a reconciler, an ambassador. I'm making disciples with Jesus in this world. So Easter lets me practice in kind of an easy setting to be like, this is how I'm called to live every day of my life as a follower of Jesus. So well done as a church, we're moving forward together.

And today is a great day because today we get to celebrate 169 baptisms across all of our campuses, all of our services. That includes 15 baptisms for the online campus from some of the most extreme and remote parts of the world like Zambia and Alaska, people getting baptized, following Jesus, just like in our physical campuses. And you say, what is baptism? Well, baptism today, those 169 people are coming forward to say Jesus is Lord and they will follow. See, here's what Jesus tells us. He says, therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you and surely I am with you always. He says, go and make disciples, a disciple, a learner, a student, a follower, one who becomes like the one they are following. And when people get baptized, what they're doing is they're saying, I've considered my ways and I've counted the cost and I've decided that Jesus is the right way, that Jesus knows what is good and what is true and what is right. And I have decided that I want to follow him through a narrow gate to an ever-widening life. And so we baptize them or we immerse them in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit. When you say in the name of, it means the reality of. So we're immersing them into the reality of the love of the Father, the grace of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit. And then when they come up out of those waters from now on, they are now learning to obey. They don't come up and they're now perfect. No, they're coming up and they're saying, this was my first step of repentance. I am now committed to a lifestyle of repentance, learning the things that Jesus did and taught and submitting and surrendering and aligning my life with those things. And I believe that he will be with me always. You see, when they go in the water, what they're saying is that I now identify with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, it's Christ who lives within me. They are now going under the water and they have died to sin and they are now alive to God in Christ. They're included in Christ. And everything that's true of Jesus is now true of them. Sin is no longer their master because they are no longer under the law. They are now under grace and they rise to a new life as beloved sons or daughters in whom the father is well pleased. You see, this is simply the gospel that we get to receive his grace, experience his presence and release his kingdom. That in Jesus, he restores our identity, reconciles our relationship with God and redeems our purpose. We become beloved sons or daughters. We run to the father and we spend our life building his kingdom instead of our own. But if I resist his grace, I'll avoid his presence and I'll spend my life building my own kingdom. If I don't know who I am, I'll have no idea who God is and I'll have no idea what I was created to do. If I live as a spiritual orphan on my own, I will be terrified of God and I will spend my life trying to build my own kingdom to make something of myself. The problem for so many of us is we start down there in circle three, purpose, and we do a bunch of stuff, try harder, behave better and find this life of significance so that maybe God will accept us so that maybe we can pay for our past. We do all this stuff so maybe we can be forgiven so that maybe one day we can become significant. But you don't have to live for approval, you live from it. You don't have to live for acceptance; you live from it. You don't have to do things to become loved, you are loved and so you're not free to do. This is why fish swim, birds fly, cows moo, dogs bark, cats meow, sinners sin. Righteous people live righteously. Beloved sons or daughters live free in their father's kingdom and people who have been baptized as a disciple of Jesus live with a burning heart in Jesus' name. Their heart comes alive. And so that's what these people are doing today.

And so just to be clear because I think it's really important for you to understand, theologically as a church, we don't drive people to a decision. We lead people towards discipleship. You say, what's the difference? Well, the difference is at Easter, we didn't at the end say, “if you want to now raise your hand, pray a prayer, sign a card, something.” There's nothing wrong with that, but that is a decision in time. What we're leading people towards is discipleship because Jesus says, follow me, not decide in me. He says, come follow me, not identify with me. He says, follow me, he doesn't say affiliate with me. He doesn't say have a moment in time and then go back to your life. He says, no, let that moment lead you to movement and now come follow me with all of your life. And for us, that's what baptism is. It's now putting faith in action. It's not just being a hearer of the word; it's being a doer of the word. Blessed are those who hear and obey. Not blessed are those who have an emotional moment and go back to their life. No, blessed are those who have a moment with God and repent in Jesus' name and say, I identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and I am now a disciple of his from this point on, a student, a learner, a follower, and I want to become like him. And so for the next few moments, here's what's going to happen. Whatever campus you're at, people are going to come and they're going to come into the waters of baptism and we're going to worship because we're going to worship and celebrate over them. We're going to remind ourselves of who God is and what he has done. And every person, when they go under and they come up, we cheer, we shout, we yell, we clap. Why? Because all of heaven is rejoicing and we're rejoicing with heaven that these people were dead, but now they're alive. They were lost, but now they're found. They were spiritual orphans with no future. Now they're God's beloved sons or daughters whom he has welcomed home. So come on, whatever campus you're at, will you stand up with me? If you're getting baptized, whatever campus you're at, come on down, you guys can get started getting in. We're going to worship, we're going to celebrate, we're going to cheer, then I'm going to come back up and pull it all together. So Jesus, we just celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ right now. And this repentance that is leading to life in your name, we celebrate. Here we go.

Come on, Jesus reigns. Jesus reigns over the past, the present, and the future. He reigns over every failure, every brokenness, every power, every principality, every secret thing, every public thing, every broken thing, every lost thing. Jesus reigns. So come on, wherever you are, will you just lift your hands with me like this, and can we just bless the people that have got baptized? Jesus, we bless them. We celebrate you. We celebrate their step of faith. We pray that they would rise to this new life in Jesus Christ, knowing that they are beloved sons and daughters in whom you are well-pleased. May today be the beginning of the rest of their life with you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Come on, one more shout of celebration. Why don't you go ahead and grab your seats. Come on, that is what a movement of hope for the city and beyond looks like. You say, what are we about as a church? What does it look like? What is our vision actually like right there? The young, the old, the rich, the poor, the least, the greatest. International foreign exchange students, every tribe, every tongue, every race, all going in to the death, burial, and resurrection and coming to new life because the cross of Jesus redeems all things and all people. This is who we are. This is what we do. May that never become common. May it never be common to worship over a resurrected life. May it never become common to see someone else repent and reflect on our own journey with Jesus. May it never become common to see the joy that arises on someone's past being cleansed and their future becoming clear. May it never be common to see the fire of God burn amongst his people. You see, this year as a church, we've been in this conversation on Fueling the Fire. If you've been here, if you've been tracking with us all spring, just this conversation on Fueling the fire, conversation. We've just been having a dialogue. We've been wrestling, thinking, kind of provoking, stoking some things with our own soul. What is the fire of God? What does it look like to host it? How do we fuel it and steward it and tend it? We want to be people who carry the fire of God, his presence, his power, and his purity everywhere we go, and so we're having this divine stirring in our church in this season. There is this hunger. There's this church that's arising. We've been having this great conversation, this great dialogue on it. Then we kind of got to spring break and Easter, and as we go into the back half of this spring, kind of from now to Memorial Day, we're moving on from “A Conversation on Fueling the Fire” to “Fueling the Fire.” We are no longer having a conversation. We are now taking action. We're no longer dialoguing and thinking and reflecting and pondering and wondering. We're acting. We're Fueling. We're now throwing some logs on the fire so they can burn in Jesus' name. So we even shifted the logo just slightly to show you that it's time to stop talking about it and start doing it. And I think there's no greater way to transition into this back half than on baptism weekend. Why? Because it's a perfect example that faith without works is dead, that we don't want to be hearers of the word. We want to be doers of the word. We want to be people that actually walk out the very things that God has commanded and called us to do. So now we're stoking and provoking the fire in such a way that is moving each of us as individuals and us as a people to fuel it in Jesus' name.

So for these next few weeks, even though you might be busy, even though there might be sports, even though it might be the end of your senior year, even though you might have a lot of travel coming up, even though it's going to be things like Mother's Day and all of that stuff, we're not stepping back, we're stepping in and we're Fueling the Fire in Jesus' name because we want to see it burn bright and hot. In fact, if you can even catch this, this is kind of random, but if you can catch this, fire starts with water. Fire starts with water. You say, how is that possible? Fire and water are opposites. Well, Jesus is called the spring of living water and the consuming fire. So which one is he? Is he the spring of living water or is he the consuming fire? The answer is yes. And when we become immersed into the spring of living water, we come up prepared to be consumed by fire. What these people just did today was basically say, I want my life to be a suitable environment for the fire of God to burn.

I got immersed into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the spring of living water. I've come up, I am now cleansed, and I am now prepared for the fire of God to burn within me. Fire starts with water when we take hold of that which Jesus has done for us. In fact, this is why we just looked at this. Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. Surely, I am with you always. This is what we're called to do. We're called to make disciples, but you can't make a disciple if you're not a disciple. And you can't baptize people into the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the power of the Spirit if you're not living immersed in the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the power of the Spirit. And you can't teach people to obey if you don't know what Jesus says and aren't living a lifestyle of repentance yourself.

And you can't help other people discover God was with them if you don't live like God is with you. We can only give that which we have received. You can only release that which you have. And so I want you to think about this. Very classic, very familiar, very important verse. And I just want to put it in fire context for you. You know what Jesus is saying here? He's saying, share your fire with others and teach them how to fuel it. You want to say, I'm called to make disciples, I don't know what that means. Here's what it means. Share your fire with others and teach them how to fuel it. You must have a fire to share a fire, and you must be fueling your fire to teach someone else how to fuel their fire. What he says is you're basically supposed to take the life of God in you, share it with the people around you, and those who are receptive to it, now teach them how to fuel that fire so it does not go out.

It's like my kids, as they grow with an actual fire, like I got to teach them, this is how you start a fire. This is how you tend it. This is how you steward it. This is what you put on it. This is what you don't put on it. This is how you protect it. This is how you watch it. This is how you keep guard over it. Okay. That's what making disciples is. It's taking the life of God within us, sharing it with those around us, and then teaching them how to fuel it. And here's the really interesting thing. If you will spend your life making disciples, immersing other people in the life of God, teaching them to obey the things that God has done, reminding them that God is with them the way that God is with you. If you spend your life giving away your fire and teaching them how to fuel it, your fire will never go out. My fire will never go out if I'm focused on helping my son build his fire and keep it alive. You know when my fire will go out? When I'm consumed with me, myself, and I. When my whole life becomes about me and what I want and where I want to go and what I want to do, guess what, my fire's going out, and it's going out real fast. But if I will, this is somehow in the kingdom of God, that is the upside-down kingdom, give and you will receive. You're like, if I give away my fire, it's going to go out. No, if you give away your fire, your fire's going to get really, really hot. You know whose fire is the hottest in this room today? The people who got in the waters with the people getting baptized because they just immersed them into the life of God. So they just literally shared their fire and now are walking with those people, teaching them how to fuel it. I promise you, find somebody that baptized someone else today, they're not going to be grumpy and selfish. They're going to be, they're burning, why? Because they just watched Jesus do what only Jesus can do. This is who we are.

This is what we're called to do. And in some weird way, fire starts with water. Why? Because baptism is like the first real step of repentance. It's like the first step of turning away from the things of this world and of faith towards God. In fact, when the first gospel was preached after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus in the book of Acts, when all things break loose and the fire of God really begins to burn, they preach the gospel. It says people were cut to the heart and I want you to look at this response. This is a little long, just stay with me for a few more minutes, okay? Look at what it says. Those who accepted his message, the message of the gospel, the good news of the kingdom were, say it with me, baptized and about 3000 were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common, selling their possessions and goods they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day, they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people and the Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved. So see if you can catch it. They hear the good news of Jesus. Their eyes are open. They see him, they get baptized. And the moment they get baptized, they come out of that water and their entire life is different. The way they live their life is different. They didn't have a church moment. They didn't have a church experience. They didn't have an emotional high. No, they were dead and now they're alive. They believe in Jesus and everything about their life is radically different. They have taken a completely different path of life. It says they devoted themselves. The word devoted means to continually do something with intense effort despite difficulty. To be devoted to something implies that it's hard to do it. So I need to be committed to it with intense effort despite difficulty to what? The apostles teaching, what is that? The word of God. They were devoted to the word of God. They read it. They meditated on it. They memorized it. They obeyed it. They declared it. They submitted it. They submitted to it. They surrendered to it, to the fellowship. They devoted themselves to godly relationships, meaningful relationships, become a part of the body of Christ and living out the one another's according to scripture to the breaking of bread. What is that? That is the broken body of Jesus. That Jesus was broken and poured out and washed our feet. This is acts of service. They became people who are willing to be broken, to be poured out, to die to themselves and wash the feet of others and to prayer. They prayed. They talked with God about the life. They were living with him. They prophesied. They contended. They interceded. They heard God's voice and obeyed. And everyone was filled with awe and wonders and signs were done. In other words, the power of God was amongst them. The fire of God burned bright and there were signs and wonders. What does signs do? Signs show you the way. And what does a wonder do? It leaves you in awe. And so the way they lived their life was so full of signs and wonders that their life showed other people the way to God and left other people in awe of the majesty and the power of God. There was this fear of the Lord, this humility, this honesty, this reverence, this sense of majesty amongst them because God was with them and they were together and had everything in common. They had this unity where they gave up their pride, their preferences, their opinions, and their rights to be unified together. And they gave. They not only tithed and gave offerings; they gave to each other. They gave goods and services and time and energy to meet the needs of the people right around them. And they met together in the temple courts. They gathered like this as a big group of people to worship, to hear the word of God, to minister to the Lord and each other. They broke bread in their homes. They got in circles all throughout the city, all throughout the week to come together and lift up the name of Jesus. They praised God. They were worshipers. They offered their lives as a living sacrifice. And the Lord added to their number daily. They lived on mission every day of the year, not just Easter and Christmas. So the moment they got baptized, here's what happened. They created a tinderbox for the fire of God to fall. The moment they got baptized, they created an environment and an atmosphere where the fire risk was set to extreme. They created a training center where people could be filled with the spirit of God and lit on fire because the atmosphere was conducive for the fire of God, not just to fall, but to be fueled, not for it to just start for it, for it to spread.

And we watch from this point on in Acts chapter two, the fire of God spread all the way to 2026 Valley Creek Church because a group of people were baptized, came up and actually lived as if they were disciples of Jesus and the environment was prepared for the fire of God to fall. So somehow in only the way God can do it, fire starts with water. The spring of living water creates an environment for the consuming fire to consume. So here's a question. If you've been baptized at some point in your life, is this how we're living? Because when I come up out of those waters, I'm now called to be devoted, continue to do things with intense effort despite difficulty. It literally implies that it's going to be hard.

It literally implies that you're going to have to go against the grain. It literally implies that your mom, your dad, your sisters, your brothers, your boss, your friends, your coworkers probably won't like it. But if I'm a disciple of Jesus, am I willing to be devoted to the word of God? Are you devoted to God's word? Do you consume it? Do you read it? Do you memorize it? Do you meditate on it? Do you obey it? Do you honor it? Is it important in your life? Are you devoted to the fellowship? Do you have meaningful relationships in this church? Godly relationships in this church? People that can tell you no. People that can say you're in sin. People that can tell you your attitude stinks and it needs to change without you getting offended, packing up your toys and running away. That's fellowship. You're like, that's not what I call fellowship. Fellowship is people telling me how awesome I am. I know that's why you don't have fellowship. Because you're not that awesome and you need somebody to tell you this ain't good. But because they love you and you love them. All right. I'll work on that. Will you help me? As we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, John tells us. Okay. You know what that means? Two people who are on fire for God have fellowship with each other. What is the light? Fire. I keep trying to say fire. As we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. True fellowship comes from two people whose hearts are burning with God. You have more in common with someone in this room whose heart is on fire than your blood and flesh relatives who don't know God. That takes devotion. The breaking of bread. Are you devoted to being broken, poured out, washing feet, serving other people, to prayer, to just talking with God about the life that you're living, prophesying, contending, interceding? Are there the power of God amongst your life, wonders and signs, things that show other people the way to God and leave them in awe of how you live your life and what he's doing among you? Do you have everything in common with us? Is there a unity amongst us and you? Like, are you willing to get over your pride? You're right, your opinions, your preferences to say the unity of the people of God in love is far superior than what I want. Do you give? Do you give not just to God? But here's the question. Have you ever given something to someone in this church? Have you ever used your goods and your services, your time and your energy to meet a need or to offer a blessing or to do something for somebody else? Do you regularly gather in the temple courts? Like, is this a priority of your life unless you're literally sick or out of town? Like, I got to be in the gathering of the people of God because this is who I am. Do you break bread in your homes? Are you in a circle of any kind where throughout the week you're actually breaking bread and being with other people, talking about Jesus and shaping and aligning your life to it? Are you praising God, living a life of worship because he is worthy of it? And is there any level of mission in your life daily, a daily hope-carrying spirit where I'm living as a disciple of Jesus on mission to change my world? There is something about people who have been water baptized that literally creates a tinderbox for the fire of God to fall. So what I'm trying to say to you is, is if we're serious about seeing the fire of God in this church, this is how we have to live. This is how we have to live. This can't be optional. This can't be like when I have time. This can't be like when my kid graduates or when my kids aren't babies anymore. This can't be like when I get married or when we retire. This can't be like when we get to summer or maybe next year when the business slows down.

If we want the fire of God to fall, we have to create the environment for it. And we have to live in such a way that fire risk becomes not low, but extreme. See, can I tell you, I think the average American church lives with fire risk low. We're not devoted. We're not really all that interested. We consume, we look for comfort, convenience. And there's a time and a place for some of those things, but not as a disciple of Jesus, not once you've been water baptized. You're like, no, I've given my life to Jesus. He has actually raised me from the dead. So I now need to live differently, fire extreme high. And so if we actually want the fire of God to fall, we, that includes you and me, me and you, let's all say it together. We, we, we, the more tender there is, the more likely the fire is to come. And we don't want pocketed fire. We want the fire of God, the presence, the power, and the purity of God to fall amongst a people who say we have a divine stirring. We are hungry for you. And if this is not only the description of the first church, it's the prescription of how the church of Jesus can live with the fire of God, then not only is this possible, it's actually expected. And remember, when you come up out of those waters, you got immersed in grace. What is grace? It's not forgiveness. It's the empowerment to do that, which you don't think you can do on your own. So I've come up with an empowering work of God on my life to go do things that I don't think I would ever have interest in doing before I was immersed into the grace of Jesus. Because you didn't, and neither did I. Because ain't no one wants to do this unless you've really seen Jesus. And so whichever parts of your heart and my heart that don't want to do this are the parts that need to look at him. Don't try harder, don't behave better, don't do more. Look at Jesus. Look at Jesus, because when you clearly see Jesus, you clearly see everything else. And all of a sudden, I want to do these things because I want to become like Jesus. I want to be with Jesus. I want to do the things that Jesus is doing. I want to be around the other people that also want that so they can help me and I can help them. Does this make sense to you?

See, here's what I'm trying to tell you. Repentance leads to repentance. But resistance leads to resistance. Repentance, baptism. One small, simple step. I'm going to turn away from the world. I'm going to turn towards God. And I'm willing to overcome my fear, my uncomfortability, a little bit of the awkwardness. I'm going to have to go in water and people are going to look at me and all the things. I get it, all the things, right? But it's practice of humility, dying to self, a little bit of repentance. Somehow that little bit of repentance of baptism led all the way to they were missionally active every day of their life. That's big repentance. That means the person in front of me at the store is more important than my agenda that day. That is like big repentance. That doesn't happen. You don't start there, you start here. And little repentance leads to more repentance. But resistance leads to resistance. What do I mean by that? The people who did not get baptized and thought that the apostles were drunk and made fun of them, they resisted this moment and they become the very people that persecute the church of God throughout the rest of the book of Acts. If you would have asked those people in that moment, are you going to throw a stone at someone and try to kill them? They'd be like, no, that's crazy. I'm a good person, I'd never do that. How did they become that person? Because little resistance will eventually lead to greater resistance. You attract who you are and you acquire more of what you already have. You will always attract who you are and you will always acquire more of what you already have. You say, what does that mean? That means if you are a repentance person, you will attract repentance into your life. If you are a resistant person, you will attract resistance into your life. If you are a forgiving person, you will acquire more forgiveness in your life. If you are an offended person, you will always acquire more offense in your life. This is why Jesus says, consider carefully what you hear, the measure you used, it will be measured to you. He says, whoever has will be given more. Whatever you have, you're going to get more of that thing. And he says, whatever you do with the little will determine what kind of much you get. So whatever I do in these spaces is what comes back into my life. You say, what does that mean? Give me an example. Here's an example. If I repent and I forgive somebody who hurts me, you know what I just attracted into my life? Compassion and mercy and grace and kindness and love and gentleness. If I hold onto that offense of that person that hurt me, what do I attract into my life? Bitterness and discord and judgment and slander and gossip. If I repent and step out in generosity and do something God's asking me to do, I've just attracted peace and compassion and servant-heartedness and blessing into my life. But if I'm greedy, what do I attract into my life? Hiding and hoarding and hating and stealing and lying and cheating. If I have repentance and I step out, what do I attract into my life? Faith, hope, and love. But if I'm resistant to what God's asking me to do, what do I attract into my life? Doubt, despair, and hatred. Does this make sense to you? You don't get to big repentance moments by skipping over all the little ones. You get to big repentance moments by doing all the little ones. He who's been faithful in the little can be entrusted with much. There are big repentance moments in your life and mine that God's not even able to entrust us with yet. That's mind-blowing if you can catch that. You say, doesn't God just want us to repent on everything? Yes, there are some revelations that is so far out there from where you and I are, he can't even begin to share it with us yet because we're not faithful to just do the thing that's right in front of us. Repentance leads to repentance. Resistance leads to resistance. One simple thing. Look at what it unlocked. The tinderbox for the fire of God to fall. May that be for us. Repentance attracts fire is what I'm trying to tell you. And so maybe you're here and you don't know Jesus. I believe that if you keep coming, he's going to reveal himself to you. And maybe you're here and you say, I know Jesus, but you haven't been baptized. It's time, it's time. Repentance, go in that direction. Let us help you come up to a new life so you can be prepared for the consuming fire of God. And if you have been baptized, this is what my life looks like. And if not, here's the good news about being baptized. It was a step of repentance and maybe you got a little off track. You're always one step away from being back on track. It's the beauty of the grace of God. You are never more than one step away from being totally back on track with the life that God has for you. It just requires humility and faith and brokenness.

See, this is Jesus. Jesus is the message. He's the one who we're baptized into. He is devoted above all things to us, no matter what. He is the word of God. He has fellowship with the Trinity, invites us into it. He is the bread that was broken so that we might live. He is the one who is interceding for us. He is the only one who does wonders and signs. He is the God of unity, bringing all things together in him. He's given us everything that we will need for life and godliness. He is always gathering with his people. He shows up where two or three are gathered all over the city. He is the one whom we worship, and he is the only one who can bring people unto himself, people who are dead that are now alive. This isn't just like an arbitrary thing. This is the life of Jesus. And so let me close with this. If you've seen this, we say there are 10 foundational steps that we hope everyone takes as a journey, as a disciple on their journey with Jesus. And you say, well, those are, that's cool. That's this thing. You just like made it up. Ready? Ready? And then I'm done. This is the tinderbox. Salvation, those who accepted his message, all out of Acts 2, were baptized, baptism. They gathered together in temple courts, worship. They broke bread in their homes, circle. They were devoted to the apostles' teaching. What is that? The word of God, the reading plan. They were devoted to reading the word of God. They were devoted to breaking of bread, to being broken, to wash the feet and serve other people and be poured out. They gave to everyone as they had need. The Lord added to their number daily, those who are being saved, inviting people to be a part. The apostles were their leaders. There were leaders in the space, growing as leaders. And practice plan, you say, got you, that's not where it is. Nope, devoted. Devoted, continue to do something with intense effort despite difficulty. That's a practice plan. That's a plan that I built together to train myself to become someone that I am not. So if we want the fire of God to fall, Acts 2 sets it up and says, burn, baby, burn. Fire starts with water in Jesus' name. So maybe for you today, maybe their repentance can lead you to repentance because repentance leads to repentance and it doesn't even have to be our own, but it inspires us to move towards God so that the fire of God can burn amongst us.

So Jesus, thank You for today. Thank You for what You're doing. We want to be a people who fuel the fire. So in Your name, we say, it's no longer a conversation – it is now an action. We follow these people who have walked into the waters today, and their repentance inspires us towards our repentance. I pray for every one of us in this room, every one of us watching online, that we would take one simple step to create an environment where the fire can fall. And if you say I've done all 10 of those, then awesome. Share your fire with someone else and teach them how to fuel it. In Jesus' name, may the fire of God fall.