R1159 Follow Jesus’ Example

In this day and age, following brothers, following on social media or just keeping up with someone important part of and so it's a very important decision to decide who are we going to follow. Now this is the obvious type of phone Dr. Don Wilton eyes are doing and blessed by or follow our ministry at tewonline.org you will see all the social are important concept as we following Jesus and following his example. That's today's topic follow Jesus example to Matthew chapter 3 just a moment with Dr. Don Wilton, author, evangelist, seminary professor and pastor today as we open God's word and another were open to pray with you anytime 866-899-WORD is our phone number 866899673 or online TE W online OR all that we are coming in your presence to same thing. Real presence of the living God. Father, we we don't want to try and explain what is going on. We know mold in right here today as we worship you right from the outset we just sensed the powerful moving of God's presence.

We know Lord that Jesus Christ has an Encouraging Word every single person because Jesus Christ is the son of the living God, the one who came in full and complete obedience to the father gave his life for us that we might have life and father.

Today we we just believe with all of our hearts we know that you are here by your spirit you moving. We don't want to interrupt your presence. We don't we don't want to get in the way, Lord, I don't want to get in the way. I don't even want to say anything will be anything more think I'm anything I want to be out of the way so that you can be in the way we we don't want to be about the business of thinking and doing and being. We just want to be obedient to you because we love you today because you love us, we could never love you the way you've loved us your God on the cross for us and when we came to you and responded to you by repenting about certain by putting our faith and not trusting you with grateful Lord Jesus Lord I'm so grateful today for Bobby sitting on death row. Just 29 years of age about to be executed right now.

This week Davey's heart to Jesus, listening to The Encouraging Word that came from this place in his spite into that prison cell on death row guilty of crimes against humanity. But Paul by the son of God at this moment, people everywhere crying out to you marriages on the rocks. People had been married for 40 and 50 and 60 years looking for meaning and purpose. Single mothers crying out for somebody some way to help them homeless people who have nowhere to live and delay their heads at night people recovering from addictions. Right now there's someone right now stuck on heroin addicted to pain tablets. Lord we celebrate recovery in Christ today as we come into this place. We come to worship you, we come to call upon your name together.

We come to cry out to you for mercy.

We have people today were coming to follow you and believers baptism for no other reason than you did you lead the way we follow you in baptism for no other reason then we love you and we're obedient to you and we dainty file with you less this time of worship might be a hello to experience because of the hallowed presence about hallowed heavenly father which art in heaven, we hello your name together.

All because of Jesus, in whose name we pray these things a man take your Bibles reach out. Get your Bible, we got to be in Matthew chapter 3 want to just simply say this to you, Jesus arrived on the earth. He was born in Bethlehem.

Many grew up as a boy, and he began his ministry and the very first thing that Jesus did the very first thing that Jesus did was he went and was baptized. Have you been baptized, the way Jesus was baptized. Not every body I want to say this to you. I have given my heart to Jesus. I being baptized and I want to do it the way Jesus did it. Anything less would of been given to me by what Jesus did on the Jesus follow-up Jesus lives in my heart and I love him. I can't imagine why he would love me. Why would Jesus, the son of God who is God, why would Jesus go and be baptized by immersion by John the Baptist who was in all three smelly fellow.

Surely if anybody could've done at some other way. Jesus would've done it and he didn't need to get baptized because Jesus is God, but everything Jesus did was an example for us and I read to you in God's house. What the Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 3 and beginning in verse 13 Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him saying I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me, Jesus replied, let it be so now it is proper for us to do this in order to fulfill all righteousness.

But alas he's talking about is the four of them.

He's talking about for persons that that's who the us is and we got a picture of all four of them.

Person number one is God the father and we hear from him from heaven. Picture number two is God the son, we see him being baptized picture number three is God the spirit we watch him.

According to the Scriptures, descending like a dove and picture number four is sinful man, John the Baptist. The us refers to all four persons in baptism by immersion incorporates man into a holy and triune God look what happened.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water at that very moment, heaven was opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him and a voice from heaven saying this is my son, whom I love, and with him I'm well pleased by the Lord. Write this word upon our heart. I love that passage of Scripture where Jesus said, suffer the little children come to me, and forbid them not, such is the kingdom of heaven. Please forgive the interruption will be back with the rest of today's message from Dr. Don Wilton follow Jesus example Dr. Don wants me to remind you this is not just a presentation. It's a conversation already been praying with friends both file on the website of tewonline.org G by the phone line that 866-899-WORD for you have those as resources stored in your cell jotted down 866-899-WORD 9673 will connect with one of us having to connect with wonderful resources to find our website right now, but Dr. Wilson's friend Charles Colson, my final. It's a powerful opportunity to connect with a resource that will strengthen your faith on our website right now@tewonline.org or futuristic similar pray for you were here as well that 866-899-WORD that's 866-899-9673 if you haven't heard about the latest book from Dr. Don Wilton. It's a powerful powerful book call Saturdays with Billy. Hello everyone I'm gone and I know that most people in God identified Dr. Billy Graham is the man who preached the gospel to millions of people around the world, friend of presidents and prime ministers, queens and kings. What was Mr. Brian Locke I had the privilege of knowing Mr. Brian both rain and as over the years I would drive every seven visit him right there in Amy's phone line we'd sit walking about families faith all the thing friends share with each other. My friendship with Mr. Brian change model and it is my that some of the story in Saturdays with glaciers will God bless again that's one of many great resources you'll find on our website@twonline.org about today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton and just a word by the way, to all you moms and dads off. Some of you that have a big?

Right now because you might have a teenager, a college student in quite frankly, you've got some serious questions about them and their relationship with the Lord.

Bible says you train up a child in the way he or she should go and when they are old they will not depart from it. By the way, that would hold doesn't mean when I get to my age, which means you are sentenced to another 40 years of wandering.

Note the word old day literally means when they come to the years when they get to that point they will not forget the things that you have instilled in them concerning the Lord Jesus parents. I love you and I thank God for you and I thank you for the time and the effort and I encourage you to keep on keeping on, loving, insisting your children are in church bring them, keep teaching them living out Christ in the home.

It's a wonderful wonderful privilege what some of you might not be fully aware of this but we have a wonderful ministry in our church called the Sunshine club and the Sunshine club is a ministry to adults who have special needs and sorry folks, I get choked up when I think about this ministry I'm just telling you we've got some of the most precious people in our community that have family members who have very special needs and circumstances in their lives. And there are some parents who for years and years and years have brought up sons and daughters who are still in their home and that they care for and love that have special needs and circumstances and we have a wonderful ministry in our church called the Sunshine club and that they meet in worship every Saturday and it is really quite remarkable, and yesterday we had a baptismal service in our Sunshine club with some of our very special friends who have trusted Jesus and who have lost to follow the Lord Jesus and believe is baptism and I if you have someone that you know is out there that maybe they don't even know that there is a place for them. Please tell them about Larry about this incredible ministry.

If any of you would like to come when the Sunshine club meets. I promise you you you will be greatly blessed. I mean you talking about worship folks and it's very special and I forget they were 609 obtain something like that baptized yesterday that followed the Lord Jesus and thank you so much water. What a wonderful joy. This is this is what you are part of folks this this is what this is what you doing this is what God is doing through God's people and it's very precious.

Do you know that all over the world.

There are people following Jesus obediently in the waters of baptism all over the world everywhere is you worship the Lord with us there still time for you. That's what the Bible tells us believe in the Lord and be baptized Jesus did it, and we follow his example. When you follow his example you doing what he did. Your identifying with the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus not tell you what I could really unpack all of this for you. The bottom line is just obedience. It's just obedience in our prayer meeting with the ministry team.

This morning I made a statement I said it's like falling in love with that man will that lady saying I love you and I want to marry you or I want to ask you to marry me, but I don't want to identify with you. I don't want to spend any time with you and Jesus who gave his life for us stood in the water. Took John Cena he identified with John the sinful man and Jesus laid the way God spoke from heaven, and said you see this that's my son. You see what's going on. This is pleasing with me and we are called to obey him. I just want to praise the Lord unto folks. I'm tell you I'm at that point in my life. I just want Jesus to count. I just want I just want the Lord to be pleased with me. I just want to give everything to him.

How about you I'm an invite you today to trust Jesus as your Savior and invite you to give your heart and life to him. I'm going to invite you to step out for him. I'm going to invite you to follow him and believe is baptism and I'm going to encourage you. I want to encourage you not because of Don but because of what Jesus did, because of what the word teaches because of what God calls us to do.

You can do this, don't put it off for many people, folks, this is the missing link. You know it it's the missing link. Don't don't don't believe that out follow him and trust him, love him, be sold out to him the joy that you receive is is unsurpassed.

We've celebrated the presence of the Lord in the beauty of his holiness. We've come together to worship him and delay our lives before even today in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I invite you to rise up and walk on by you to turn your life over to Christ, I invite you to make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior trusting him because he loves you. He died for you and he cares for you.

I invite you to follow him in all your ways acknowledge him, he will direct your paths. Folks, we are building orphanages in South Africa. There are hundreds of thousands of orphans all over Africa, millions of them all of African South Africa in this area. You remember the statistics. A lot of the time but it's like to 300,000 minutes. It's it's a huge and we are building the small orphanages they that house about six boys and girls working with Hoppe Pohlman and we been over probably five or six times already already have built a number of these, and God is doing.

This is part of the team that's about to leave and go they wanted me to come to interpret them, but I'm going to prison.

I'm going up I'm going to be with our young. I'm going in our young people. I need an interpreter with young people by the way, I need someone to help interpret for me so I will just have a good time to get that. But we love them. They got along fine clothing God's going to give them grapefruit and we can't wait to get all the response back out. They take you to name Park possibly all you gotta do is look at one of those lines and say remember Don Wilton and then you gotta run, but it and you gotta run. All right, you gotta run like crazy. I promise you. So to today when we pray we are asking the Lord to watch over you please hand upon you and give you wonderful grace and peace and fruit for your ministry. You gotta absolutely love it and I'm telling you to work over there with those people.

Those all the cause of people. Can you say that because of no closer everybody say this with me closer, closer someone spitted me closer XHO SA closer closer. That's why cycle, insert table closer… I closer, because I know not not close, closer to just type with one is not, number, I tell you folks say something I'm good at but I'll never teaches boy how to talk property name that stand for, pray, showing our father, thank you so much for just incredible time today. What a wonderful time of worship.

Lord, all of that is about worship. Everything we do in the church is about worship.

Everything we do doesn't matter we worshiping you because everything about the church is to do with you. It's only about you and father. Today we are praying with celebrating with thanking you for Ben for his leadership. Keep your hand upon them. This incredible team. I wish I was going with them. Lord, father, what an incredible thing to think we can pray together we think of those little boys and girls without parents and what a difference one church can make thank you, last name, and God them and keep them watch over them. We pray Lord Jesus, now part us with your blessing in Jesus name, amen. You heard the powerful teaching of Dr. Don Wilton, the pulpit, as he stepped in the studio.

Open your heart to what he wants to share next you just a moment ago you prayed with me to receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart and life.

I rejoice with. But there again.

Maybe you hesitated just for a second that second divides you from all time and eternity.

Do it now pray with me right now. Dear God, I know that Jesus loves me and that he got on the cross for me, I give my heart and life. Faith. I repainted my sin and I receive you into my pray this in Jesus, my friend, if you prayed that prayer I just welcome you with the love of Jesus, you see a number on the screen.

You can make thing with us throughout where I want to be able to sustain that right hand brother sister got base you need to know that Dr. Wilson's commitment to connect with you is passionate, the very first thing we did and we began his ministry years. It was Dr. Don said we must have a phone number that people can call it must be answered 24 hours a day and we do 866-899-WORD is answered 24 hours a day. Happy to pray with you fully happy to connect with resources that will help you grow in your faith and if today you gave your life to Jesus for the very first time for today. You rededicate your life to Christ. Dr. Don Wilton has special resources. He wants you to have absolutely free. If you call us number again is 866899 were. That's 866-899-9673 we can connect our website as well@tewonline.org that's TEW online.org and while you're on our website.

I would encourage you to sign up for the daily Encouraging Word email is a powerful bit of insight about a nugget of God's word and will literally launch your day or put a bow on the end of your day. Whatever you decide to read in the most wonderful way again. You can sign up for the daily Encouraging Word email from Dr. Wilton on our website@tewonline.org, G.

And before you get away closing thoughts of our pastor and chief encourager Dr. Don Wilton thank you for your partnership with The Encouraging Word, God's doing great and wonderful things I want you to know that right. I want to pray for you right now. In fact, you can see that number on the television screen.

We've got people 24 seven. Praying for you. You can pray requested any time, let me pray for you right now. Dear God, I want to pray for my precious friends right now and for someone is spatially in need of prayer, Lord Jesus, please touch them touch their lives and be a blessing to them today in every way and I pray this in the strong and wonderful name of the Lord Jesus.

Amen our times. Dr. David O tomorrow. Dr. Wilton has a powerful message and store from the book of acts chapter 26 call the power of a personal testimony. It will be life-changing.

I hope you will not only join us but invite a friend to join as well will discover all the ways to connect on our website@tewonline.org G that's T EW online.org