Ephesians 1:14

Christ alone. Amen. A good reminder. Christ alone, the cornerstone. Weak made strong in the Savior's love through the storm. He is Lord, Lord of all.

Happy New Year to you all. Welcome to Cross Connection. We're glad you're here. While you're standing, let's just take a minute and pray for the new year together. So would you pray with me?

Father, we thank you that you alone are the one who is our foundation. Jesus, you are the steadfast cornerstone. We pray, God, that every one of us here today has our lives built upon that solid rock.

Lord, when the storms of this life come—and they will come—it is certain we will experience storms and difficulties as we look forward to 2016. We do pray for great things, that you would do great things in each of our lives through our lives. However, we know that many of us will navigate through trials and difficulties, and there will be storms in this coming year.

We pray that our lives would be firmly fixed and founded upon that cornerstone, God, that we would stand strong for your glory by your strength. It is not any strength in ourselves, but we are founded on the rock that is you, Jesus Christ. No other foundation can be laid but you.

So, God, would you do a work in us? We pray for 2016 as many people start the work year tomorrow and as many will be going back to school. We have all kinds of things that will be going on in each of our lives in this coming year—good works that you prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

We pray that this would be a year lived in closer communion with you, a year where we draw closer to you than we ever have before, and that our lights shine brighter for you in this world that you've called us to be—a bright, shining light.

Lord, do a work in each of our lives. We dedicate 2016 into your hands. We pray, God, that you would work through our lives in such a way that we would see those people that...

We've been praying for years for people to come to faith in You, Lord. We ask that we would see individuals in our families, co-workers, friends, and neighbors who have yet to put their faith in You, and that this would be the year. Lord, we ask that You draw people to Yourself here at Cross Connection, and that we would be a beacon of truth, hope, grace, and joy. So, God, work in and through our church. Bless this body of believers that pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, Amen. You can be seated.

At the end of 2012, I was invited by my friends at Calvary Chapel Bible College to teach a new class they were going to offer to the student body called Church Planting. I had to laugh a little bit when they called me and asked me to teach this class because I had never taught before. Not only had I never taught that class, but I also hadn't planted a church. It was kind of funny to say, "Hey, would you come teach this class on church planting?" I thought, well, I haven't taught it, and I haven't planted the church.

I was given the opportunity and privilege in 2008 of becoming the pastor of this church, but this church was planted many years before that as a solid, healthy, established church. Over the last several years, as I shared last week, I have had the privilege of ministering to many church planters through a ministry called the Calvary Church Planting Network. I inherited that ministry from my good friend, Daniel Fusco. He started it just as a website in 2007, and after planting three churches, he was asked to take over a church in Vancouver, Washington. When he did, he said, "Here, you helped me rebuild this website. Why don't you just take it over?" So I kind of just inherited it.

A couple of years after that, the Bible college asked me to come teach this class. For the last few years, I have had the privilege of teaching church planting there, and I will be starting it again in the beginning of February. Every single year when I teach this class, I spend a considerable amount of time talking about vision—about developing and implementing vision as a church planter and as a pastor for a church. The reality is that every organization—a school, a business, a church—needs to have a clearly stated, understandable, and implementable vision. It is the vision that defines what that organization is about, but it also directs what that organization does.

When I became the pastor of this church, something that was very big on my heart and mind was the aspect of what the vision of our church is. I have spent the beginning of every year for the last eight years talking about vision here at our church, but throughout the year, I discuss it quite a bit. The vision of our church, like any Bible-believing and gospel-preaching church, is focused on preaching the gospel to people who haven't heard it yet and equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. However, our stated vision, which defines who we are and directs what we do, is a little bit more than that.

If you've been a part of this church for any length of time, you've probably heard it or at least seen it on the front of our bulletin. It is also present on your sermon guide this morning. Our vision is simply life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. Those are twelve simple words, but over the next three Sundays—today and the two that follow—I want to spend some time talking about our vision as we go into this year, looking forward to God working this out in our lives in a greater way.

Before we step into this, I want to give a little bit of background. When I became the pastor of this church in 2008, it was called Calvary Chapel of Escondido. Some of you were part of the church for many years, even before I became the pastor. At that time, our stated mission was three words: win, disciple, and send. We had just adopted those three words from a sister church down in San Diego called Horizon Christian Fellowship, where Pastor Mike McIntosh had been the pastor for over forty years. He handed the church off to his son Phillip last year and is no longer pastoring Horizon in San Diego. For years, their stated mission or vision was win, disciple, and send. We took that as ours, and it was on some literature here at the church, but it wasn't something we talked much about. It was an aspect of who we are and what we did.

When I became the pastor of Calvary Chapel of Escondido in 2008, we tweaked it just a little bit. We changed the words, but it was really just the same: know, grow, go. For several years, that was the vision statement or mission statement of our church. Then, in 2012, you may remember we changed our name from Calvary Chapel of Escondido to Cross Connection Church. When we did, that kind of changed, in my mind at least, the concept of what we were about.

And how we were reaching our community. Like I said, every single year for many years, I have begun the year for at least three or four weeks talking about the vision of our church. In 2014, I did a series at the beginning of the year called "Life in Connection." Just about three or four weeks after we finished that series, I was visiting my friend Daniel at his church, Crossroads Church, up in Vancouver, Washington.

We were talking about Cross Connection Church and sharing with him the things that were going on, discussing the vision. I mentioned "know, grow, go," and he looked at me and asked if I liked that vision. I replied that I hadn't really thought too much about it. We started to talk, and I shared with him about the series I had just taught, "Life in Connection." He stopped me a few minutes into it and said, "That sounds to me like that's your vision: life in connection."

As I was leaving his house and driving away, I thought about it more and more. Those words came to my mind: "life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus." Why do we exist? To live life in connection. When you say that to someone, they might ask, "Connection with what?" Well, connection with God, one another, and the world. That's nice, but how do you connect with God, one another, and the world? Well, through Jesus.

In those twelve words—"life in connection with God, one another, and the world"—we answer why we exist, what we're doing, and how we do that. The goal in all of this is that we want to live life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. Jesus came to make that possible, to make that a reality.

If you have your Bible, you can open up to the Gospel of John in the New Testament. If you don't have a Bible, raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. The Gospel of John is right after Matthew, Mark, and Luke, just before the book of Acts, nearing the end of your Bible.

Let's look at John chapter 10. For some of you, this may be a familiar verse; if you've never heard it before, that's no problem. John chapter 10, verse 10. Pardon me, I picked up a cold. Does anyone else have a cold? As you can see, we're having a hard time letting go of the holidays here. We've got some holiday weight we need to lose over here.

John 10:10 says, "The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." This is one of Jesus's stated reasons for coming. This isn't the only one.

There's a few of them in the Gospel. He came to seek and to save the lost, but this one here is powerful: I have come that you may have life and that you may have it more abundantly. In contrast, there is a thief. We'll talk about him in just a few minutes, but there is a thief, a deceiver who has come, and his intent, his goal, is to steal and to kill and to destroy.

The sad reality is that every human being lives a robbed life, a life that has been robbed of what God created us to experience and to know. But Jesus says, I have come that you may have life and that you may have it more abundantly; that you may have it more fully—a fulfilling life, a better life, a satisfying life, and an enduring life. Ultimately, it is an eternal life. That's what Jesus came to bring.

As I read through the Scriptures and as I teach through the Bible, I am more and more convinced all the time that point number one on your outline, the sermon guide, is there in your bulletin: point number one, the abundant life is the connected life. The abundant life is the connected life. Or said another way, life in connection with God and one another is the abundant life.

In the beginning, at the very beginning of creation, we were fashioned; we were created to live that life, to live that abundant and fulfilling connected life. It's described for us in the very first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis. In fact, turn there if you would. Aren't you glad when the pastor says turn to Genesis, not Zephaniah?

Genesis chapter one, the very first book of the Bible. If you are one who tries to read through the Bible in a year, then you may have started just a couple of days ago in Genesis chapter one in the Bible reading programs. Verse one: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. And then God said,

Let there be light. And there was light. In these opening three verses of the Bible, we are introduced to the Creator God. But not only the Creator God; we are also introduced to God the Spirit and God the Living Word. In these opening words, we are introduced to a concept, a doctrine that is central to the Christian faith: the doctrine of the Trinity. This is the belief that there is one God who exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Here in this passage, we see the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Living Word.

In the beginning, God the Father created the heavens and the earth, and the Spirit of God was there over this creation, looking at it. Then God the Living Word said, "Let there be light." And there was light. Over the next twenty or so verses, we see God speaking into creation everything that we see, and even the things that we don't see. This is referred to as the six days of creation. At the end of each of those days, God beholds all the things that He had created and made, and He says, "It is good."

As He fashioned and formed all the planets and the stars, as He created all the plants and animals, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and every beast of the field, He beholds them and says, "It is good." Then we come to the final day of creation, the sixth day. We read in Genesis chapter one, verse twenty-six, that the triune God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness."

Let us—do you just reach over and circle in your neighbor's Bible? Us. "Let us make man in our image and our likeness." Who is the "us"? Who is the "our"? Well, it is the Father, the Living Word, and the Spirit—the triune God living in community, experiencing oneness and connection as one God existing in three persons. He says, "Let us make man in our image."

You see, we were created uniquely among all the things that God made. This is such an awesome truth, especially in the world and culture in which we live today, a culture that says that all of us are just animals, like every other animal. We just kind of evolved over millions and millions of years.

From the goo to the zoo to you. I didn't make that up; I just borrowed it. But that's what we're told: you have no intrinsic worth or value, no intrinsic dignity or worth, because you just evolved from nothing. That's not what the Scriptures reveal.

God, the Creator—magnificent, almighty, powerful, awesome—said, "Let us make man in our image." He did not say that about zebras and goats. You are created uniquely by God. What is this that He desired or designed to create us in His image? In some way, we are like God. Not perfectly, not completely like God, but there are certain aspects of our makeup and the way we have been created that reflect Him.

We have, like He does, intellect, emotion, and will. We possess the ability to fashion, form, and create. We are those who manipulate and change our environment, making new things from what we have. You don't see any other creature doing that. Why? Because God created us in His image and likeness. One of the ways in which He formed us in His image and likeness was to be in connection with Him and with one another.

"Let us make man like us," He said, "to experience this oneness of relationship and to be together." God created you. He created me. He created us to be in communion with Him and in community with one another. He did not intend for us to be separate from one another.

How do I know that? It's revealed in the very next chapter of the Bible. Turn to Genesis chapter two and look at verse 18. Among all the good things that God created, we find the first negative statement: "And the Lord God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.'"

It's not good that man should be alone. You see, it's not that it was evil; it was just incomplete. As God looked at His creation, there was an incompleteness, something that needed to be changed or made right. So He said, "It's not good that man should just be there by himself." And all the ladies in the house say, "Amen!" That's right. So He said, "I'll make him a helper comparable to him."

So the story goes on, and God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. God took from his side—many English translations say a rib—and fashioned a woman, bringing her to the man. From one, God made two for the purpose that He would join them together as one. It is not good that man should be alone, and so God designed us to be together. In the very beginning, He created us to experience this.

Point number two on your outline: we were created to live in communion with God and in community with one another. That is God's original intent. We were made for connection.

Well, then what's the problem? Like any great story, and the greatest story ever told here in the Scriptures is no different, there is always a problem. The third chapter of the Bible, Genesis, reveals that problem. It is not good that man should be alone. So true is that, that the first command God ever gave is found in Genesis 1:28. He said to humanity that He had created, "Go be fruitful and multiply; make more, because you are not to be alone."

But though we were created for connection, Genesis chapter three introduces the problem. The third chapter of the Bible describes the fall of humanity. You see, there, when God created, it says that He formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his mouth the breath of life, and man became a living soul, a living being. Then, from one, He made two and created a garden east of Eden, placing man there. He said, "This is for you, a gift for you. Of all in this garden, there are trees, and you may freely eat of all of them except for one. In the midst of the garden, there is one called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and you shall not eat of that tree, for in the day you eat of it, you shall surely experience death."

Why did God make this tree? Well, again, God desired to have connection with us, to have a relationship with us. We know and recognize that for there to be genuine relationship with someone, there has to be the option for not having that relationship.

That relationship requires a choice. God did not design and create us to be robots, where we would automatically be connected to Him and never have any choice. He made the option, the opportunity, to not have that connection. There was that option, represented by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He said, "In the day that you eat of it, you shall experience death." What is death? It is separation; it's disconnection.

In Genesis chapter three, we have the story of Eve beholding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A deceiver came, referred to as the serpent, and he spoke to her, asking, "Can you eat of all the trees in the garden?" She replied, "Well, we can eat of all of them except for that one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We were not supposed to eat of it, nor shall we touch it, or else we'll die." The serpent, the deceiver, the devil, said, "You shall not surely die, for God knows that in the day that you eat of it, you will become like Him, knowing good from evil."

The Scriptures say that when Eve saw that the tree was good and pleasurable to the eyes, and she figured it probably would taste good, she found it desirable to make one wise like God. She took and ate, and then she gave it to her husband. Their eyes were opened. Just prior to that, at the end of Genesis chapter two, the very last verse states that when Adam and Eve were joined together as husband and wife, they were naked and not ashamed. However, immediately when their eyes were opened, they beheld their nakedness and tried to cover it. Fear and shame entered in, leading to a separation between man and his wife.

There was a division between humanity, a disconnection that not only affected relationships among people but also created a separation between humanity and divinity. In Genesis chapter three, verse nine, it says that God came into the garden looking for Adam and asked, "Adam, where are you?" The connection that was once there was lost. God designed us to live in communion with Him and in community with one another, but sin came in and destroyed that connection.

Point number three: sin brought disconnection. This is the condition we all live under—7.4 billion of us, and everyone who has ever lived.

Every human being, whether born before or to be born in the future, is born into a condition of separation. We were created to live life in community with one another and in communion with God. Yet, this was lost in Genesis chapter three because of the fall, and that loss has spread to every one of us. In Romans chapter five, verse 12, the Apostle Paul in the New Testament states that through one man, through Adam, sin entered the world, and death through sin. Death spread to all humanity.

That separation, that division, that disconnection is what we all experience. Yet, there is a residual desire for connection within each one of us. Every human being desires a connection to the divine, communion with divinity, and community with one another. This desire for communion with divinity is why religion is so significant among all peoples. Every person is religious, and even those who object and say, "I'm non-religious" or "I'm one of the nuns"—not nuns in the traditional sense, but those who lack faith—still hold a religious commitment to whatever philosophy they embrace. Many times, this philosophy is rooted in scientific reasoning or other ideologies. They are trying to find a connection to something deeper, something greater.

It is interesting to note that one of the greatest spokespeople for this idea in the last 50 years is Carl Sagan. Even Carl Sagan, before he died, aimed to find extraterrestrials, believing there must be something more. This desire to be connected to something greater is inherent in all of us.

Sin brought disconnection, though we were created to live in communion with God and community with one another. Every human being yearns for this connection. This is why we seek opportunities to connect with each other. Quite frankly, this is why something like Facebook is so popular. If Facebook were a nation, it would be the largest nation in the world, with more than a billion unique users each month. I believe the number is around 1.6 billion users. Why is this? Because we yearn for connection.

In the stupidest ways, we often find ourselves yearning for connection. Every human being is searching for a connection to Jesus. Let me tell you, there's good news. Point number four on your outline: Jesus came to restore the broken connection.

You know what that means? If you know Jesus, if you're a follower of Jesus today, you have the answer that everyone is looking for. Jesus came to restore the broken connection. If you would turn in your Bibles, you're in the book of Genesis. Turn near the back of your Bible to the book of Romans.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, then Romans, chapter five. I quoted from Romans 5:12 just a moment ago: "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and death spread to all humanity." Look at Romans chapter five, verse 17. Paul the Apostle writes, "For if by one man's offense, if by one man's sin, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ."

What is Paul talking about? The one who sinned, bringing death, was Adam, as noted in Genesis chapter three. The one who brings grace and the gift of righteousness is Jesus Christ. Therefore, in verse 18, as through one man's offense, Adam, judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation, even so, through one man's righteous act, Jesus, the free gift came to all men resulting in justification of life.

For as by one man's disobedience, Adam, many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. Through one man, sin, death, and disconnection entered the world.

Separation came to all humanity. But then, through one man, 2,000 years ago, Jesus came to restore the broken connection through His righteous act. Through His death on the cross, His burial, and resurrection, He destroyed sin and death by raising to life and making the way open for you and me to come into life.

I'm kind of reading backwards; I'm dyslexic. Romans 5:6 says, "For when we were still without strength, in due time"—or another translation says "at just the right time"—"Christ died for the ungodly." The picture that comes to my mind is like in a movie where there is a person hanging onto a ledge, their fingers just about to give way. They are without strength and about to fall. Then, at just the right time, someone comes over the cliff and grabs them. You know, like Sylvester Stallone saying, "I got you!" At just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

He uses the word "reconcile" three times: reconcile, reconcile, reconciliation. We hear this word quite a bit in our culture today. There are researchers in American culture who say that, as we approach 2016, we are living in one of the most divided times in our nation. They claim there is more division now than at any other time, except during the Civil War. This is what some people say.

We have social and economic division, with people divided into classes: the haves and the have-nots, the 99% and the 1%. You see this being discussed constantly, and not just...

There is a significant socioeconomic class system in our nation, and racial division is at an all-time high. People are discussing how to bring about reconciliation. Some believe that class reconciliation can be achieved through the redistribution of wealth, which they think will unite us. Others argue that we need a champion to lead racial reconciliation. Many were hopeful in 2008 that this would happen when Barack Obama became President of the United States, as it was a powerful statement to our nation and the world. Yet, here we are almost eight years later, and the situation seems even worse. People are asking, "Where is the one to bring reconciliation?" The answer is Jesus.

Look around this room. There are individuals here who are incredibly wealthy, yet you may not know who they are because they do not make themselves known. Conversely, there are also people in this room who are unbelievably poor, and you cannot even imagine how little they have. Yet, God restores us and brings us together as one in Christ. There are various races, cultures, and languages represented here, and He breaks down the middle wall of separation. We have the answer through the gospel for what people are seeking.

We often laugh at the idea of reconciliation through human efforts because we know that it has not accomplished what it was intended to achieve since the establishment of the United Nations in the 1950s. Every year, the United Nations gathers for their Kumbaya moments, promising to bring everyone together and create peace accords and resolutions for reconciliation. Yet, here we are, over sixty years later, and many people mock the UN, calling it the "United Nothing." It seems that it has not worked out as we had hoped. Why? Because the gospel is the only true means of bringing reconciliation in Christ.

Moreover, we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Turn from the book of Romans to the right to the book of Ephesians. You will pass First and Second Corinthians and Galatians. The small book of Ephesians, chapter two, verse 13, states: Ephesians 2:13.

It's one of my favorite passages. In Christ Jesus, that's what it means to be a Christian, to be in the church. You are in Christ Jesus. You who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. You were once alienated, separated, and divided. You were far off from God and from one another, the community of the saints. Yet now, you have been brought near by the blood of Jesus. When He died on the cross, His blood was shed for our sin. The very thing that brought death and separation was dealt with there on the cross.

You have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for He Himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation. He has abolished in His body, His flesh, the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace. He restores community between peoples and brings them together as one in Christ.

He reconciles them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. Why did we change our name to Cross Connection? You see, this simple name, which plumbers hate because of cross connection being a really bad thing, is actually a simple way to preach the gospel. Someone might ask, "Oh, you go to church. Where do you go to church?" The answer is Cross Connection. They might wonder, "What's that?" Well, we've been brought back into connection with God and one another through the cross of Jesus Christ. It's Cross Connection.

Here, He reconciles us both to God in one body through the cross of Jesus Christ, thereby putting to death the warring and the enmity. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. For through Him, we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God through Jesus Christ and through the cross. He came to restore the abundant life of connection with God, communion with God, and community with one another. That's what the gospel is all about. The connection was broken, and separation was introduced because of sin in Genesis chapter three.

We are separated from God, even though we deeply desire to be connected with Him and to commune with Him. We also deeply desire community with one another. Through Jesus, we are brought back together and reconciled to God. Once again, He has delivered us from the power of darkness.

Colossians 1:13 says He has conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. You who were once alienated, separated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled us. Verse 22 of Colossians 1 states that in the body of His flesh through death, He presents us holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight.

How do you take advantage of that? How do you lay hold of that communion with God and community with one another? By accepting the free gift of eternal and abundant life through Jesus, who died for you on the cross two thousand years ago, and by trusting in Him alone for salvation.

Ephesians 2 says that we were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). But verse 4 states that God, who is rich in mercy, had great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses. By grace, you are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

We have the ability in Jesus, through the gospel, to be brought back into connection with God, communion with Him, and community with one another. So how do we maintain and strengthen our connection with God?

Point number five on your outline lists six things that we do as a church and as Christians to maintain and strengthen this connection with God, now that He has won it for us in Jesus.

Letter A: Number one, worship. Why do we gather together and sing songs? We sing praise to God and celebrate the great things about Him because God inhabits the praises of His people. It is in that place of worship that we connect with God. This is why we spend twenty to thirty minutes at the beginning of every service singing these songs together; through that, we maintain and strengthen our connection with God.

Secondly, Letter B: prayer. Is there any better way to connect with God than to speak directly to Him through prayer?

Realize that when you pray through the name of Jesus Christ, He has given us access to God the Father. As you pray in Jesus' name, you have direct access to God. You don't need a priest, a saint, or some medium. You can speak directly to God. We strengthen our connection to God through prayer.

Why do we ask you to write out these prayer requests? Because we're connecting to God through prayer.

Letter C: Scripture. God speaks to us primarily through the Word of God, through Scripture. We maintain and strengthen our connection with God through worship, prayer, and Scripture.

Letter D: Generosity. God loves a cheerful giver. Giving to one another, to the body of Christ, to the church, and to those outside who are in need is one of the ways that we connect with God.

Letter E: Baptism. We believe that Jesus gave us two sacraments in the church—commissions, commands to obey and follow. One of them is baptism. He Himself was baptized, as it is recorded for us in Matthew chapter three. Then He said in Matthew chapter 28, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

I am grateful that when we did our survey a few months ago, more than 80% of our church has been baptized. But if you've never been baptized, what is that? It is a simple act of going down into the water, where we, the pastors or elders of the church, baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You go down under the water. We practice full immersion baptism here at Cross Connection.

In doing so, you identify with Jesus. You are declaring to all those within the church and outside the church that you are a follower of Jesus. You have been buried with Him through baptism and raised with Him to walk in newness of life.

So, we connect with God through worship, through the Scriptures, through prayer, through generosity, and through baptism.

Finally, number six, Letter F: Communion. Communion is partaking, as we do regularly every seven weeks here at Cross Connection, of the bread and the cup. The bread reminds us of Jesus' body that was broken for us, and the cup symbolizes His blood that was shed for us. This makes it possible for us to be connected to God.

You may ask, why do we spend time singing songs together, as we're going to in just a minute when the worship team comes back up here? We do so to connect with God. Why do we study the Scriptures every single week? So that we can connect with God. Why do we pray together and pray for one another? So that we can connect with God. Why do we practice baptism? So we can connect with God. Why do we partake of communion? So that we can connect with God. Why do we give? So that we can connect with God. All these things that we do are for the purpose of living life in connection with God.

Let me tell you, I'm convinced that's the abundant life. There's no greater joy than to be in the presence of Almighty God. So would you stand with me as we close in prayer and ask God to come and meet us here as we worship Him in just a moment with the final minutes we have?

Father, I thank you for your grace. Lord, you made us to be in communion with you and community with one another. As we discover over the next couple of weeks what it means to live life in connection with one another and with the world, God, I pray that it would draw us closer to you. Jesus, we thank you that you came for the purpose of giving us life and that more abundantly, of reconciling us back to you and to one another.

God, I pray that you would enable us to be ambassadors of you this week with the ministry of reconciliation in a world that is in such desperate need of peace and connection. I pray that the connection we experience here at Cross Connection would not be a feigned, faux, or fake connection, where we are just tapping the like button, but that we would experience genuine community as the body of Christ.

Lord, I pray for anyone here in our midst today who still feels far off—far off because of sin, or far off because they've never received your forgiving grace. I pray that you draw them by your Spirit now, that they may come to know you and put their trust and faith in you. If that's you today, as we are in an attitude of prayer, if you would say that you feel far off from God and don't feel like you're a part of the body of Christ...

The church is a place where I want to be brought near to God. Jesus came and died on the cross 2,000 years ago so that we could be brought near and into the family of God.

If you feel like an outsider today and you've never put your trust in Jesus for salvation, I want to give you an opportunity to do that. If that's you today, would you just lift up your hand real high so I can see it? Is there anyone here today who wants to receive the forgiving grace of God? I see you there in the back. Is there anyone else?

If that's you, where you're at right now, would you just pray out loud with me?

Dear Jesus, I feel far away. I recognize that I have failed and that my sin has separated me from you. Thank you for coming and dying on the cross so that I could be brought near. Please forgive me of my sin. Help me to turn to you in faith and to follow you with my life. In Jesus' name, amen.