"Parable of the Club Sandwich"
EPISODE 223
Make a Decision About Jesus
How do you help someone make a decision to follow Christ? In our season finale, we answer the big question, “What do I need to do to be saved?” It’s the third and final checkpoint in Square One — a series of conversations designed to have with non-Christians. We try to balance the cost of committing to Jesus with the blessings he invites us to enjoy. We also take a Closer Look at some salvation questions asked in the Bible and read about the Ethiopian eunuch’s conversation. We’re SO excited about all that’s still ahead in the full Square One series, coming next year. And as we wrap our season, we’re giving thanks for so much, praising God for all of you who listen and encourage us!
Takeaways
The Big Idea: Jesus gave his life for us, and now he invites us to give ours to him.
This Week's Challenge: If you're ready, declare your faith in Jesus, commit to following him, and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins.
Episode Transcription
Now I'm getting lost in the details of the analogy, man. But if I've told you earthly things and you do not understand, oh boy. Oh boy, the parable of the club sandwich. Well hello everyone and welcome to the Bible Geeks podcast. This is episode 223. I'm Bryan Schiele. I'm Ryan Joy. And thanks so much everyone for tuning in. We are here into our last Check Point episode in our Square One series, answering this very important and very pivotal question. What do I need to do to be saved? This may very well be the perfect question to ask. Yeah, there's like, what does this mean? And then there's what does this mean for me? And we're showing up in the story at this point. And so these are facts, as we've said, not to be left abstract. They're meant to change us and this is a point where we're gonna talk about making a decision. It's time to choose what are you gonna do about Jesus? So I think this is such an important question to be asking someone. And you know, as we've been doing in the Square One series, we've looked at these conversations between us on the episodes, we've talked about them back and forth. And we're gonna do that again here and save our discussions, maybe some of our tips and suggestions, recommendations for someone leading this conversation towards the end of the episode. But right now, let us get into a little bit of follow up. And on the last conversation, Ryan, we had this challenge, read Matthew 27 verse 32 to the end of Matthew on your own and reflect on how this important moment in Jesus' story affects your life. I mean, it's just such a good verse. Yeah, yeah. And a lot of times we'll read just a part of chapter 27 about his crucifixion at the Lord's Supper, or we'll read a part of 28. But putting it together, it's like this descent into the darkest of darkness, and then this kind of ascent back up the mountain to see Jesus now, then victorious and sending the disciples out, having been given all authority, verse 17. And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. And there we are in one verse encapsulating Jesus now has done it, he has the victory. People bow down, they honor him, they recognize him as the king, but not everybody. And that's kind of the opportunity that everyone who does this reading, everyone who has encountered this study and these conversations we're having has that choice to make, worship him or doubt. To be able to see the rocks splitting and the tombs opening and like undead saints walking around and the veil being torn, it's like, what? What is happening here? And I just wonder if I would have seen like those people did then, like truly this was the son of God. I wonder if I would have seen the cosmic significance of this man who just died in that moment. I wonder if I would have been one of those people whose faith kicked off from that moment. How would that have changed me? 'Cause you know, even now, like 2000 some odd years later, it's absolutely a story that changes my life. But being there then at that moment, that would have been special. And so that leads us into the first part of five parts here in this checkpoint conversation in square one. So let's get into that here. This is square one. What do I need to do to be saved? It's crazy how many decisions we make every day. Walking through your grocery store, you're faced with dozens of options. Skim, 2%, organic, oat milk, or goat milk? Would you like paper, plastic, or reusable bags? Card or cash? And some decisions are much more important than ones we make at the market, like purchasing a home, growing your family, or changing careers. When the stakes are higher, it might involve a longer process full of pros and cons lists, discussions with good friends, and some real soul searching. But at some point, when faced with all the options, it's time to make the call. As Yogi Berra once said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." We've got some big questions ahead. So let's start with an easy one. When you open the menu at a restaurant, do you want a huge variety of options or just a few signature items to choose from? All right, so the question there, and I like how we framed this, like we've got some big questions ahead, right? But here's an easy one. When you open the menu at a restaurant, do you want a huge variety of options or just a few signature items to choose from? Ryan, are you the big Cheesecake Factory menu guy or are you somebody who likes it a little bit more pared down? I like the options. I know some people are overwhelmed by all the possibilities, but that's where I'm happy in this. If there's a place that just does something well, that's fine. I mean, I'll enjoy the one thing on the menu, but like I'd rather go, say I want a burger, go to Five Guys where you can pick all of these different things to put on it. It's just a burger, but there's a million choices. That's what I want is to be able to put 17 different things and it's different this time than it was last time. What about you? I just, I'm filled with analysis paralysis when I think about that. It's like, I don't even know. What do I choose now? And even beyond that, I have seen enough episodes of like kitchen nightmares to really worry about how many of those 34 varieties of salad dressing can actually be fresh right now. Oh man, don't do it. Don't ruin the varieties for me, man. (laughing) Oh boy. Yeah, I would much prefer just the super tight little menu of only a few select things and know that it was done very well, but that's just me. So let's get into the second part in this conversation, which really focuses on the purpose, centers us around Jesus, introduces the big idea here, and then poses this really important reach out question. We've looked at the terrible sickness of sin and the brokenness that's brought into the world around us and turning to the cross, we've seen the incredible love that sent God's son, Jesus to save us. But as that reality sinks in, now what? Where do you go from here? We stand at a fork in the road of faith and we have to make a decision about Jesus. Some Christians try to make the hard sell for Christianity, but Jesus did just the opposite. He gave the hard truths about following him. He wants our eyes open to the eternal gifts he offers, but also to the cost. We're not worthy of him if we put anyone ahead of him, even our own life. He says, "Any of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." Knowing we'll face ridicule and difficulties, he requires us to willingly carry our own cross like the one he bore for us. He doesn't want half-hearted, reluctant, or coerced disciples, but only those who are all in for him. If we're with Jesus, our relationships, comfort, and possessions can't come before our Lord. So here's the big idea. Jesus gave his life for us and now he invites us to give ours to him. He says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn for me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." We've spoken about Jesus' story, but like most great stories, the best part is the ending. Someday he'll return to conquer death and evil once and for all. Those who stand with him will find rest forever in a new world where everything wrong here is set right. It's not the easiest life, but it's the abundant eternal life Jesus gave everything to bring us. So what do you think about the commitment required to follow Jesus? Okay, so our reach out question there, what do you think about the commitment required to follow Jesus? And I think it's striking to see those two passages next to each other, the cost and the invitation. It takes some work to explain both sides. Jesus says his yoke is easy, but he also says elsewhere that narrow is the gate and difficult is the way to life. It's both, depending on how you're looking at it. As we said there towards the end, it's not an easy life. For instance, it's super hard to love people like Jesus. But it is the best life. I want relationships built on that kind of self-giving love that Jesus teaches. So I think it's kind of like counseling couples before marriage, or maybe when you're talking to somebody, they're thinking about having kids, or they're pregnant for the first time or whatever, and you're trying to get across to them what it's gonna be like. What would you say if someone asked you if marriage or parenthood was easy? No, absolutely not. But you absolutely should do it. But it's also so good. And you could say, in that way, it's richer, it's fuller, it's an easier way to live, easier in that sense of, it's just so much more blessed than, what a hard, awful life to not have any relationships of any kind, what a miserable way. That's not an easier life from that perspective. So it's kind of complicated like that. What about you? What is your answer to what you think about the commitment required to follow Jesus? I like how these passages come together. It also highlights the difference between this idea of Jesus inviting us, but also his authority that he is using to tell us to come to him. I've said it on the podcast before, but this word invitation is almost like missing the depth of what's actually being called for. Clearly, Jesus is freely calling all to follow him. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest, that whole idea. But he's the king of kings. So this is not like a piece of junk mail that you like throw aside as he's like inviting you to some special dinner that's just a generic thing or whatever. No, this is a call and he is the king. And this is not a call you just toss aside. And so I wanna take that call seriously. Yeah, the idea of a call, I mean, that really, it can be translated invitation, but it could also be translated like a summons. Yeah. Like if the king invites you to come, Yeah, that's really good. It's like, okay, you can say no, but there will be consequences. And so from the standpoint of like, here's this feast that you're invited to, well, it's a free feast, it's open for all. It's like, just come, you just get to choose. From that standpoint, it's an invitation. Like this is an open door for you to step through if you want, but know that from the standpoint of Jesus authority that you're talking about, there will also be consequences. Either way you're choosing. And if you just decide not to show up, then you have rejected the summons of the king. All right, so let's focus our time a little bit in the book. And so we're gonna get into the next part, part three of this conversation here on our episode. Let's get into the book with a reading about a guy with lots of questions who needed help making sense of what he read in the Bible. In a previous conversation, we asked how Jesus changes things, then read in Isaiah that he carried our sorrows and took people's sins upon himself. In Acts 8 verses 26 through 40, an Ethiopian on a road trip home read that same passage and the Lord brought him together with someone who could explain how to be saved. Read Acts 8 verses 26 through 40 together and notice what this man learns and does when he hears about Jesus. After reading, take some time to discuss it. What does this passage in Acts 8 verses 26 through 40 tell you about responding to the good news? Okay, so we said there to read Acts 8 verses 26 through 40 together, notice what this man learns and does when he hears about Jesus. So let's read this passage together. So it says, "Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "'Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down "'from Jerusalem to Gaza. "'This is a desert place.' "And he rose and went and there was an Ethiopian, "a eunuch, a court official of Candace, "queen of the Ethiopians, "who was in charge of all her treasure. "He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, "seated in his chariot, "and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. "And the spirit said to Philip, "'Go over and join this chariot.' "So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet "and asked, 'Do you understand what you're reading?' "And he said, 'How can I unless someone guides me?' "And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him." Now the passage of scripture that he was reading was this, "Like a sheep, he was led to the slaughter, "and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, "so he opens not his mouth. "In his humiliation, justice was denied him. "Who can describe his generation, "for his life is taken away from the earth." And the eunuch said to Philip, "'About whom I ask you, does this prophet say this, "'about himself or about someone else?' "Then Philip opened his mouth "and beginning with this scripture, "he told him the good news about Jesus. "And as they were going along the road, "they came to some water and the eunuch said, "'See, here is water, what prevents me from being baptized.' "And he commanded the chariot to stop "and they both went down into the water, "Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. "And when they came up out of the water, "the spirit of the Lord carried Philip away "and the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing. "But Philip found himself in a zotus, "and as he passed through, "he preached the gospel to all the towns "until he came to Caesarea." Okay, so I'm a big nerd about this stuff. I love how all of our readings up to this point in these checkpoints have almost led us to this place. You're such a Bible geek. (both laughing) I mean, we talked about it in the last conversation about how this approach really does kind of follow the things we read here in this verse in Acts 8 and what Philip does. Starting back in Isaiah, we've read passages up to this point in Isaiah about the difficulty of sin and the problem of sin, and then about what Jesus does. And then we find, obviously, this eunuch reading these passages. So what do you see here? What do you notice about what the Ethiopian learns here and what he does when he hears about Jesus? Yeah, I mean, it's hard not to fixate on the parallel between someone leading this conversation and the discussion happening in that chariot. And like the eunuch, we all get confused by things we read and the heavy truths that the Bible drops on us. It's just very relatable. And as you're in the conversation with someone leading you through it, we all need somebody to come alongside and work from the scriptures, helping us grasp the big story of Christ and how we come to him. Some people might say, well, all you need is the Bible. Well, the eunuch had some of the Bible at least, but he needed somebody to think with him about it. A scriptural sherpa. (both laughing) A guide on the journey. And ultimately, this passage tells me, when somebody wants to follow God and they understand what it means, a lot of times they might not need a lot of cajoling into obedience. I don't know. A lot of times we might feel like we gotta hit them over the head and make, like we talked about earlier, the hard sell for Christianity. But here, the eunuch is just sitting there hearing Philip talk and he says, "Hey, what keeps me from doing the thing "you just told me I should do? "Why don't I just go be baptized?" And they're in the water by Philip initiating the gospel, working on his heart. And that's what we wanna do, is allow room for the gospel to work. Oh man, wouldn't it be awesome if every interaction with somebody in teaching them and sharing the gospel with them was like this, where it was just a car ride away from them being baptized or whatever. But as I was reading this again, I think it struck me how the decision to be baptized is like built into the story of Jesus, right? It's built into that story because it wasn't that Philip brought it up even. It wasn't like Philip was like, "Look, there's water." It was the Ethiopian who said that. So it was like, he didn't even, like you said, cajoled into, I love that, cajoled into obedience, right? (laughing) He didn't have to do that. It was built in. And I think that's so helpful to see. When we present the gospel to somebody, if we're doing it in a way that respects and honors the truth of the story and all of the depth and complexity of what was happening back long ago to Jesus today, the idea of baptism is gonna be right there. Not only just baptism, but clearly of commitment and making a decision for Jesus and to follow Jesus is gonna be right there. You don't get to this big heavy question that we're really asking here, what do I need to do to be saved? Without starting through Jesus and starting through his story. And then eventually you find yourself at this place where you know about what he's done and what he's committed for you and how terrible you would be off without him. And then the question just naturally falls out of it. It's like, what do I need to do now? The Lord can fix this right now. Let's get this done. Yeah, it's hopefully starts to create an opening. And I was talking about the parallel that you're experiencing. I almost put into the question, like how are these two people like us? (laughing) 'Cause you really want somebody to see that and start to envision like, okay, I can see how this plays out. It doesn't have to be super complicated. It's just like, okay, here's the next thing. I'm ready to follow the Lord. So really nice as with all of these discussions to go into the book, to spend some time with the word of God, just reading together before going a little deeper. And like you said, going deeper, let's continue on as we get into part four here in the Square One series. This is where we get super deep with some really heavy questions. And yeah, you guessed it. Some of these questions are gonna be right there in Acts chapter two. Now let's go deeper with a closer look at some questions asked in the Bible about salvation. These four questions show the way to Christ and the good gifts he wants to bring us. Not long after Jesus died, arose and ascended into heaven, Peter proclaimed the significance of these events, concluding, "Therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." His message hit people hard and they asked the first question we'll look at, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." The next question will look familiar since it's where we started this conversation. After a prison guard watched the jail miraculously open to free two Christians and then realized they were still there, he was ready to hear their message. He asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them that same hour of the night and washed their wounds and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. The story ends with him rejoicing, just like the Ethiopian we read about earlier. Our last two questions involve one of those men from that jail cell, the apostle Paul. In Romans 10, eight, he pointed people to the Bible asking, "What does it say?" That's our question too. And he gives a helpful answer saying, "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith that we proclaim because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." Years earlier, someone brought Paul that saving word, asking him, "And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name." What a question. Once you know and believe, why would you wait to call on Jesus to wash away your sins and baptism? So here's the big question. Are you ready to commit your life to serving the Lord? All right, so the big question there that we talked about was, are you ready to commit your life to serving the Lord? Boom. That's the big question. It is absolutely the big question. A million dollar. So Ryan. Yeah, are you ready to commit your life to serving the Lord? Yeah, I mean, the big question, all the letters are capitalized. How can I not be ready? I'm left right now as we just, you know, reflecting on those passages, thinking about the results of each of those actions. That's what's striking to me is just what a change to have the gift of the Holy Spirit, to have God with us, within us. Flip over to Acts five and see that this is the gift that's given to all those who are obedient to the Lord, to have our sins washed away. And, you know, we've talked about the burden of sin and how it affects everything, how it separates us from God, to be saved, to be justified, to be living with joy in the presence of the Lord. I mean, all these things we talked about, and this is just a small sample size of the passages, of course, that we could look at about how to be saved. But when you look at these, you know, it still covers the basis of starting to understand faith and confession and repentance and baptism and how the gospel affects us and at least the beginning of walking with the Lord. So yeah, I'm ready and renewed in my commitment, I guess, to serving the Lord. What about you? That's a super helpful word for it, I think, renewed. You know, anytime you go back and you look at people's initial decisions, like we're doing here in these passages, you know, as we look at Acts two, as we look at Acts 16 and all these stories that we're seeing, even from Romans, how people are making the decision, it's just such a helpful reminder, like a shot in the arm almost, to just keep going. These commitments are far more than just like a one-time thing. The commitments we're making when we give ourselves to the Lord, the commitment to believe in Him, to turn from our sins, to confess His name in this world, those things just continue to grow in importance in my life. And I think that's what discussions like this help enable, is just reminding me to like keep going, keep pushing forward, keep straining forward. And yeah, of course, like baptism is a one-time thing and that doesn't continue on and on, but the idea that my sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus is just such an amazing thing that I am constantly in awe of. And so will I continue every day to be a good representative of His in this world and to let people know about Him and to change my life to make sure that I'm honoring the things He's called me to do and called me to turn away from. Not remotely perfect, you know, but every day that I have is just another day to grow in devotion to Him. And again, not there yet, but I press on. All right, so let's wrap this conversation up with part five here of our third checkpoint. And here we get into a little bit of a challenge, looking ahead and closing out with a closing blessing. We've come a long way in these talks, from our deepest needs to God's decisive answer in Christ. And in this conversation, we've heard Jesus calling me and you to follow Him. It might be nice to suggest a baby step toward the Lord at this point, something small that doesn't cost that much, but when it comes to salvation, it's either all or nothing. We either embrace the Lord or reject Him. You might have more questions you wanna discuss. You might need time to ponder this decision, but now you know what you need to know and what you need to do. So if you're ready, declare your faith in Jesus, commit to following Him and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. Once you commit to Jesus as your King, you'll have more to learn and new challenges to overcome. It's just the first step in a lifelong walk with Him. We'll make mistakes, we'll keep growing, but as we journey with Jesus, we walk with other disciples to help along the way. And you're never alone when God is with you every day. May God help us find the courage and faith to follow Jesus. Yeah, so the challenge thereIs again, the challenge. The challenge. It's just, it's so important that somebody leaves this conversation, this third checkpoint with that idea that there's a decision that needs to be made. Maybe they don't make it now. Maybe they haven't made it at this point, but hopefully that seed is planted and maybe even the seed is watered as part of this conversation. But let's now kind of turn our attention and take a closer look at some thoughts on leading this conversation yourself. Number one, perhaps you better take an away team down and have a closer look. Okay, so again, I really appreciate that we start off a conversation like this with a check-in or a follow-up from the last conversation. And that reading from Matthew 27, asking some questions about that, making sure that that is a good centerpiece or a starting point, I guess, for this conversation because they lead so perfectly into each other. Jesus' sacrifice, His resurrection, the great call that He had of His own disciples, and then this decision point from this checkpoint three. Yeah, you and I both have read a book on presentations called "Beyond Bullet Points." (both laughing) Yeah, I love that book. And maybe we can link to it. It has nothing to do with this conversation except that I love how that reading makes sure that the story of Jesus goes beyond bullet points. Like we gave all these like nine bullets on here's what Jesus did. And it's hard to, in a sentence, capture what each of those means. The cross and the resurrection each get one bullet. But here, when we read this in Matthew 27 and 28, we're hearing the inspired writer flesh out what that looks like and how important it is. So I'm glad we did that. And then we went from there into that crazy book about the crazy decisions we make and go into the grocery store and the Yogi Berra quote. And then we're talking about "Cheesecake Factory." And so it's a light way. Like all of these, I would say again, if that's not where you wanna start, just make sure that you start with building rapport and just connecting. And what this was meant to do though is get you thinking a little bit about decision-making so that we've set the stage as we get into a more serious side of decision-making. Yeah, and I do feel like everyone can relate to this. So it's a good starting point in my book. But so long as you're helping somebody understand that there's a lot of choices you can make. And there's so many options, there's so many things that you need to take into account. But like at some point, no matter what decision you're making, at some point you're gonna have to make that decision. But then moving on into the second part about the purpose here in this conversation is just that, is to make a decision about Jesus. And it leads nicely into what Jesus said about counting the cost and the fact that he doesn't want people to be half-hearted or reluctant or, what did you call it? Cajoled. Cajoled obedience, right? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, he doesn't want people to be strong-armed into following him. And that is probably one of the more amazing things about Jesus' reign as king. He has all authority. Like he could demand everyone do exactly what he wants them to do, but he wants that willingly on his terms. Like as a parent, you say, "Because I said so." I said so. Jesus instead says, "Here's why not to do it." Like the ultimate anti-salesman, and I like that that was pulled out, while also leaving room to talk about the invitation there. Yeah, and that invitation folds right into the big idea here that Jesus gave his life for us and now invites us to give ours to him. And I think this makes a lot of sense, not in an overly simplified way, but just in a, "I have given so much for you, now what will you give for me?" It has to be our response to take his yoke upon us and to come to him and follow after him is the response we need to have. And hopefully people will start to see their need for that response also while still counting the cost like we just got done talking about. Yeah, and we ended with that question, the reach out question about what do you think about the commitment required to follow Jesus? So we're not asking for the commitment at this point, we're pondering the commitment together. We're reflecting on getting our arms around the fact that you know what, it is a big commitment. It is not something lightly done. There are major blessings and major costs, and this is as big of a decision as you could make. And so it's an opportunity to talk about like, what did you think about this commitment before you made that commitment? What do you think about it now? It's an opportunity for them to think about what it would cost about, you know, is it fair that he asks all of this, of this? Is that, you know, whatever their concerns are, whatever, it just creates an opening for this to be talked about. Absolutely, and I think this is another opportunity for us to highlight here a moment that you can have as somebody facilitating this conversation. You get to open up here in this moment about what it's cost you, you know, what following Jesus has cost you, and how it's been worth it for you. And I think this is one of those moments where we didn't really do it as we walked through it together in the episode, but like, what do you think about that commitment? You can really open up and be honest. Like, yes, my life has been challenging, and things have been harder, but you know, as you got done talking about there, about your relationship with Adrian, and you know, the opportunities that these new relationships have enabled, right? This is a good opportunity to not gloss over your own story here, I guess. Yeah, exactly. I mean, that's exactly what I was thinking about is, like, if somebody is about to be married, right, that is what they're asking, is tell me what, how do I prepare myself? What does it look like? Why is it good? Why is it hard? What does it mean? And yeah, you are looking from the other side. I mean, the other side of the biggest decision they'll ever make, and the best decision they could possibly make but gonna need, like, honesty. Like, the more honest you can be about it, to follow Jesus' example, the more seriously it can be taken. Like, it has been hard. Here are a few of the things. I'm happy to answer any other questions, 'cause I want you to know what it looks like to be a Christian. But you know, I'm not even to the best part of the story, as we talked about, you know. Eternity will be so worth it, and it's not even worthy to be compared, as Paul says in Romans 8, but also already, like, at least from my perspective, I can't imagine my life without following the Lord, without God, without the direction He's given me, the blessings He's given me, the relationships He's given me, being able to walk with Him and know that He's with me, and then to know that I have hope, and it's not just about this. And all the things that that means now in my life, it's already worth it. I don't know why this thought popped into my head, but I can't help but think about Acts 9, as Jesus is speaking to Ananias, when He talks about Paul being a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles, and then He says in verse 16, "For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." It's like, I'm not gonna hide this from him. Like, I'm going to show him this is what this will cost. And you know, not in like a Debbie Downer kind of way, but like, just being real about it. I think people will hopefully appreciate that kind of honesty here. So, you know, as we get into the centerpiece of this conversation in part three, like we've done previously, focusing on these readings. And yeah, I was talking earlier about how I was nerding out about this. And I feel like this would be a really good opportunity for you to start even in this conversation with somebody as you read Acts 8, to start seeing how like the Bible is woven together in this way. And these passages we've already read in Isaiah are tied to this moment here in Acts 8. And isn't it beautiful to see how all of these things fold in together? Well, and I talked about kind of the parallels to the person leading the conversation. And you know, like they're reading that, this is what we read last time. And thinking through, you know, that was complicated to understand for us when we were reading it through. I can understand why Philip and the eunuch had to really contemplate this and why the eunuch needed some help understanding how this connects to the bigger story. There's not a lot of detail in the story as far as the response. No. But because there's not much there, it's an opportunity for, I mean, they can't miss the baptism. They can't miss the joy at the end of the story. They can't miss that he heard the good news and it resulted in, as you said, the call for decision being built into the story of Jesus. It's unmistakably clear that hearing and understanding the gospel brings action. And the action there, I think, is nicely highlighted by the next section in part four when we go a little bit deeper and we take, I guess, a closer look at some of these really powerful questions. You know, we see there that people respond to the good news about Jesus with a lot of curiosity and what do we do? You know, hey, there's water. What keeps me from being baptized? What shall we do? What must I do to be saved? All of these questions probably will mimic the questions that maybe the person you're talking to is asking themselves at these moments and maybe reading these questions being asked by others might help them to see that it's okay to ask these questions too. Like, what is this all about? What am I supposed to do with all of this stuff? You know, now that I know about Jesus, how is this gonna change my life? What is my story gonna look like from now on? And then, of course, leading to the big question, are you ready to commit your life to serving the Lord? That is something that just needs to hang in the air for a while, I think. Yeah, this is the moment that the whole study has been building to is right here between section four and five of this third checkpoint study. And it doesn't mean that they have to decide to follow the Lord at that moment. I mean, they could say, I'm not ready. You know, in the next section we talk about, they might have more questions. In the expanded study, we'll have opportunities for other questions to be answered. They might say they need to think about it, but it's meant to be in the best and most loving way, confrontational, to give a choice, and to be the fork in the road moment that we talked about. And the stuff that we talked about in that closer look, those four questions you were talking about, it's almost all just us reading those passages. In some ways, intentionally, there's repetition. You're hearing baptism again and again. You're hearing faith again and again. You're hearing some of these things repeatedly, but they might need to go back and, hey, can we watch that again? Or can we listen to that again? Or can we talk about and look at those verses? And what, or they might have questions about the verses. Hey, what does it mean to confess? I thought that was what you do with a priest or whatever. And so there's like, right when you come to the crossroads, there's like, okay, before I make a decision, what do I need to know? And so this might be where there's an extended break to think about it, or it could be I'm not ready, or it could be yes. And it's like, what keeps me from being baptized? And don't be surprised at all when that happens. And don't be uncomfortable. If you love someone, you have to bring them to the question. And it's just a question. Are you ready? Especially having started this conversation and really focusing on the idea of counting the cost. Some people need more time, right? Like some people are gonna stand in the aisle at the grocery store for a longer period of time, like figuring out what they actually want to do. And that's perfectly okay. Leaving that space for somebody to make that call and decide in that way. Again, going back to our getting to square one series, the job here is to plant and to water. God's gonna give the growth. He's gonna take care of the increase. And so long as you have put that question out there, that's your job done. And the rest is up to everything else that you don't control. So I appreciate this part of the conversation, especially leading into part five, which is one of my favorite parts, the challenge there. So if you're ready, declare your faith in Jesus, commit to following him and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, as if it weren't clear in the last question. Yeah, there it is right there. So leaving that with somebody I think is so helpful. And this was quite a heavy conversation to have for sure. Yeah, it's a biggie. And the best you can do for somebody is be loving and give them clarity. I mean, that's what I want for myself in these moments. It's not about pushing. It's just making the choice clear, letting them know you're here for them to help them whatever the next steps look like. And this is right here, the end of the checkpoints. And if you just went through these three in the shortened version that we're presenting this season, you'll wrap up here. Maybe you're baptizing somebody into the Lord, talking about, hey, you wanna continue into a different study, like our discipleship study that we did, cross training or something like that. It might be that you're, this is the end and you leave them with all this to think about and you wanna leave as friends, either way, leave the door open for more conversations if they want that, but it can't help but affect them to know all of this. And you've done your part in blessing them with eternal life. So, I mean, this is really the end of this shortened version of the Square One series. These have only been three of the main checkpoints in these conversations. And this is, in fact, the end of our season. And so what we're going to do is take a little bit of a break over the next couple months and we're gonna come back, hopefully, Lord willing, at the end of all of this, with everything. All 13 episodes, all 13 sessions. We're gonna put it all together. I've kind of viewed these checkpoints as like the bread in a club sandwich. It's a welcome to analogy land again, but you know how you've got the three pieces of bread, right? And in between those are meat and lettuce and tomatoes and cheese and bacon and everything. Oh man, I'm hungry now, but you've got all the stuff in between each of these. Cheesecake factory and club sandwiches. Here we go, dude. And so right now, what we've only really focused on is the bread in that sandwich. On the upcoming Square One series, we're gonna get back into considering all the ingredients of this sandwich really all the details that somebody might be asking along the way, like what is the Bible and why should I be trusting what it says? What is this whole idea of baptism? What does it mean to change my life, to repent of my sins? What is the church all about? After these conversations you have with somebody and they wanna commit their life to the Lord, maybe the next step is to ask them, do you want to join the church? Do you wanna follow along with Jesus arm in arm with other people like you? How do you impact the world? There's all these questions that we're gonna be asking here as a result, this is so much bigger than just these three checkpoints, but hopefully you've seen that these three checkpoint conversations really are the core. There's a bread here, so I really appreciated having these together here to close out our 2024 season. I like the analogy, yeah, 'cause we're used to thinking about sandwiches with just the two bookends, but we got three of them here. It's a club sandwich. Yeah, and it's a club sandwich. Welcome to the club. Welcome to the club. What's the toothpick holding it all together? Now I'm getting lost in the details of the analogy, man. Oh man. (laughing) If I've told you earthly things and you do not understand. (laughing) Oh boy. Oh boy, the parable of the club sandwich, I love it. Well, it's been a great season, my brother. Yeah, so we will catch back up after the new year. Hopefully everyone will have a blessed time being away. If you'd like to reach out to us, please do so. We will be checking messages on social media, on our website as well. Let us know about the thoughts from this series or anything else you'd like to hear about on upcoming episodes, we would love that. Again, this is episode 223 of the Bible Geeks podcast. You can find us on our website at biblegeeks.fm. You can find show notes for this episode in your podcast player of choice or at biblegeeks.fm/223. And you can find this square one series there on our website as well. Again, it's under construction, we're still building it out. Next year we're going to have many more resources available for you, but hopefully this has been just a nice taste of that club sandwich. And until the next episode and next season, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Shalom.