“Doing the Lord’s Work Here”
EPISODE 237
Make a Decision About Jesus
It’s the question we've been building towards all season! It’s session 10 of our Square One series, where we're tackling the ultimate question: "What do I need to do to be saved?" We'll discuss the powerful commitment Jesus asks of us, unpack the incredible story of the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts 8, and look at life-altering "What shall we do?" questions throughout the Bible. It’s a "come to Jesus" episode in the most literal sense, laying out what it means to declare your faith, commit to following Jesus, and be baptized. Are you ready to give your life to Jesus?
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.
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Introduction and Welcome
Ryan: First, you ruined coconuts for everyone, comparing it to hair. And now you're going to have everybody worried about ordering at Cheesecake Factory, but that's OK.
Bryan: doing the Lord's work here. What can I say? Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Bible Geeks podcast. This is episode 237. I'm Bryan Schiele
Ryan: I'm Ryan Joy.
Bryan: and thanks so much everyone for tuning in.
Reflecting on Past Discussions
Bryan: We are back here for session 10, which historically we've called checkpoint three back last season when we did this discussion before. Now this is session 10 on the heels of a whole discussion about repentance and a new life and baptism.
Now we're going to ask this really important question. What do I need to do to be saved? But before we get to that, let's follow up from our last discussion. Ryan talked about writing on the right hand side of a piece of paper about all the things that God is going to do in your life that you want God to create in your life as compared to that old list that we made a couple of sessions ago.
What do you think about the difference there?
Ryan: Oh, the difference, yeah. I it's a pretty depressing picture. I'm looking at my paper right now, the previous one. But no, this new, you know, the right side is about, it's a life-giving picture. It really goes with that garden theme we talked about. It's, you know, it's my prayer life. It's love. It's connection.
It's continuing to grow in my joy and, you know, different healthy patterns. We've talked a lot about healthy and unhealthy. Talking not necessarily the way the world defines these things, but the way that God teaches us to be sound and to have rest under his rule and to live with that life-giving goodness of God.
so I probably could have made a much longer list, but even what I did was helpful to make that picture. What about you?
Bryan: My list wasn't overly long, but I did start to notice once you put things side by side together, it's really easy to be able to compare them, But having this idea of like anxiety on one side and peace compared to it, it's like, "Ah, I see the difference there.
It's very clear." One of them that I really appreciated was the idea of consumerism. so easy right now, especially in life, to like chase the new shiny. I think we mentioned it an episode ago or so, talking about the words of Agur from Proverbs, like the idea of God giving us what we need and that idea of satisfaction is
Ryan: that's cool. I didn't do it that way, but I love that you're pointing out that the contrast, like the things on your left, you could just jump off of that onto, which it sounds like that's what
Bryan: I kind of did
that. Yeah, that's
Ryan: Yeah, that's
The Question of Salvation
Bryan: So, all right, let's move in on into our session here, session 10, where we get into this question, "What do I need to do to be saved?" This is the moment where we're calling on somebody to make a decision.
This is it.
Ryan: Yeah. It'syou know, this is there's real questions about, OK, at some point, Jesus confronts each one of us with who he is.
And what will you do with Jesus? And so, yeah, this is the one where we say with Ananias to Baal, why do you wait, arise and be baptized, washing away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord? there's that opportunity to ask the question, why do you wait? Or are you ready to give your life to Jesus?
Icebreaker: Cheesecake Factory or In-N-Out Burger?
Bryan: we are going to be tackling a lot of very heavy questions, but let's start off in part one here of our discussion with a not heavy question as we get into our hook and our icebreaker.
Square One - 10: 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 the 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 up a menu at a restaurant, do you want a huge variety of options, or just a few signature items to choose from?
Bryan: All right, so, you go to a restaurant, you're there, is it Cheesecake Factory or is it In-N-Out Burger?
Do you want all the options in the world or do you just want a few carefully curated signature items to choose from? I don't know if your answer has changed from the last time we had this conversation last season.
Ryan: It hasn't. But you're just bringing that down to Cheesecake Factory or In-N-Out Burger makes it more difficult to stand firmly on one side because I might go in an out burger on that. I can appreciate somebody doing one thing well, but I am always going to choose possibilities.
I love if they're going to do them well. I would rather more options, more ideas or like, you know, I think maybe even last time I brought up five guys. They just do one thing, but there's so many possibilities of the things you can put on the burger. And I like that variation. I like variety.
Bryan: That makes sense.
yeah, I will just respond to your comment there as I did the last time. I am very concerned about how they can keep all of those dressings and salad condiments at Cheesecake Factory in perfect freshness every week, but there you go.
Ryan: First, you ruined coconuts for everyone, comparing it to hair. And now you're going to have everybody worried about ordering at Cheesecake Factory, but that's OK.
Bryan: doing the Lord's work here. What can I say? For me, it comes as no surprise. I want one page, one-sided, quality food, I would much prefer something that is targeted and simple rather than every option under the sun. Because I know, you were talking last episode, dude, about how you find it challenging to balance all of the rolls and the hats you wear in life.
Imagine being a cook trying to balance all of those recipes all on one day, trying to serve them all at one time.
Ryan: That's not my job. That's not just like what we just talked about with, you know, God is going to do his part. We're doing ours. My job is to order. The cook is going to make the food. You know, he's don't put it on the menu if you can't handle it. [laughter]
Bryan: Okay, so some friendly disagreement here. Let's get into part two, where hopefully we will not have as much disagreement, where we talk about the purpose here of this discussion.
Commitment to Follow Jesus
Bryan: We get into something really powerful and challenging that Jesus said in the book of Luke, and then we tackle the big idea and ask a reach-out question.
Square One - 10: We've looked at the terrible sickness of sin and the brokenness it'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 gift 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 from 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?
Bryan: All right, so what do you think, Ryan, about the commitment required to follow Jesus? Some really heavy stuff we got into here in this discussion.
Ryan: Well, I have just done two weddings here recently with four wonderful young people that are members of the church here. so before we do the wedding, the most important thing to prepare for is not the wedding. It's the marriage. And so Adrienne and I do quite a few conversations with them in a guided process, kind of like the square one of marriage, I guess you could say, you know, where we work through the kinds of things that you need to be ready for and think through.
And, you know, at this point, they've already, you know, the guy has popped the question and they've already agreed to be married. So they're on their way. So it's not exactly counting the cost, but it's still thinking about just don't know until you're in it what you're going to deal with when you try to put two lives together.
so you're trying to help them be ready for the challenges that are going to come. Maybe some things the first year and some things don't show up until year 10. But you want to have at least laid a foundation for this is going to be challenging. It's not all, Valentine's Day, flowers and, happy dates.
There are going to be difficult things. And here's how you work through those. And are you committed and ready to do that? And do you understand covenant and what that means to ground the whole marriage? And in the same way, we want them to understand this is going to be hard. you need to understand the covenant you're entering into so that you are not, going to set your hand to the plow and look back.
You are in it. And so this counting the cost conversation is so important to me because I have seen so many people, you know, like the parable of the soil start up. And as soon as the trials of life comes, as soon as the heat of the sun comes, as soon as some distraction comes, they're choked out or they burn up in the sun or they're plucked away by Satan.
And so, you know, really making sure that they have that grounding is important. what do you think about the commitment required to follow Jesus?
Bryan: it's interesting there in that passage that we reference in Matthew 11, where Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
It's such a dense verse. I had to read the whole thing, but you think about Jesus' statement there. the idea that he's putting here together the yoke and learning. Learning happens in a classroom to me. Learning happens in a university or in a really sterile kind of environment. The yoke happens out where it's dirty and work is happening. The idea, though, is that this connection between the yoke and between learning, it's just an acknowledgment of authority. It's to know that he's in charge.
He's the one who I serve in the yoke. He's the one who I learn from as my teacher. He's the one who is who I'm committing to as the Messiah, as the Christ, the one who is anointed from God, who has all authority. And so the commitment required to follow Jesus first for me starts with that idea that he's in charge.
He's the one who calls the shots.
I love the wording that he's giving to us and the challenge that he presents to us, but it's all about authority for me and that idea that he wants me to lay my will, my desires down, and just every single day show up, bear fruit for him and let him rule my life. That's what I think he's calling me to do.
Yes,
Ryan: Yeah. And the
yoke idea is definitely in that culture part of a teaching. And Jesus talks about the, in Matthew 23, the burden that the Pharisees are laying on people. Their teaching is this heavy burden. And, you know, later on, like in Acts 15 and several places in Acts, it talks about not laying any further burden of trying to follow the old law on people.
But Jesus' burden, it is a burden. It is something to carry, but it's light. It's comparatively light. And part of the reason, as you say, learning from him, part of the reason is we share this yoke with him. And so letting Jesus carry the heavy part of it changes us. We are yoked with him and therefore, he is the one that died for us.
He is the one that takes on so much of this and shows us the way with his life and his teaching. And so it is a different thing to be yoked with Jesus than to put on ourselves some yoke from somebody else's teaching. And I love the idea of authority. That's a really good point there.
Bryan: All right, so let's move on here to part three, where we continue into the book even deeper than we have been so far.
Reading from Acts 8
Bryan: We're going to get in to a reading from Acts chapter 8, which really puts a bow, I think, on some of the other conversations we've had earlier on in this discussion from Isaiah and wrapping all of this idea of sin and Jesus carrying our sorrows upon himself in Isaiah 53.
We'll get into this reading here in Acts 8, and then we'll ask some questions about it.
Square One - 10: 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 to 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 to 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 to 40 tell you about responding to the good news?
Bryan: Okay, so let's read Acts 8 verses 26 through 40 together. I'll start it off here, and then Ryan can wrap it up. 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 arose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all of 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 somebody 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 shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation, for his life is taken away from the earth?'"
Ryan: eunuch said to Philip, " About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this? About himself or about someone else?" Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this scripture, he told them 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 at Exodus. as he passed through, he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Yeah,
Bryan: So again, this is a powerful reading that I think really echoes what we've done in some of this series up to this point, as the Ethiopian is reading these stories, this scroll from Isaiah. We have also read from this same scroll here in this study, as we've considered Jesus and the way that he took our sins to the cross and how the implications of that, the meaning of that, and the brokenness of life that he resolves for us.
So thinking about this reading, we ask this question, what does this passage tell you about responding to the good
Ryan: and the first thing is that he has someone helping him understand the good news?
which is what this series is all about. But that in order to understand it, he starts with a scripture, because you have to start somewhere, and he hears about Jesus. Because that's the thread, as we have seen throughout. And then he initiates by saying, "Here's water.
What prevents me from being baptized?" We don't read about Philip teaching him about baptism, but of course, evidently he did. And I've never noticed before quite how explicit it is about this whole process. Like, he could have just said, "And he baptized him." But instead, it's like he commands the chariot to stop. They both went down into the water, Philip
And the
eunuch. Well, he already said they both went down in the water, and he baptized him.
And when they came up out of the water.
And then the end of the story is him rejoicing, and Philip has other people to teach. So it's a story about two seekers. A soul seeker and a truth seeker. And
God providentially brings the two together, as he does with us. AndSomehow, they are in your life, and God is wanting to bring them to himself.
And you are his instrument as he teaches from his word the life-giving good news.
Bryan: Philip's work in this is absolutely just such a focus of this passage, right? It's all about his involvement in the Ethiopian's life, being that Sherpa for him and leading him into a deeper understanding of what he needs to know. And boy, a lot of these moments where we get into Jesus' discussion with the men on the road to Emmaus and this discussion, it's like, boy, wouldn't it be nice to know what they talked about?
Like it just skips right over all the details. And I think that's important that it skips over those details because the details are already there. We just have to go find them, right? We have to do the work of finding the breadcrumbs, as Jesus would talk about. Like,
Our work is to go find and make these connections between the scriptures and what Jesus did in his saving work on the cross. And as we do that, I think what happens is the same thing that happened for this Ethiopian, is that the dots are connected, the breadcrumbs are followed, and we start to really see what this is all about.
That the good news is that we can break from sin. We can see Jesus as the perfect sinless lamb who didn't deserve to go to the cross, but did. And we can then lay all of that out on the table and see what our heart feels about it.
And I think the Ethiopian was convicted. enough to just like the natural conclusion for him was to look for water. Like, I've got to get in the water.
I want to change my life. I want to put all that old life behind me. I want to unite with Christ in baptism, and I want to leave this water rejoicing. And that's what he did. And I feel like he was showing Christ honor in that way, as anyone does when they sincerely commit themselves to the Lord.
How can I take up my cross after you in hot pursuit? Like, how can I honor everything you've done for me? Once you see it all laid out, I don't think there's a lot of hesitation for somebody who's sincerely has that connection, their emotions, back to their core, letting it impact them.
Once you're impacted, it's all about making the response to the Lord.
Ryan: And you pointing out how motivated he is here makes me think about his journey to that point. sometimes can minimize in my mind all the things, the religious journey of someone up to the point when they finally hear about, you know, these final steps they need to take to become a Christian.
We all have a journey towards God, and he has been seeking God in Jerusalem. He's an Ethiopian. He's a eunuch. He's not allowed even, you know, in the temple. He's unclean in that way. And yet, he is seeking God. Andheading back, he's reading the scriptures.
He got himself somehow paid probably top dollar for an Isaiah scroll. And he's reading the scroll, and he's seeking it out. And then he's humble enough to ask questions. And, this whole journey has been going on for many years probably. But now he's going to hear the truth and know what he needs to do to become a Christian.
And then the journey will continue. And it's the same way, you know, somebody may have taken other steps. Maybe they heard a false way to become a Christian, and they have done things as they have pursued God, trying to follow Him. And they've come to know many things about God, and they're seeking the Lord in the scroll.
And yet, now they're with you as you're teaching them about come to Christ and actually have your sins washed away. And, it makes me not want to devalue any of those other steps, but recognize this is part of their journey as God has, you know, we've talked before back in our Getting to Square One series about those who are far from the kingdom.
Their hearts are far from God. They're near the kingdom. And so as they move nearer, here's they are now. And they're ready, hopefully, to take that last step. Yeah.
Bryan: think it's an important thing that you bring out about their backstory. And I never really considered the Ethiopian's backstory here. I mean, clearly, you know, he was in Jerusalem, he was worshiping, he was there for religious reasons. Like, he was a seeker, he was looking. And why he has the scroll of Isaiah, the fact that he can read,
Ryan: Hebrew.
Bryan: yeah, this is like a, this is a powerful thing that he's set himself up for, or that he's been seeking for.
Philip's Divine Guidance
Bryan: And so, of course, the Holy Spirit has come to Philip and said, "Hey, I think you should go," you know, again, paraphrasing heavily, like, "Go join the chariot, like, go over here." So, you know, it's sort of a softball, maybe like a t-ball set up here for him. But I mean, yeah, all these things kind of put together are leading him to make this powerful decision.
And like you said, honoring that and recognizing all the work that's gone in before is a helpful thing, especially as we lead these kinds of discussions and don't see results maybe that we want to, you know, maybe it's just a progress and a process that they'll eventually get to that point. But all right, moving on to part four here, though, a closer look on these really powerful questions that we see throughout the Bible, where people ask this question, "What shall we do?"
And we'll see the answers to that, and then we'll get into a big question.
Square One - 10: 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 in that same hour of the night and washed their wounds and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. That 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, 8, 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 in baptism? So here's the big question. Are you ready to commit your life to serving the Lord?
The Big Question: Are You Ready?
Bryan: All right, so the big question there, "Are you ready to commit your life to serving the Lord?" I feel like this is a relevant question for us, even today for me. Like, this is not always a, like, new convert or, you know, not yet believer in Jesus kind of a question to ask, but it's a constant question, as we've highlighted a few times in this study.
Like, yes, I did commit myself. I am committing myself, and I will continue to commit myself.
Dying to the Old SelfDaily Commitment and Faith
Bryan: And, you know, this is really, we call this the big question, right? But this is the big question.
Ryan: The
Bryan: that, the big question. Yes.And this is really what this has all been leading to. I know this is a discussion that you'll have, hopefully, with somebody and ask them this question. But for me, even, this is still the big question, right?
It's not just like a big question I asked myself a long time ago. It is still the big question I'm continually asking myself.
Ryan: And it's our most pointed question that we've had to this point. We've kept these pretty loose. You just like, so are you starting to think about
committing your life to Christ? This is not are you starting. This is are you ready? Are you ready? It's time. Are you there? yeah, I mean, I think that idea of confrontation, I've used that word several times, and it sounds I think it can sound mean spirited or like I'm talking about, you know, like throwing down or a debate or something that would happen on a Fox News show as people are arguing with each other.
But what I'm talking about is that there is a moment where you come to that fork in the road and it stops you. You cannot keep going straight. You are confronted with the choice. and so that's what we're talking about. This choice. Are you ready to commit your life to serving the Lord? Confronts us every day because Jesus either you, you know, you can't serve two masters.
Either you're following the Lord or you're not. You
Wrapping It Up: The Challenge
Bryan: So let's get into part five here where we wrap it all up. We'll get into the challenge, which is a doozy of a challenge, by the way. And we'll look ahead to the next few conversations as we then share a closer look.
Square One - 10: 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 towards the Lord at this point. Something small that doesn't cost much. But when it comes to salvation, it's either all or nothing.
We either embrace the Lord or we reject him. You might have more questions you want to 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 all make mistakes and 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.
Bryan: Okay. So the thoughts here on this challenge, this one is special. we can talk next time about how we wrestled with our own, decisions here at this moment, but this is not a challenge that I am necessarily going to be able to do in this upcoming week.
Because the challenge here is really, if you're ready, declare your faith in Jesus, commit to following him and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. Again, you call this a confrontation. In a very friendly and loving way, this is the most confrontational challenge that we will have. And I think this is powerful for people.
And hopefully this will be that moment where they can, you know, arise and be baptized and wash away their sins, calling on the name of the Lord and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. love this idea. And I love that for the people that, uh, that you might be having this discussion with.
Ryan: Yeah. So it's calling on a confession, which they could make right there. And then, you know, to to say, yes, I do. I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. And so this challenge, as we've we talked about the big question, this is the challenge that this whole thing is built around.
And it is it is, as we sometimes say, a moment of truth that is literally a come to Jesus moment where we say, come to the Lord. And if they don't, then they don't. But we'll talk about that in the closer
Bryan: Oh yeah. So
A Closer Look: Leading the Discussion
Bryan: let's think a little bit here together about thoughts on leading this discussion in our next section, which is the closer look.
Bryan: All right. So like we said, this one is special. and we're going to hopefully talk about how we wrestled with these questions in our next conversation as we get into the challenge.
But this is powerful call to action. This is like you just said, the come to Jesus moment in the most literal sense, not even a figurative sense. This is something that we want for people. We want this for the people that we're studying with. And all along, like we talked about in the last episode, this is something we've been praying for.
if they don't decide to make the decision right now, that is not your work. That is not my work. We're just here to plant. And so if you've been able to share clearly and concisely the good news of Jesus, that is your work you've done the best that you could in that.
And the Lord will take it from here.
Ryan: And it can sit in the background. Once the question is asked, it doesn't go away. It walks with if you've become a Christian, you know how this goes. It follows you everywhere. If you have a heart that is open to the will of God, it is a question you live in. and so, you know, as you're going on to the next lessons and that kind of thing, it will be present with you and you can just just let it do its work.
But yeah, This was special. This is the focal point. This is what we've been building to is this particular session. So let's get into
Bryan: Yeah. S
The Decision-Making Process
Bryan: o part one here, as we began this discussion, we started this hook with just the idea of decision, right? That great Yogi Berra quote, like when you come to a fork in the road, take it.
You know, the idea that you're just, we're always making decisions. We're always choosing this or that. And I know for some people, they are just like, especially some people in my own family, people are just like paralyzed to make decisions sometimes.
Like even the most basic decision is really challenging for people. I think a hook like this in the beginning and an icebreaker question like this, you really start to gauge whether somebody is the kind of person who makes decisions easily, or if they just like, wrestle over the simplest things, almost paralyzed when it comes to those decisions.
So you may already have a sense for that in this discussion,
Ryan: And and then it builds on the decision making idea. Right. As we start to realize this is about a pretty heavy duty decision in part two.
Bryan: Yep. AndJesus is absolutely laying the gauntlet down. he's not messing around with people, right? When he, when he is talking about who cannot be my disciple, that is a helpful thing to sit with here. For me, I might feel like, and I don't know, Ryan, you may be the same way, but like, you know, it may be very easy to like equivocate here or try to soften the blow of what Jesus is trying to come across with here.
Like he is being very clear. You're either in or you're out. This is black and white. I have a hard time sometimes dealing with very clear black and white kinds of things, but Jesus could not be more clear in his statements about being a disciple of his. If we love anything more than him, we're out.
And so, calling people to action here, I think we need to be able to stand with Jesus in firmness as he challenged people to make a decision.
The Commitment to Follow Jesus
Ryan: this question, what do you think about the commitment required to follow Jesus? Hopefully gives them a chance to talk about, you know, hey, it's a little overwhelming or I know it's a lot, but I think I'm ready or I'm still processing this or whatever, and then gives you a chance to talk about what the commitment has meant to you, you know, and you can, you know, we've encouraged throughout this process, there is an opportunity for sharing, for giving them the picture from the other side, just as real people working through this together and thinking through what the commitment is.
And, you know, it's it is meant to get them to realize and verbalize how big the commitment is or where they are with that commitment. But they are now confronting it as something that they need to think about whether or not they're going to do.
And then we in part three, we see someone else doing what they're doing, wrestling with the truths, with the scriptures and someone teaching them. And so you start to envision, how much he goes into the process of going down into the water. But really the whole thing, you're starting to see how this is a universal story.
I am a character in the story of those who are learning about Jesus and then become part of Jesus family.
Bryan: You are Philip here. I mean, that is helpful, a helpful reminder. be careful and thoughtful the way Philip was with the Ethiopian, but also as the person who you're studying with is working through these things, they see their own story in the story of the Ethiopian, call that out, appreciate that, notice that for them and share with them how they're making connections and how that is a positive thing.
And if they don't see that connection between them and the Ethiopian, maybe you bring that out, draw that out. Are you starting to see that his story is really your story? What he's working through are the same things you're working through. And to see themselves in that story, I think is a helpful thing,
Ryan: question was about responding to the good news. What does this tell you about responding to the good news? Which is another thing that this story brings out is it's not you hear it and it's done. It's news that requires a response. so hopefully that question, as you dwell on it and dwell on that word, responding can bring out them starting to process.
Well, here's what I take from it is that, you know, you need to be baptized or you need to make a decision about Jesus or whatever it is that they pull out of that.
Bryan: I don't even want to get into a discussion about mechanics of baptism and all of those things, but it is really powerful, like you're drawing out
here, that the story there is they find a big body of water that they can both go into And I was reading this little article a while back about the little brown jug.
Have you ever heard the little brown jug? So
Ryan: No.
Bryan: basically the picture is the Ethiopian probably had a jug of water in his cart or
whatever. And at any moment he could have been, "Look, there's a little brown jug." Boy,
Ryan: Yeah.
Bryan: an argument that probably came from the 40s. So we'll move on here.
The Final Question: What Must I Do?
Bryan: Part four, as we start to think here then in this really powerful series of questions where everyone's asking the same thing, what do I got to do?
What do I need to do to be saved? It's really the idea here in part four. It is the fundamental question, what do I do? But I think it's not where it starts.
We don't just want somebody to mechanically go through the, what do I do now? Here's your verb, be baptized. Because all of these people these stories had a transformation that started prior to the question, what do I need to do?
They started to really see the impact of it. They let it sit on their heart. They let it change them from the inside.
It's not so much the verb that they need to do to be baptized. It's all the stuff we've been talking about up to this point, honoring Christ's sacrifice, this relationship we want to have with him, the salvation he offers us through his blood on the cross, his death, his burial, the newness of life we're called to, and all of that.
Don't overcomplicate it. Keep the answers clear. But hopefully asking this question, what do I need to do, comes from a deeper place from the longer version of this conversation.
Ryan: That's a great point, because, you know, Peter has just preached the sermon about Jesus. They know who he is. And these are Jews who, you know, were steeped in the messianic promises. But now they're hearing who Jesus was and what his crucifixion meant and what his resurrection means. And then they ask, what shall we do?
And each of these questions is built around the truth of Christ, you know, serves. What must I do to be saved? The answer is believe in the Lord Jesus and you'll be saved. Well, they need to know, the prison guard, the Philippian jailer needs to know who Jesus is in order to believe in him.
So, you know, that teaching becomes important for it. the fact that we have built this whole square one series around 13 questions and now we're zeroing in on these four questions that kind of say the same thing in some ways. We're asking different forms of the same questions we've been asking as we pull out these questions from the Bible.
And what we're finding is just sort of the punch line at the end of a long, long story we've been building up. And so hopefully that long story has led to, like you're saying, there being real meaning and weight behind each of these verbs that you're talking
Next Steps and Community
Bryan: So you get into part five here and you as the leader may be asking yourself, "Well, what now?" You've had all of these discussions with somebody. Maybe they haven't responded and that's okay. That's again, not your job, but where do we go now?
There will be a few more discussions after this one about.
our relationship with the church now and all of the discussion about community of the church and how we bind together in unity with like-minded believers in Jesus, discipling together through this life.
We'll have a discussion about how we walk in a new way with the community around us, how we live as witnesses to the things that God has done in our lives, as messengers bringing the good news to other people. And maybe somebody isn't committed yet. Maybe they haven't decided to give their life to the Lord in baptism yet, and that's okay.
If they're open to still talking to you about it, this would be a good opportunity to continue the discussion because maybe something in those discussions about what life looks like in community with others, maybe that will help influence somebody to make the decision the richness of the church is where the fullness of Christ dwells.
And talking about the church, talking about the community of believers may be a very compelling idea for somebody thinking about committing their life to the Lord.
Ryan: I mean, the reality is we think of a lot of things as a wide spectrum of a million different kinds of responses. But in this case, at the end of this session, one of two things is going to happen. Right. They're either going to say, yeah, let's do it. In which case you need to be ready. You need to have a plan for baptizing them.
You know, are you going to call anybody? You're going to ask them, you know, hey, who would you like to be part of this? You want to schedule it or you want to go and do this right now? You have clothes with you. The other day, I don't know, it was probably a month ago, I met up with somebody for coffee at like three o'clock on a Sunday afternoon. This young man who'd been
worshiping with us for for years. And I asked him, having gone through all this and answered your questions and explained all this, do you want to be baptized? And he said, yeah, I've got my clothes with me.
So he was like ready. And so, you
Bryan: Should have told me that in the beginning, buddy.
Ryan: I know he was more ready than I was. So so, you know, but but you want to be ready. You want to have a plan. And if they don't, then you want to have a plan for that. You know, you want to just be aware that you're going to continue on, Lord willing, if they're open to it.
You want to continue on. You want to think about how this is going to affect things going forward. In reality, I think you just keep moving forward.
with the questions and the studies and let them, like the Ethiopian eunuch, tell you when they're ready to be baptized and say, hey, here is water. What hinders me like you don't need to be texting them and asking them and bring it.
Hey, are you ready now?Let that sit with them and be in the background. And maybe as you get to the end of session 13, you ask them again, hey, we've gone through all of this. You're still not a Christian. Are you ready? But I wouldn't keep barraging them with it.
I would let them know what they need to do at this point.
Bryan:
Leaving the clarity there of yes or no, and then having a plan for what happens afterward and being very loose in your handling of that plan because who knows what will happen is always helpful. And again, I think this discussion with its confrontation, as we've talked about, it holds a lot of weight, I suppose, is a way to talk about it.
So, these are the moments where, and we haven't really mentioned this a lot in these sessions up to this point, but this is a great opportunity for you to loop somebody else in or other people in, Let them know, "Hey, I'm studying with this person and we're getting really close to asking a very difficult and powerful question to them about their readiness to be baptized.
Can you pray about this?" let other people in on it and Let other people hold up your arms at this moment.
Ryan: Amen. Yeah, that is really that that's a good note for all of these sessions. you know, you may have had people praying through this and checking in on the study. Let them know where you are. Hey, this Thursday night is going to be when we're going to take on the question of, are you ready to make the decision?
So if you could all week and especially, you know, between seven and eight o'clock on Thursday night, be praying for this person and for me, you know.
Bryan: All right. So,
Conclusion and Future Discussions
Bryan: that has been session 10, what we've also called, lovingly, checkpoint three of our Square One series. And this one is, I suppose,at the pinnacle of this conversation and for good reason, because this is the moment that a decision needs to be made.
we really appreciate everyone for following along with us. We do have more discussions in this series coming up, as we've talked about already, this has been episode 237 of the Bible Geeks podcast. You can find us on our website, biblegeeks.fm. Show notes for this episode are biblegeeks.fm/237.
Square One series is all available for you up until this point on our website as well. We'd love it if you'd check those things out. And until the next conversation, may the Lord bless you and keep you.