We don’t baptize infants but we do have parent-child dedication services and we think they are very, very important.  However, we want people to be old enough to understand what they are doing and then be baptized.

Also people ask me if they can be a Christian without being baptized.  Of course, they want me to say yes.  I have to say yes, technically.  We are saved by grace through faith, period.  But I point out they tell me they trust Jesus Christ for their eternity, knowing that He died an excruciating death for their sins, yet that when He asks for obedience on an elementary level they say no.  They are refusing to don a little polyester robe and let a pastor dunk them on the stage, yet they are trusting Christ for eternity.  Quite frankly, I have got to wonder if that person is on the broad road or the narrow road.  I challenge you lovingly and Biblically to be baptized.  For many of you, this obedience test is keeping you from really going on with the Lord.  Have you been baptized since you became a narrow gater?

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I want to briefly answer some of the most frequently asked questions that we get regarding baptism because next weekend we are going to have a baptismal weekend.  Many of you need to be baptized.  People ask me if it is appropriate to baptize babies or is it more appropriate to baptize people who are old enough to make a faith decision.

Now obviously there are intelligent, well-meaning people in both camps, however the Bible says categorically, unequivocally that baptism is reserved for those who are old enough to understand, mature enough to make a faith decision and responsible enough to understand the concept of the gospel.  The Bible says that after this decision, they are to be baptized.  There is not a single reference in scripture to an infant being baptized.  I know there are many of us who were baptized as infants.  My wife was baptized as an infant.

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The title of today’s talk is “110 Hours of Worship”.  Maybe you are asking where in the world I came up with that number.  110 Hours of Worship.  Well, in a week there happens to be 168 hours.  Let’s say you get 8 hours of sleep a night.

That leaves you 112 waking hours to do life.  If you attend church, let’s take 2 hours off from the 112 and that leaves you 110 hours to reflect the majesty of your Maker.  We have learned throughout this series that worship is being intensely passionate about a person, place or thing.

Ed Young – We know that everybody worships, every single one of us.  We are intensely passionate about a certain person, place or thing.  We have also seen that God demands our worship.  He wants it.  We are made in His image to give Him worship and glory. God knew that we would struggle with this worship thing.

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I saw the young man, the owner, who had just informed me of the rules on the inside of his complex, walk outside to his car that was parked in a handicapped space.  Obviously this young man was not physically challenged.

He got something from his car, walked over to his friend’s car also parked in a handicapped space.  I watched him get in his friend’s car and drive off apparently to the Dallas Cowboys game.

I saw later that the car just sat there for hours and hours.  I thought to myself, that is just like us, just like you and just like me.  We come to church and worship.  We obey God’s rules on the inside.  We sing.  We clap our hands at the appropriate time.  We try to listen and maybe jot down a couple of notes.

Ed Young – Then we walk from the inside of God’s place to the outside and we end up breaking His laws in spectacular fashion.  Worship happens as much on the outside of the church as on the inside.

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Several Sundays ago my family and I piled into our truck after the last service.  My son was celebrating his eighth birthday at a local skating rink.  We were in a mad dash to get there on time and we did something that we normally don’t do,  We stopped at Wendy’s for some fast food.

I drove to the front of the skating rink and dropped off Lisa and the kids.  They handled getting all the birthday paraphernalia into the establishment.  I parked the car and it was my responsibility to take in the food.  While I was walking through the front door, a young man, who happened to be the owner of the establishment, stopped me and said, “Sir, you can’t bring any food or drink inside my skating rink.”  I said, “Thank you, I didn’t realize that.  I will eat my food in the car before I come in.”

Ed Young – So I walked out into the parking lot.  It was a beautiful afternoon.  I leaned against my truck and began to eat the Wendy’s char grilled chicken sandwich.  Suddenly I saw something that stunned me.

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We have 9,000 pastors across the country and around the world who are connected with Fellowship Church. We have an opportunity to travel the world to talk about Fellowship Church. I have invitations right now to South Africa, to Australia and to London. It’s unbelievable! This has been a total and complete God thing. And I am just so thankful to play a part in God’s redemptive plan.

So I wanted to share my story with you. Now you might be saying, “Well, that’s a pretty unique story! Of course you’ll have a story. You’re the pastor!”

Well you have a story that is just as unique and just as powerful and just as life-changing as my story. All our stories are phenomenal! Don’t ever sit there and say, “Well, I don’t have a story.”

Yes you do. Have you ever asked yourself that question? Have you ever asked God that question? “Why do I live?”

Why do you live? You exist because God wanted you to. God has used every life experience, every environment, a kaleidoscopic range of environments in your life to mold you and shape you into the kind of person you are right now.

God has called you. Some have not answered the call, but God has called every single person here. And your call is unique just like my call is unique. Just think about it. Have you ever asked God that question?

I want to challenge you this week to just outline your life story. That’s what I did. Just outline your life story. And ask God, “God, why do I live? God, why am I here?”

Better yet, are you existing? If you’re just existing, you can really live by making the same decision I made in the fellowship hall several years ago. You can just say, “Jesus Christ, come into my life.” You can say that.

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Where are you? Did you ever hide from God? So often our response to God is very Garden-esque. We try to camouflage our lives and hide from him. God had created this phenomenal environment, a beautiful tropical place. There were streams and all these beautiful trees with fruit and oceans and mountains. When God made man and woman he told them to enjoy his creation, to enjoy pleasure. But I’ve always wondered, why were Adam and Eve hanging around one tree in the garden that God forbid them to mess around with? What were they doing by that tree? Well, in our depravity we have this sense that if we do what God forbids, then we’ll truly be free; then we’ll truly experience freedom.

But what happens is, when we do what God says not to do, we don’t end up being free. We end of being slaves to the stuff we do away from God. On the other hand, if we enjoy the garden, if we enjoy the pleasure and the stuff that God has for us, then we hit on all cylinders. We understand the thread that’s woven into everything we do, say, touch, and feel by the master Designer himself. But if we don’t, we end up living a threadbare life.

Adam and Eve hid from God. Moses hid from God. He killed an Egyptian, dug a hole and thought he’d gotten off Scott free. Jonah, the running man, he hid in a boat from God. When Saul was anointed king by Samuel, he hid in a bunch of Louie Vuitton luggage from God. He hid from God.

People are always hiding from God. Why do we hide from God? Well, we hide from God because we don’t really know God. And when we hide from God we hide from ourselves.

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The right they, how can I say this, the right they are tough. They’re tough. Don’t ever sit there and let anyone tell you, “Well, Christianity is for those people who need a crutch. It’s for the weak people and it’s for the quiche eaters.”

That’s pathetic! If you say that, you don’t know what in the world you are talking about. Christianity happens to be reserved for those who are tough. Don’t sit there and call me weak or someone else weak at Fellowship Church. You’re the one whose weak. You won’t even tell the truth about your condition. You’re playing games. You’re one of them. You’re not stepping up. So don’t ever say that. That dog won’t hunt, as they say in south Texas.

Jesus Christ was not some pale, frail, blue-eyed, skinny white boy. No, no, no. You have never met a man as tough as Jesus. You name to biggest, baddest guy out there in the athletic domain or in the squared circle if you like wrestling. That guy will pale in comparison to the toughness of Jesus Christ.

I’m not talking about mean here. I’m talking about being tough. So all this stuff about Christianity being for people who are kind of soft and people who have this tender side…no, no, no. You’ve got to be tough because we bow the knee and make the tough decision to receive Christ, and we receive Jesus Christ our tough Lord and Savior who gives us the ability to be committed and to do the stuff.  So the right they, man, they’re going to be tough.

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One time I did this wedding, I’m going to put this in my book, and this wedding was full of body builders.  The wedding party was full of men and women body builders. And I love body builders, but these people were huge!

[Do you know how many body builders it takes to screw in a light bulb? Two. One to screw the bulb in and the other one to say, “Man, you look big!”

So these body builders were standing there dwarfing me, and I went through the vows and the rings. The rings were this big! They were unbelievable. Then I said, “Okay, now I want you to go and light the unity candle.” So they turned and they grabbed their respective candles.  For some reason, this candelabra in our church had malfunctioned and they could not get the candles out of the candelabra.  So, the big groom said, “Honey, excuse me,” and she kind of backed away. I’ll never forget this. He grabbed both candles and bent them in to the middle to light the unity candle! You talk about coming one flesh! Only body builders.

But those body builder’s taught me a lesson that day in that body building wedding. To have a great marriage, it takes a lot of strength doesn’t it? It takes a lot of work, a lot of bending. It takes that. That’s the MWE—the marital work ethic. Marriage is not the easiest thing. It’s the hardest thing. But it’s the greatest thing. It’s the greatest thing. The unity candle. That’s some powerful stuff.

And of course, you do the pronouncement thing, the kiss, and then names are exchanged, aren’t they? It’s a covenant. And then, as the bride and groom leave, they do, again, the walk of death up the isle now to a new life. And it’s preferably a life of covenant, not contract.

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I was in these coffee-black waters feeling for that stump.  Well, I felt the stump, and the stump had almost put a hole in the boat.  We were on the verge of sinking, so I emerged from underneath the boat and told my friend, “Hey, you walk to one side of the boat and I’m going to push as hard as I can. And together, let’s free this boat.”

Sure enough, we did it. And we were off this big monster of subsurface stump and we had a great day of fishing.  No more obstacles.  No more hindrances.  No more hang-ups.  No sin anymore.

That’s what God wants to do in your life and mine.  He really does.  The power is available.  Are we going to sit on the premises, sit in our boat paddling around, cranking up the motor, rocking it back and forth, and just hang out on the surface? Or are we going to go subsurface and stand on the promises of God and rely on the fact that Jesus is my deliverer?

Video: I was raised Jewish in Rochester New York; probably the most religious guy in the family. It was a cultural thing more than anything else.  I was the one dragging everyone to Temple every weekend and I had a bahmitzva at thirteen; and I was proud to be a Jewish guy.

Then I met Tracy.  She was searching and had not really become a Christian. She was on a path and Christianity was something that would happen for her eventually. And I knew that in our faith, the Jewish faith, there is Rash Shana and Kip or you go to Temple and that is about it.

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