Crispus Cremus

0:07 It's great to see everyone here. It really, really is here in our other locations. We have a special guest today. This guy is like a massive leader, difference maker, Christian author. I'm talking about U.S. Senator from South Carolina. Tim Scott is in the house. Tim, come on up. Come on up, Tim. Tim Scott is here. Tim Scott is here. Tim, come on up for a second. Tim. This guy... is phenomenal. Tim, thank you so much for being here. I've been watching you on TV for years and years and years.

1:02 You can preach. Oh, well, I appreciate that. Coming from you, that means a lot. Well, God is good to our country. God is good to me. And there's no doubt that if we get on our knees and pray, all things are possible for the greatest nation on God's green earth. All right, Tim. Let's just put some pressure on him. When can you come back and preach? I can preach right now. Tim, great to have you here, man. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. And listen, we're so proud of your stance, of your courage. God has his hand on your life. And I'm telling you, there's no telling where this guy's going to be. God is good. God is good. Yes, he is. I think the most important thing for all of us to be, children of the Most High God. That's right. Romans 8, 17. We are all, all a part of the same family.

1:56 Yes. Black and white, rich and poor, Republican, Democrat. Yes. The only thing that matters is when you bow your knee to the king of kings. That's it, brother. All right, Tim, Tim, real quick. Tim, Tim, I got another question for you real quick. Okay, tell me where you grew up. I grew up in a single-parent household in North Charleston, South Carolina, home of the Gamecocks. Yes. Okay, now, Tim, you know my love and what. Be careful. This is actually. No, no. Texas. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Tim, Tim, my wife, Lisa. Yes. She's from Columbia, South Carolina. Yes. She is University of South Carolina all the way. In fact, that's kind of my school. I love it. I love it. Listen, we had a big victory yesterday. Anybody here love football?

2:44 Please. I'm in town. My stepson's birthday is Thursday. There he is. Yes. I got to tell you, we came for a Cowboys game. Let us pray. Jesus! Matthew 8, 17 says he can heal. That's right. Heal the hamstring in Jesus' name. Okay, now, Tim, all right. Growing up, I'm from the South, too. Yes. From North and South Carolina. I grew up, this is kind of random, on Krispy Kreme donuts. Let me tell you what. Have you ever seen in the Bible where in Mark 11, it talks about Jesus walking by a tree and it spoke to him? Yes. Hot now speaks to my heart. Yes, it does.

3:37 Can I get a witness in here? Yes, we can, Tim. The orange hot now is like Jesus speaking into my heart. Well, I'm going to talk about Krispy Kreme today. Oh, good. All right. Let's give it up again for Tim Scott. Hey, there is no doubt about it, in my opinion, in my humble opinion, the greatest donut ever fashioned, ever made, was a Krispy Kreme donut. Is a Krispy Kreme donut, I should say. Again, they're my favorite, and nothing has affected our waistlines and taste buds like Krispy Kreme donuts. I think it's very interesting, isn't it, to see how Krispy Kremes are made. All it takes is the flip of a switch and this donut shop is hopping.

4:39 This sugar-drenched donut dates back to 1937. Today, Krispy Kremes are based on that original recipe, a top-secret blend of ingredients. The yeast makes Krispy Kremes lighter than cake donuts. Yeast combines with other ingredients and mixes for precisely 14 minutes. Then, they knead the dough and check the temperature. 87 degrees, right on the morning. The dough mass is then put into an air-pressurized chamber, and the air pressure pushes the dough down through a cutter, which forms the shape of a ring. For half an hour, the rings rise in a climate-controlled box. And then it drops into our fryer, where it's cooked for about two minutes on both sides. Now for the best part. A cascading waterfall of sugary glaze gives these donuts their finishing touch.

5:35 Years ago, I was invited to a speaking assignment in the South. I decided to take my six-year-old son with me, EJ was six at the time, on this trip. Our flight was delayed. We flew into this area, and I said, EJ, we don't have time to eat at a real restaurant before I speak. so I'm gonna take you to a place called Krispy Kreme. You're gonna love it and that's gonna be our dinner. So sure enough, we pull up to the Krispy Kreme shop, go in and just eat those amazing donuts that melt in your mouth. As we're walking out to the car from this donut establishment, EJ looked up at me and he said, Dad, what's for dessert?

6:33 what's for dessert? Again, there's nothing like a Krispy Kreme donut, but there's a man in the Bible, I call him Crispus Creamus. If you take your Bibles and turn to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 18, verse eight, we're gonna see the real donut. He was an influencer. A heavy hitter. A power player named Crispus. But because of what happened to him, I've got to call him Crispus Creamus. Because as you saw this process taking place, you have the dough and the dough is kneaded and then it's on the conveyor belt and they form it into a donut and then it's fried.

7:29 And then at the right time, it's drenched. With that icing, somebody slapped somebody. And then it's boxed up and eaten by you and me. I would argue Crispus is the same. You might be going, what? I'm going to argue that the process you just saw on the video is going to take place in Christmas's life. Acts chapter 18, verses five and six. The first thing I want you to see is, I want you to see the intensity of the Apostle Paul. You've heard of the Apostle Paul, St. Paul. He was in a place called Corinth. Corinth was a beautiful city, a wealthy city, super diverse.

8:26 diverse, all of these philosophies and religion. So on one hand, it made it sort of easy in a way to share the gospel. Not that that's easy, but he could talk about the things of God and people were like, oh, okay, that's interesting. Jesus, the Messiah, huh? On the other hand, the environment was very hostile and a lot of dialogue went back and forth whenever Paul would reason with people. So again, the Apostle Paul had just shown up into Corinth. He begins to talk to his people, the Jews, about Jesus. And I love what the Bible says about this situation. It says that Paul devoted, and I'm talking about Acts chapter 18, verses 5 through 6, himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. Now, that's a tall order, right? But when they opposed Paul, they being the Jews, and became abusive,

9:43 that being the Jews, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, Your blood be on your heads. I'm innocent of it. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles. Paul's like, I'm done. I'm out. Yes, the gospel is intense, but you people don't get it. You're messing around with me. You're throwing shade on me. You're haters. I'm gonna go to the Gentiles, Paul said. And then it says this classic verse, just like almost matter-of-factly, Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord, and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.

10:35 You've got to be joking. Wait a minute, Paul. I thought the Jews were jumping down your throat because of the intensity of the gospel. yet the gospel has such an impact, you're like, I'm done with the Jews. And the moment you say, I'm done, what happens? A heavy hitter, a power player, someone who was rolling, you know, in the culture, Crispus bows the knee to Jesus. And he had such influence, He led his entire household to Jesus. And because of that, it snapped the heads of many Corinthians. And they were like, whoa, if this influential man knows Christ, there's something there. Many of them believed.

11:33 And then the Bible says they were baptized. They were dunked. They were immersed in the sweetness of baptism. Think about it. You have the dough. We're made in the image of God, the raw product. The dough is kneaded. You know, life happens to you and me. Obviously, it's God's will for all of us to know Jesus personally. then the heat of being fried, the heat that happens when we become believers, and then right after that, at the precise time, we're dunked, we're drenched, we're baptized in that sweetness. Then we're on the conveyor belt, and we're boxed up.

12:25 Where? In the church. We're boxed in the church. but we're not boxed up just to have a, you know, a top on us, no, no, no, no, no. We're boxed up to share in our lives. John chapter six, verse 35, can be sustenance to so many people. Crispus, I mean, Crispus Cremus. What a story. He was drenched, he was baptized in the sweetness of believers' baptism. And I've got to ask you a question. Have you been baptized? Have you been baptized on the right side of salvation?

13:21 Baptism, every time I talk about baptism, questions abound. People have these hot opinions, you know? I gotta take a bite of this just real quick. Well... I've not had one of those for so long.

13:43 Unbelievable. But every time you talk about baptism, questions arise. And I want to deal just with some of the questions because it's imperative that we understand the theology of baptism. So theology being what the entire Bible says about this subject. So we need to know that. Also, too, some of us here, maybe you've grown up in a tradition where you were sprinkled or spritzed or poured. And that's great. Good for you. I'm not at all saying that your baptism was invalid. but I am going to encourage you to consider being baptized like every baptism in the Bible was practiced, which is by being immersed in that sweet icing, you know, being totally dunked.

14:43 And then others here, maybe you have never, ever, ever established a personal relationship with Christ. You can bow the knee today. become a believer and get baptized. Or as a little kid one day told me, Ed, I wanna get advertised because that's what it is. Think about it, think about it, think about it. Okay, here's the first question, the baby question. The baby question. I call this infant information. Have you ever wondered why are babies baptized in certain traditions? My wife was baptized as a Lutheran by being sprinkled. Maybe you grew up Catholic. Maybe you grew up in some other form and you were sprinkled. I am not saying at all that your baptism didn't take, that it was wrong, it was horrible, but let's face it, it was really more for your parents to say, okay, we are gonna rear our child in church.

15:43 We pray and we hope and we believe that one day on their own, they'll make a personal decision to receive Jesus Christ as Savior. That's what was really going on. So as you began your spiritual pilgrimage, as you made this decision to receive Christ, I would have you, even though you were sprinkled as a baby, I would have you, biblically speaking, to be baptized by immersion. Why? Why? Every baptism in the Bible was by immersion. Why? We were baptized, and the Bible says this over and over again, after someone is old enough to understand what it means to know Jesus Christ. After that, after they're hot, right, then they're immersed.

16:42 And I'm so thrilled at so many, many, many who've been baptized here and at all of our different locations. It's absolutely awesome. And we should celebrate that. We should. And a lot of people have been celebrating what happened at the polls. I mean, I think it's great, personally, what happened. It's a God thing. and as excited as I am about that, yeah, I ask myself, Ed, are you that excited when you see someone baptized at fellowship? I mean, Ed, are you that energetic when you're at our camp, Alasso Ranch, and you see 150-some-odd students get baptized? Are you that into it when you have like 27 people emerge from our kid faith class who understand baptism and are baptized?

17:42 I mean, that's just a question you have to ask yourself. So the baby question is a pretty simple one. baptisms started happening to infants because there was a question regarding death what happened people said what will happen to the child if they die before they're baptized or before they have an opportunity to make a faith decision. So there was a false doctrine, false doctrine that began to emerge. It's called the doctrine of baptismal regeneration.

18:27 This doctrine said, we need to immerse these babies when they're born. And that way, I mean, if they die, they're going to heaven. A number of children died because of being immersed. Also, too, there was a shortage of water in many areas. So sprinkling began to be what was really, really kind of the thing to do. So from there, that's how infant baptism began. What is fascinating is the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, et cetera, their theologians will tell you the best way to be baptized is by immersion the best being a biblical baptism a believer's baptism we say remember though at fellowship church like next week we have parent child dedication we dedicate kids we love kids we have these these moments in time, these markers where we say, okay, we're going to bring our kids up to follow the Lord Jesus and give them opportunity after opportunity to become believers. We do that at fellowship. We do not baptize babies, but we do that. We do baptize someone when they're old enough to make a decision to follow Christ, and no one really knows what that age is. I've seen kids as young as six understand that to the best of their ability.

20:02 I've seen other people who are much older to make that decision. But it's crucial that we understand that. So if you've been baptized by being sprinkled, get re-baptized. I've baptized many people in my life. And I've never had one person who's been sprinkled before who then decided, okay, I'm gonna be immersed in the icing of baptism. I've never had that person come up out of the water and go, I wish I hadn't have done that. There is an amazing amount of blessing on baptism. Let me say that again. There's an amazing amount of blessing on baptism.

20:50 Blessings. Blessings. And for a lot of people, balking at baptism is keeping you from discovering the blessings, many of which that God has for you. It's the first act of obedience. Cool, all right, let's talk about another question. The Clorox question, I call it the Clorox question. Here's the question. does baptism save you? I mean, are they supersonic cleansing waters that cleanse you and me of all of our sins? Wow, wouldn't that be interesting? Well, no. If there was some sort of a baptism machine or baptism technology that baptized you or me 150 times a day, if we had not made the faith decision to receive Christ, we'll bust hell wide open.

21:52 That was funny. You understand what I'm saying to you? Baptism does not save you. It's packed with spiritual meaning. I've said this a squillion times. Let me say a squillion in one times. It's like this wedding ring. This is a rubber wedding ring that I wear because I'm so active, you know, lifting weights and fishing and everything. This ring is an outward symbol of an inward commitment. That is baptism. And then we go to the attorney question. I know we have a lot of attorneys here. Technically, can someone go to heaven without being baptized? I mean, theoretically.

22:36 Yes, Mr. Attorney or Miss Attorney. Yes, yes, yes. Because think about the thief on the cross. Jesus said, today you'll spend eternity with me in paradise. So technically, no. If though we can, if we're physically able, we need to be obedient and enter the waters of New Testament baptism. So that's the attorney question. And the H2O question is how we're baptized. The word baptized in the original language is pronounced baptizo. It means to dip, to immerse. Think about the bright Krispy Kreme. I had a friend of mine who was a personal trainer. I used to work out with him maybe about 20 years ago. He would always say this.

23:28 After a workout, he would say, Ed, say no to the KK. Because there was a Krispy Kreme. You could see it from the gym. So we need to be immersed because immersion best symbolizes and shows the death, burial, and resurrection. I'm not gonna bury something. I don't just sprinkle some dirt on it. I don't just kind of pour some dirt on it. No, I dig a big honking hole and bury it. Baptism symbolizes that. The old life, the new life. I'm dead. Now I'm alive in Christ. The death, burial, and resurrection. Now, I'm not gonna baptize you that many times. I don't wanna scare anyone. It's just one time. And the water symbolizes the immersion that we're cleansed from all of our sins.

24:29 The best way to be baptized is through believer's biblical baptism. I want you to understand that. I want you to appropriate that. I want you to celebrate that. I want you to face that because Crispus, Creamus, think about him. He had to humble himself. He had to step down, but he really stepped up from his position. Think about it. As the leader of the synagogue, think about what that did to so many people. Think about the intensity and the impact and the influence of that one decision. So it's our prayer in a couple of moments that many of you would step up and step out and step into the waters of New Testament baptism because your life will never be the same and you can understand the sweetness of being a Crispus, Crispus,

25:42 Creamus.