Bakersfield First Assembly Podcast

I Am A New Creation

This powerful message takes us deep into the heart of what it means to be transformed by Christ through the waters of baptism. At its core, we encounter the profound truth of 2 Corinthians 5:17 - that in Christ, we are new creations, with the old passing away and the new coming forth. The teaching beautifully unpacks baptism not as a mere ritual, but as a spiritual declaration of our identity, a public proclamation that we belong to Jesus. Through Romans 6, we discover that baptism represents a burial of our old sinful nature and a resurrection into new life with Christ. The message challenges us to remember our baptism day as a transformational moment, a spiritual ID card that declares we have been washed, sanctified, and justified. What makes this particularly compelling is the recognition that baptism serves multiple purposes: obedience to Christ's command, a public witness to our faith, and a proclamation of spiritual authority that gives the enemy a black eye. We're reminded that transformation isn't about waiting until we're good enough - if we wait for that, we'll never come. Instead, baptism is about declaring that Jesus has made us good enough through His blood. The testimonies woven throughout remind us that real people in our midst are experiencing radical life change, moving from bondage to freedom, from shame to celebration. Chapters Chapter 1: Understanding New Creation Identity 0:00 - 6:37 We explore what it means to be a new creation in Christ through baptism, examining 2 Corinthians 5:17 and understanding our transformed identity. Chapter 2: The Biblical Foundation and Meaning of Baptism 6:37 - 15:00 We dive deep into Romans 6 and other scriptures to understand baptism as a symbolic burial of our old self and resurrection into new life with Christ. Chapter 3: Four Reasons Why We Get Baptized 15:00 - 24:00 We examine the four primary reasons for baptism: obedience to Christ's command, public witness, spiritual authority, and evangelistic opportunity. Chapter 4: Walking Daily in Your New Identity 24:00 - 30:00 We are challenged to remember our baptism daily, not letting our faith grow stale but continually living as those who have been washed, sanctified, and justified. Chapter 5: Celebration of New Creations 30:00 - 35:11 We witness the baptism of several individuals and are invited to celebrate transformation, with an open invitation for anyone ready to go public with their faith.

Who I Am Not

In this powerful exploration of identity, we journey through John chapter 3 to discover what truly defines us in a world that constantly tells us we can reinvent ourselves. The conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus reveals a profound truth: no matter how impressive our resume, how respected our position, or how religious our practices, outward success cannot satisfy inward emptiness. Nicodemus had everything—he was educated, influential, morally upright, part of the religious elite—yet he came to Jesus at night, searching for something more. This teaches us that we can know theology without knowing peace, understand scripture without experiencing freedom, and hold titles without transformation. Jesus introduces a radical concept that our identity requires not improvement but complete rebirth through the Spirit. The cross becomes the central place where our true worth is revealed, showing us simultaneously that we are more sinful than we realize yet more loved than we can imagine. Unlike the world's system that demands we achieve and earn our identity, the gospel invites us to receive it freely. We discover that when transformation comes from the Spirit rather than external changes, we no longer live for the acceptance of others but from being accepted by Him. This message challenges us to stop building our identity on temporary things like careers, appearance, success, or even failure, and instead anchor ourselves in the unchanging love of Christ who makes us completely new. Chapters Chapter 1: How Identity is Shaped 0:00 - 11:26 Our identity is shaped by nature, nurture, and culture, but these temporary foundations leave us searching for something more permanent and meaningful. Chapter 2: Your Position is Not Your Identity 11:26 - 21:25 The story of Nicodemus reveals that outward success, religious achievement, and social status cannot satisfy our inner emptiness or give us true identity. Chapter 3: The Necessity of New Birth 21:25 - 32:00 Jesus teaches that true transformation requires being born again through the Spirit—not behavior modification, but complete spiritual regeneration from the inside out. Chapter 4: Identity at the Foot of the Cross 32:00 - 42:14 The cross reveals both our sinfulness and God's love, providing the only path to true identity through forgiveness, adoption, and transformation in Christ. Chapter 5: Living in Your New Identity 42:14 - 49:02 We must stop building our identity on temporary things and instead receive our identity as a gift from God, living as loved children rather than condemned prisoners.

The Gospel of Mark Volume 2 - Part 13

This powerful message takes us deep into Mark chapter 7, where Jesus confronts the religious leaders about a critical question: Are we living with outward appearance or inner transformation? The passage challenges us to examine whether our faith is rooted in checking boxes and maintaining appearances, or flowing from a genuine, deepening relationship with God. Through the lens of Jesus' confrontation with the Pharisees over handwashing rituals and traditions, we discover that God desires authenticity over performance. The religious leaders had mastered what Jesus called 'a beautiful way of doing an ugly thing'—they looked righteous on the outside while their hearts remained far from God. They even found loopholes in God's commands, declaring their resources 'Corban' to avoid caring for their aging parents. This message confronts us with uncomfortable truths: We can lead worship, pray beautiful prayers, and quote Scripture while harboring bitterness, unforgiveness, and pride in our hearts. The transformation we need isn't about external rules or traditions—it's about allowing the Holy Spirit to perform heart surgery from the inside out. Jesus makes it clear that sin originates in the human heart, not from external factors. Only through surrendering to Jesus can we experience the radical inner change that produces authentic faith. This is our invitation to move beyond religious performance into genuine transformation. Chapters Chapter 1: The Danger of Religious Performance 0:00 - 9:30 A personal story illustrates how we can maintain outward religious appearances while harboring bitterness and unforgiveness in our hearts. Chapter 2: Jesus Confronts Religious Hypocrisy 9:30 - 20:00 Jesus challenges the Pharisees who prioritized human traditions and outward purity over genuine heart transformation and obedience to God's commands. Chapter 3: The Heart of the Matter 20:00 - 30:00 True defilement comes from within the human heart, not from external sources, and only Jesus can bring about genuine internal transformation. Chapter 4: Authenticity Over Appearances 30:00 - 40:00 God desires authentic relationship over religious performance, and we must guard against looking faithful while remaining unchanged internally. Chapter 5: Grace, Not Legalism, Transforms 40:00 - 49:05 The law was meant to point us to Jesus, and only His grace and mercy can bring about lasting transformation in our lives.

The Gospel of Mark: Volume 2 - Part 12

This powerful message takes us into Mark chapter 6, where Jesus sends out His twelve disciples on their first real mission assignment. What's remarkable about this passage is that Jesus doesn't wait until they're fully trained or completely prepared—He sends them out immediately, two by two, into villages that desperately need to hear about the Kingdom of God. The disciples receive five critical elements for their mission: authority and power over unclean spirits, simplicity and margin in their approach, complete dependence on God for provision, graciousness in their interactions, and preparation for inevitable hostility. These weren't scholars or religious elites—they were ordinary fishermen and laborers who had been following Jesus. Yet He stamped them with His authority and sent them out anyway. This should encourage us tremendously because God still uses ordinary people filled with the Holy Spirit to accomplish extraordinary things. The challenge for us today is recognizing that we too are sent—not just to live comfortable church lives, but to carry the gospel to our streets, our workplaces, our neighborhoods. The same authority Jesus gave those first disciples is available to us through the Holy Spirit. The question becomes: are we willing to be sent, and who are we willing to be sent to? Chapters Chapter 1: Introduction: The Fear of Sharing Faith 0:00 - 9:46 We explore the intimidating experience of sharing our faith with others through a personal story of being sent out to evangelize as a new believer, highlighting the common fear many Christians face. Chapter 2: Sent with Authority and Power 9:46 - 18:42 We learn that Jesus sends us out with His authority and power, not depending on our own talents or abilities, but on the divine empowerment He provides. Chapter 3: Sent with Simplicity and Dependence 18:42 - 28:17 We are called to travel light in life and ministry, creating margin for God to work and learning to depend on Him rather than our own resources. Chapter 4: Sent with Grace and Prepared for Hostility 28:17 - 39:41 We must be gracious in our interactions with others while remaining prepared for rejection, understanding that not everyone will receive the gospel message. Chapter 5: The Vision: A Church Sent to Transform 39:41 - 45:51 We are called to be a church that goes out with authority to impact our city, growing in mission and reaching every tribe, tongue, and nation with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel of Mark Volume 2 - Part 11

This powerful message takes us into the heart of Mark chapter 6, where we encounter a sobering reality: the people of Nazareth, who knew Jesus best, were the ones who rejected Him most completely. We discover how familiarity can become our greatest spiritual danger. The hometown crowd saw Jesus as just the carpenter's son, someone ordinary they watched grow up in their small village of perhaps 500 people. They couldn't reconcile the ordinary with the divine, and their unbelief created an atmosphere so resistant that Jesus could do very few miracles there. This passage reveals a progression we must guard against: familiarity leads to offense, offense reveals pride, and pride hardens into unbelief that limits what we experience of God's power. The tragedy isn't that sinners rejected Jesus, but that people who thought they knew Him best couldn't see Him for who He truly was. We're challenged to examine our own hearts: Have we domesticated Jesus? Have we made Him so familiar that we've stopped expecting Him to move? The call is clear: never lose wonder, refuse cynicism, honor what God is doing around us, and keep our hearts open. Proximity to spiritual things doesn't guarantee transformation. We can attend church, know Bible stories, and still miss Jesus if we allow familiarity to blind us to His extraordinary nature. Chapters Chapter 1: The Danger of Familiarity 0:00 - 10:53 We explore how the people of Nazareth were offended by Jesus because they were too familiar with Him, unable to see His divinity beyond His ordinary appearance. Chapter 2: Offense Reveals Pride 10:53 - 19:59 We learn that the offense taken by Nazareth's people revealed their pride, as they refused to accept that someone they considered ordinary could have authority over them. Chapter 3: Unbelief Limits What We Experience 19:59 - 29:24 We see that unbelief created an atmosphere where Jesus could do few miracles in Nazareth, demonstrating how our lack of faith limits what God can do in our lives. Chapter 4: Keeping Our Hearts Open 29:24 - 44:15 We receive practical guidance on how to avoid the spirit of Nazareth: never lose wonder, refuse cynicism, honor what God is doing, and keep our hearts open.