Sermon Recap: Practicing the Ways of Jesus -Baptism
Pastor Pierre
Read: Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:37-38; Colossians 2:9-12,15
God does the mysterious behind the natural and often we Christians make common what is actually wondrous. Some may think that baptism is simply a routine church practice of dunking people in the water, but when things become routine wonder is killed. We are challenged to re-discover the wonder of Scripture, baptism and other spiritual practices. Jesus knew the wonder and commanded that His disciples go into the world, preach the Gospel and baptize those who believe. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter having been empowered by the Holy Spirit, boldly preached the Gospel to those who had previously rejected Jesus and exhorted that they should be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and that then they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. But before they were to be baptized, they were to repent, not necessarily from their deeds, but from having put their hope for salvation, rescue and recovery in legalism, moralism, rituals and their heritage. Repentance has to precede baptism. Before we are baptized, we too need to repent from the things, other than Jesus, that are the objects of our hope – those things that if taken away would seem like the end for us.
Baptism is so much more that simply a dunk in the water. It is a spiritual wonder in which something miraculous happens. It is a portal to hope and signifies that one’s hope has been placed in Jesus. One is baptized into the sphere and reality of Jesus and made one with Him. One is raised to a new life and a new family deciding to leave their past behind. One experiences the wonder of forgiveness, debt cancellation, the rise to freedom and a fresh start. Baptism is an invitation to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and the wonder of the opportunity to be miraculously transformed through spiritual practices to, not just attend church, but to become true disciples of Christ.
GROUP QUESTIONS:
1. What resonated with you as you listened to this sermon and reviewed it?
2. For you, which spiritual practices does routine tend to snuff out the wonder? What can you do to revive the wonder in those practices? How can we prevent ourselves from losing the wonder in our spiritual practices?
3. In what do Western Christians tend to put their hope, other than Jesus?
4. What does it mean to repent? Why do you think repentance precedes baptism?
5. What are reasons believers should be baptized? Why do you think some may choose not to be baptized?
6. Can you think of other areas of our lives that may have become so routine to the point of becoming mundane, common and void of wonder?
7. It was said that willpower is not the key to personal transformation. What does this mean to you? How then can we be transformed?
