Believers Baptism.

Ill:

• The World's Easiest Test

• You should be able to get 100% on this one.

1. How long did the hundred year war last?

2. Which country makes Panama hats?

3. What is Camel's hair brush made from?

4. In what month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

5. What was King George VI's first name?

6. What colour is a Purple Finch?

7. Where are Chinese Gooseberries from?

8. How long did the Thirty Years War last?

Answers?

1. How long did the hundred year war last?

Answer: 116 years, from 1337 to 1453.

2. Which country makes Panama hats?

Answer: Ecuador.

3. What is Camel's hair brush made from?

Answer: Squirrel fur.

4. In what month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

Answer: November. The Russian calendar was 13 days behind ours.

5. What was King George VI's first name?

Answer: Albert. In 1936 he respected the wish of Queen Victoria that no future king should ever be called Albert.

6. What colour is a Purple Finch?

Answer: Distinctively crimson.

7. Where are Chinese Gooseberries from?

Answer: New Zealand.

8. How long did the Thirty Years War last?

Answer: 30 years of course. 1618 to 1648.

Ill:

• A friend once asked Isidor I. Rabi,

• A Nobel prize winner in science, how he became a scientist.

• Isidor replied that every day after school;

• His mother would talk to him about his school day.

• She wasn’t so much interested in what he had learned that day,

• But she always inquired, “Did you ask a good question today?”

• “Asking good questions,” Isidor said, “made me become a scientist.”

(1). Question: Who is baptism for?

• When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost:

• He preached the very first Christian sermon ever preached.

Two things to note from the verse:

(1). Who are the ‘those’?

ANSWER:

• They were Jewish men and women;

• Who had come from all over the world to celebrate the day of Pentecost.

• Ill: Just as we might travel a great distance to celebrate Christmas with friends and family;

• So the Jewish people descended on Jerusalem to celebrate this great day.

(2). What did they ‘believe’?

• In his sermon (recorded for us in Acts chapter 2):

• He taught the people 4 key truths about Jesus:

As Peter preaches he mentions 4 things about Jesus:

• His life (vs 22): "More than a man" (miracles, wonders & signs).

• Real person from a real place – but everything about him marks him out as unusual!

• His death (vs 22): No accident, part of a plan, God’s plan of salvation!

• Ill: Wise men gifts. Ill: Holmon Hunt’s painting ‘Shadow of the cross’.

• His resurrection (vs 23): He is alive, therefore he's available.

• Ill: Receipt – proof of purchase.

• His Exaltation (vs 34-35). Now he is in heaven, position of influence & authority.

• Ill: Grand Prix language – he is on the winning podium!

4 things about themselves:

• They were sinners (vs 23&36): Guilty, who need forgiveness.

• Ill: Broken God’s Laws ill: Pearl necklace ill: Late for a train.

• They need to repent (vs 38):

• Ill: Motorway missed the turning off.

• They need to call on the Lord (vs 21): Pray to respond personally to God.

• Ill: He is the one we have offended and hurt.

• They should get baptized (vs 38): They were given new orders, instructions, command.

• Ill: Prove by your actions as well as your words!

Note:

• Verse 41:

• "Those who accepted his message were baptized".

• It was only believers, those who came to an individual & personal faith in Jesus Christ,

• Who got baptised.

• ill: Baptize a non-Christian is like:

• Wearing a wedding ring / soldiers uniform etc.

Baptising someone who is not a Christian:

• Doesn't make them a Christian, it just makes them wet!

• It is faith, trust in Jesus Christ that makes someone a Christian!

• And becoming a Christian:

• May be a private thing - i.e. Something you do by responding to God.

• But it's never to be a secret thing - i.e. Outward confession before others.

(2). Question: Why do we do it?

(1). Jesus asked us to:

Matthew chapter 28 verse 19:

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you".

• A Christian is someone who follows the teaching of Jesus.

• The last command of Jesus involves baptism;

• Both the practicing of it and the teaching about it to others.

(2). The first Christians practised it.