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.
(a). Peter preached it: Acts chapter 2 verses 22&38-40:
“Brothers, what should we do?”
38Peter replied, “Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39This promise is to you and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
(b). Philip preached it: Acts chapter 8 verses 12-17:
2But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized.
(C). Paul preached it: Acts chapter 19 verses 1-5:
5As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Ill:
• Baptism booklet you can find the references in Acts,
• Whenever people became Christians they got baptised.
• Which illustrates that neither the apostles or the new believers;
• Regarded baptism as an optional extra.
Ill:
• Wokingham lady.
• “God spoke to me years ago about being baptised & I never did it…what do you think?
Baptism is an act of total submission:
• In many ways it is the first real test of a new Christian.
• It is like saying; “Am I prepared to make my stand for Jesus?”
• Remember: Quote:
• “The greatest thing you can do for Jesus is the very next thing he asks you to do!”
(3). Question: How do we do it?
Christians didn't invent baptism:
• e.g. Jewish Ritual,
• i.e. converted to Judaism, became a Jew they were baptised.
• e.g. John the Baptist – got the nickname ‘Baptist’ for what he practiced.
• Calling people to publicly demonstrate they meant business with God.
Note:
• Christian baptism is visually the same to look at.
• But has a completely different meaning.
The word ‘Baptised’:
• 'Baptizo' Greek word adopted (transliterated) in our language.
• i.e. ‘Rendezvous’ is a French word meaning “come together”.
• Baptism means 'To Immerse'. ‘To plunge’. ‘To dip’
• ill: Dying cloth. Ill: ships in world war two
ill:
Acts chapter 8 verse 38:
"Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him".
Ill:
• Never seen a believers baptism;
• Here is a short clip that demonstrates what happens.
(4). Question: What does it signify?
• Outward sign of an inward belief.
• Ill: Football shirt.
That may be true but it means much more than that!
(1). It is a picture of death.
Quote Romans chapter 6 verse 4-5:
"Don't you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death?"
Ill:
• In real life when a loved one dies:
• The burial, the funeral is the final break,
• During the initial period when the body can still be seen and touched,
• You still have the feelings of being linked to that person,
• But at the funeral, it is a very solemn moment,
• Because when the coffin goes down into the ground, it is all change!
• Even though death may have occurred earlier,
• At the funeral it is the real goodbye,
Ill:
• Someone knocked on the door of the great reformer Martin Luther.
• Not knowing who he was, he did not recognise him as he came to the door.
• The visitor said; “Excuse me is Martin Luther in?”
• “No” came the reply; “He died years ago!”
• Now of course martin Luther was in:
• But that story illustrates the fact that every Christian has died to self!
• Ill: Fish & Chippy:
• Sign in the window: “Under new management!”
There is only thing to do with a dead body is to bury it:
• As the person being baptised enters the water, ill: entering a grave.
• Lie in under the water, lying under the earth and buried in the ground,
(1). It is a picture of New life
• When a person becomes a Christian;
• They get a new life, they are; “born again”.
• Human life might be described by the witty saying:
• ‘The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, wills’.
• When a person becomes a Christian;
• They get a new life, they are; “born again”.
They are resurrected into new life in Jesus Christ:
• So ASAP the person being baptised is raised out the water,
• They are coming out to live a new life linked to and dependent on Jesus Christ.
• Before we just lived for ourselves, “I, Me, MY”.
• Now we live to please him, “Thy will be done”.
• Ill: Sheepdogs under the shepherds/ masters control.
• Ill: Not cats doing our own thing!
Quote: Apostle Paul explained it this way (Galatians chapter 2 verse 20):
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."
The normal Christian life should express these two great truths:
• That we are dead to sin,
• And alive to God.
Ill:
• Some flowers close up at night when the darkness falls,
• But open out when morning breaks and the sun shines.
• They are dead to the dark and alive to the light,
• Closed to one sphere but open to the other.
Like the flowers:
• Our lives must be closed to those things which we know are dark & wrong,
• And wide open to the light and love of God.
Ill:
• Baptism is called a sacrament by the church.
• The word comes from the Latin ‘sacramentum’, which means ‘oath of allegiance'.
• A Roman soldier made a ‘sacramentum’ to the Emperor.
• It was the seal upon his promise of loyalty & change of Lordship!
(5). Question: Where do we do it?
• Simple wherever the is enough water!
• Churches i.e. convenient.
• Swimming pool i.e. Wayne.
• Sea or rivers i.e. special memories baptising 7 people on an Italian beach.
The important thing:
• Is not where, but why?
• Not the act, but the meaning.
Summary:
Who is it for?
• It is not babies; not for Church-goers.
• But those who have a clear faith in Jesus Christ.
Why do we do it?
• Jesus asked us to (& practiced by the early Church).
• Ill: Too many Christians do not need call to be baptised but a kick up the pants!
How do we do it?
• By immersion.
• That is what the word means and what the early Church practised.
What does it mean?
• It is a funeral service but also a service of resurrection, new life.
• We die to self and live in Christ!
Where do we do it?
• Wherever there is enough water.
• It is not the where but the why that is all important!
