Sacraments
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Recall a recent celebration you were part of. How important was it to celebrate that event?
โข Do you have a daily ritual or routine? What is it for and why do you do it?ย
โข Name one of your family traditions. What does it say about what you value as a family?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ดโ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด.ย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ฐ๐ญโ๐ฐ๐ฎ
What we believe shapes our traditions and the things we do. After hearing the gospel from Peter, many disciples were baptized into the faith and sought to follow the words and ways of Jesus. Their devotion was not to earn salvation, but as a means of grace. The different means of grace, including sacraments, are not ways by which we receive grace to be saved. Rather, they are channels by which we experience more of Godโs grace to live out our salvation. Letโs look at the two sacraments that Jesus Himself instituted and why we still practice them today.ย ย
๐ญ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐ถ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐.
๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐ฟ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ข๐.โ ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ฑ, ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฆ.โ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ฑ, ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐๐ก๐๐๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง๐โ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐จ. ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ญ:๐ฎ๐ฐโ๐ฎ๐ฒ
We celebrate the Lordโs Supper or communion, not just for tradition, but to recognize and remember Jesusโ life, death, and resurrection, which paved the way for our salvation. We remember His body which was broken for us, that by His wounds we may be healed (Isaiah 53:5). We thank Him for His blood poured out for the cleansing of our sins (1 John 1:7). By doing this, we proclaim the gospel in faith and hope that Jesus will come again. Why is it important that we remember what Jesus has done through communion?
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐๐บ, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐.ย
๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต, ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ. ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฒ:๐ฐ
(Read also ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฒ:๐ต-๐ญ๐ฌ.)
The Gospel of Matthew gives us several pictures of baptism and its importance (Matthew 3:16; 28:19). As believers, we participate in water baptism publicly. Through baptism, we declare that when Christ died, our old sinful selves died with Him. Just as Christ rose from the dead, we too will rise with Him in the ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ. Baptism is an act of faith and obedience as we believe the gospel and turn to God. Recall the moment you were water baptized. What was your posture and declaration of faith then?
๐ฏ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฑโ๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ.
๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ง ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ณ๐ถ๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ. ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฒ:๐ฑโ๐ฒ
The Bible records these as the two sacraments that Jesus gave the church (1 Corinthians 11:24โ26 and Matthew 28:18โ20). These acts are a means of grace and serve as visible signs of what God is doing in believers. When we practice communion or are baptized, it is not the act that earns Godโs grace. Instead, by these acts of faith, we position ourselves to experience more of His grace. When we are reminded of Christโs death, burial, and resurrection, we become empowered to no longer yield to sin and to live for God through the power of His resurrection. How does Godโs grace help us obey Him (Titus 2:11โ14)?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Are there mindsets you have about sacraments that may not be aligned to Scripture? How might our lesson today help align your motivation and heart to the truth?
โข Have you been baptized in water? Would you like to publicly declare your faith and identify with Jesusโ death, burial, and resurrection? How do you think this will help you grow in your knowledge of and love for God?ย
โข Through communion, we proclaim the Lordโs death until He comes. With whom can you share the saving truth about Jesus this week?ย
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for sending His Son, Jesus, to save us. Thank Him for the sacraments by which we can celebrate Jesus and receive more of His grace.ย
โข Ask God to help you have the right understanding, motivation, and heart as you participate in the sacraments. Pray that you wonโt take for granted your salvation paid for by Christ and will grow in your love for God every day.
โข Pray that you will live as one who has died to sin and is alive in Christ. Pray for the boldness to share what Jesus had done to those around you.ย