35 to 45 minutes for personal study; 55 to 70 minutes with a group Connect baptism with repentance, faith, union with Christ, cleansing, and public belonging. Connect the Lord’s Supper with remembrance, participation, covenant, unity, and hope. Understand the course’s convictions while treating Christians from other traditions honestly and respectfully. The Christian faith is spoken with words, but Jesus also gave his church visible practices. A person enters water and rises. A community receives bread and the cup. Ordinary physical things carry the story of Christ’s death, resurrection, covenant, and promised return. These practices are not empty religious decorations. Nor are they private spiritual moments detached from the church. They place the gospel before our bodies and before the community. We are reminded whose death and resurrection define us, whose table receives us, and what kind of people we must become together. In baptism and the Lord’s Supper, believers receive and proclaim the gospel through visible acts that unite personal faith, Christ’s saving work, the church’s shared life, and future hope. Matthew 28:18-20 Romans 6:1-5 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 In the New Testament, baptism is closely joined to responding to the gospel. People repent, believe, confess Christ, receive baptism, and enter the visible community of disciples. Going into and coming out of the water portrays participation in Christ’s death and resurrection. Baptism does not announce that the person has completed the Christian life. It announces that the person belongs to Jesus and is beginning to walk in newness of life. This course speaks from the believer baptism tradition common among Pentecostal and evangelical churches, where those who personally confess faith are baptized, ordinarily by immersion. Other Christian traditions baptize the children of believers as a covenant sign and later call them to personal confirmation of faith. The difference is important and should be studied honestly. It should also be discussed without questioning the sincerity of every Christian formed in another tradition. At the Last Supper, Jesus gives bread and the cup in the shadow of the cross. The meal remembers him, proclaims his death, shares in fellowship with Christ, renews gratitude for the covenant, and looks toward his return. Pentecostal and many evangelical churches often use the word *ordinance* and emphasize remembrance and obedient participation. Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, and other traditions describe Christ’s presence at the table in different ways. Every view must still face Paul’s central concern: the meal cannot honor Christ while believers humiliate, exclude, or ignore one another. Before baptism or Communion, the right response is not anxious perfection. It is honest faith, repentance, self examination, reconciliation where possible, and trust in Christ. Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 2:37-42: Baptized Into Discipleship The risen Jesus joins baptism with making disciples, teaching obedience, and his continuing presence. At Pentecost, those who receive Peter’s message repent, are baptized, and enter a community devoted to teaching, fellowship, meals, and prayer. Baptism belongs to public allegiance and shared formation. Romans 6:1-11: Joined to Christ’s Death and Resurrection Paul speaks of baptism as participation in the story of Jesus. The old mastery of sin is broken, and believers are called to walk in newness of life. The water does not celebrate human achievement. It points to God’s saving action in Christ and the new identity received through him. Luke 22:14-20: The New Covenant Meal Jesus interprets the bread and cup in relation to his body given and his blood poured out. The Passover setting places his death within God’s story of rescue and covenant. The church remembers not an idea, but the Lord who gave himself for his people. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17: One Bread, One Body Paul calls the cup and bread participation in Christ and immediately speaks of the church as one body. Communion is personal, but never merely individual. Receiving one loaf carries a call to recognize and honor the people Christ has joined together. 1 Corinthians 11:17-34: Discern the Body The Corinthian meal exposed divisions between wealthy and poor believers. Paul’s warning about receiving unworthily addresses a manner of participation that contradicts the gospel being proclaimed. Self examination includes how we are treating Christ’s body, not only private introspection. Baptism The use of water commanded by Jesus that publicly identifies a disciple with Christ’s death and resurrection and with his people. Lord’s Supper The church’s shared bread and cup that remembers and proclaims Jesus’ death while anticipating his return. Ordinance A practice commanded by Jesus and received by the church in obedient faith. Sacrament Language used by many Christians to emphasize a visible sign through which God communicates grace. If you believe in Christ and have not been baptized, speak with a trusted church leader about taking that step. Remember your baptism as a call to live from your identity in Christ. Come to Communion with gratitude, honest repentance, and concern for the unity and wellbeing of Christ’s people. Read Acts 8:26-39 and write what the passage shows about hearing the gospel, faith, and baptism. If baptism is your next step, arrange a conversation with a church leader. Before your next Communion service, ask whether any relationship requires confession, truth, forgiveness, or a wise attempt at peace. Lord Jesus, thank you for giving yourself for us and raising us into new life. Let baptism remind us that we belong to you. Meet us at your table with grace, repentance, unity, and hope until the day we share the feast in your kingdom. Amen. What does Romans 6 teach baptism to say about a believer’s identity? Why does Paul connect Communion with the treatment of other believers? How can Christians hold a clear conviction while speaking honestly and charitably about another tradition? Teach the congregation’s conviction clearly rather than pretending differences do not matter. Do not turn the session into a contest between traditions. Let the biblical meaning and the learner’s faithful next step remain central. Direct practical questions about readiness and participation to accountable local church leadership. Everett Ferguson, Baptism in the Early Church. Gordon T. Smith, A Holy Meal. According to Matthew 28:19 and Romans 6:3-4, what does water baptism signify? A superficial social celebration without spiritual meaning Public identification with Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection, marking entry into the community of faith An automatic guarantee of worldly health and wealth A private ritual to be kept secret from everyone Public identification with Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection, marking entry into the community of faith Baptism is an outward public testimony of inward faith, uniting the believer with Christ's death and resurrection life. What is the biblical purpose of the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)? To satisfy physical hunger during long meetings To remember Christ's body given and blood shed for our sins, proclaim his death until he comes, and celebrate corporate unity To re-sacrifice Christ over and over again To exclude poorer members of the community To remember Christ's body given and blood shed for our sins, proclaim his death until he comes, and celebrate corporate unity Jesus instituted the bread and cup as a sacred memorial and proclamation of his once-for-all atoning sacrifice until his return. Why does Paul urge believers to examine themselves before partaking of the Lord's Table (1 Corinthians 11:28)? To ensure they have reached sinless perfection before taking the bread To approach the table with reverent humility, discerning the Lord's body and resolving relational sin, division, and indifference To check their financial net worth To verify that they have memorized the entire Greek New Testament To approach the table with reverent humility, discerning the Lord's body and resolving relational sin, division, and indifference Self-examination guards against treating Christ's sacrifice lightly and promotes relational reconciliation within the congregation. How do baptism and the Lord's Supper proclaim the gospel to the surrounding world? They are secret esoteric rites with no proclamation value They visibly dramatize the gospel of Christ's death and resurrection before the eyes of the church and watching world They demonstrate intellectual superiority over nonbelievers They replace the need for preaching the gospel They visibly dramatize the gospel of Christ's death and resurrection before the eyes of the church and watching world As Augustine noted, the sacraments are visible words, tangible proclamations of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. Sacramental Theology Essay on Baptism and the Lord's Supper as Means of Grace Write 700 to 900 words exploring the biblical theology of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Analyze Paul's explanation of baptismal union in Romans 6, the institution of the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11, and how these visible gospel ordinances nourish faith, unity, and eschatological hope. Examine Romans 6:3-5 regarding baptism as identification with the death and resurrection of [Jesus](/bible/explorer/person/jesus). Analyze 1 Corinthians 11:23-29, evaluating the command of remembrance, self-examination, and discerning the Lord's body. Articulate how the Lord's Supper bridges the past (Calvary), present (fellowship), and future (the messianic banquet). Discuss pastoral principles for preparing believers for baptism and the Lord's Table with reverence and joy. The essay must be 700 to 900 words, cite biblical references accurately, engage the designated Bible Explorer links, and adhere to pastoral clarity without prohibited compound hyphens. The nature of Christ presence in the Lord Supper: real spiritual presence versus memorialism. The meaning of discerning the body in 1 Corinthians 11:29 as corporate awareness and love for poorer members. Paul received the tradition of the Lord Supper directly from the Lord as noted in 1 Corinthians 11:23. The Didache (chapters 7 and 9) provides earliest non-canonical instruction on baptism and the Eucharist. Mathison, Keith A. Given for You: Reclaiming Calvin Doctrine of the Lord Supper. Phillipsburg: P&R, 2002. Stott, John. The Message of 1 Corinthians. Downers Grove: IVP, 2020. Wright, N. T. The Meal Jesus Gave Us. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2015.