7Mysteriesof God

Baptism

Hear It From JesusMatthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Authority“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”• The King has landed.• The King now rules.• The King chooses to rule through us.

Make DisciplesWhat is a disciple?• Disciple does not

mean “saved.”• A disciple is a learner.• A disciple is a follower.• So how does one

“make disciples”?

Make Disciples

•Going•Baptizing•Teaching

Make Disciples

Into the Name• Baptized into the Father, so

baptized into His Family• Baptized into the Son, so

baptized into Christ’s Life• Baptized into the Spirit, so

baptized into Mystery & Power

Father

SonSpirit

Consensus• Iranaeus M. C. Steenberg (Orthodox): “Baptism, as

entry, is the mystery by which this movement into the life of Christ is made a reality in the human creature.”• Gerard Kelly (Catholic): “The rites of baptism …

make people Christians and bestow a particular identity on them.”

Consensus• N.T. Wright (Anglican): “Baptism is not an optional

extra for followers of Jesus. Jesus himself linked baptism to his own death; part of the meaning of baptism is to commit us, through plunging into water, to dying with Jesus and coming to share his new life.”• Scot McKnight (Baptist): How do we build churches

with a “gospel culture”? “The first thing is to emphasize baptism. What I mean here is Romans 6 as the articulation of Matthew 28:16-20. Jesus told his disciples to baptize disciples.”

To the End of the Age• Baptism is a mystery that carries the gospel with it

in our postmodern age.• Today, those that would be disciples are still

baptized.• Today, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit still take

part in baptism.