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2. First Steps

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In Your Bible Read This

Acts 2, 22-47

Here Is Your Memory Verse

"Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

Afterwards Talk About This

Have you all repented, been baptised, received Holy Spirit and joined God's family. If not make your plans now.

Something To Do Before Next Time

Make a list of Bible study books you can find among yourselves, or in the homes of other believers, even in a library. Look out for concordances, Bible dictionaries, commentaries and lexicons. It will help you to know where you can go to study.

Written Diploma Work

See how many water baptisms you can find in the New Testament, and write them down on two pages.

Meditate On This Passage

Colossians 3, 1-10

Spend a Minute to Change the World

Pray For Saudi Arabia – The death penalty is the price for following Jesus in Saudi Arabia, nearly all 17,000,000 follow Islam

Be sure to teach this lesson to others. Always pray and prepare well adding your own verses and stories to bring it to life.

In our Bible reading we heard how Peter preached about Jesus to a crowd of people who had come running to see what was happening when the first believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. When the crowd heard about the coming of Jesus, the Son of God and his life, his death at the hands of their leaders, and his resurrection and Lordship at God's right hand, they asked Peter an important question ~

What Shall We Do?

Peter's answer in Acts 2.38 tells us the three things that are the entrance into God's family. What are they?

Repent

We can only repent when Holy Spirit speaks to our heart and we become aware of the seriousness of our sins before a holy God. We become truly sorry and tell him so, and then we repent. Repentance is a word which means to turn around and go in the opposite direction. We repent when we stop walking in the sinful ways of this world and choose to walk in the ways of God, asking for his help to do so.

Be Baptised

Peter said that after repentance, every one should be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ to show that they had received the forgiveness of their sins. Baptism was an ancient tradition that people went through when they joined the Jewish faith so the people knew what Peter was talking about. But for the follower of Jesus baptism is far more than a ritual or ceremony. It is a following of the Master, and a doorway into new life and a new family.

Receive The Gift Of Holy Spirit

We can never live a truly overcoming Christian life without his power and his presence inside us. It is Holy Spirit that turns dead religion into live relationship with God. We need him to fill our personal lives and our life together with other believers. Receiving him and making him welcome in our lives is so important that Peter said it is one of the very first things we should do. After we are baptised we are all given the Holy Spirit to drink. See 1 Corinthians 12-13.

Jesus Himself Was Baptised

In Matthew 3, 13-17 we can read about the example of Jesus who is the best model for living. Only after he was baptised did he serve in ministry.

Baptism Shows Obedience To Jesus

In Matthew 28.19 Jesus commanded that people should be baptised, and he said in John 15.14 that we are his friends if we do what he commands. What does Acts 5.32 say as well.

Who Should Be Baptised?

In the Bible we find only believers being baptised. Following Jesus is a serious decision but even a child can sincerely believe, so there is no age limit in the Bible. In some churches parents have their babies baptised but this is really an act of faith by the parents in dedicating the child to God. It is not the Bible decision to believe from the tiny baby, which would be quite impossible.

How Are You Baptised?

The word in the Bible means to soak or immerse, so we think that in Bible days to be baptised meant going underwater for a moment, although in some churches today people are baptised by the sprinkling of water over them.

What Happens At Baptism?

Baptism is a public confession of your faith in God through Jesus, and a statement to God, to angels, to demons and to men that you intend to follow him. Mark 8.38

Baptism is a recognition that when Jesus died on the Cross, your old life died with him. You wash away your sins and bury your old life just as Jesus died and was buried. As you come out of the water you recognise, and by faith, receive a new life, united with him in resurrection power. Romans 6, 3-6

Baptism is your declaration that you are joining the family of God's people, the Church. 1 Cor .12.12-13

When Should You Be Baptised?

As soon as possible. In Acts 2.38 the people were baptised on the same day they chose to follow Jesus. Baptism is a means of receiving God's grace, and a new convert needs that extra grace at the beginning to help him stand.

Welcome To The Family Of God

When you decide to follow Jesus you also join a big family. You can't follow Jesus and just do your own thing. It is so important to be part of God's family, the church. You will find that belonging brings great security and stability into life.

Which Church Should You Join?

These days there are many kinds of gatherings of believers, some are very traditional, others are modern but a good church will always have the same good community ingredients that were found in the New Testament churches. See Acts 2.42-47.

  • Devotion to the apostles teaching, which we have today in the Bible. The first things we need to learn about are repentance, faith in God, baptisms, the laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement. Hebrews 6, 1-2
  • Devotion to genuine friendship.
  • Devotion to receiving the grace of God through the breaking of bread.
  • Devotion to prayer.
  • There was also reverence for God, miracles and people being added. People shared their possessions, helped the poor, and met to praise God in homes and in the temple.

But remember repentance, being baptised, receiving Holy Spirit and joining God's family is just the very beginning. There is so much more to discover.

To Close Pray for the World's Most Unreached Peoples by Name

Taken from the Joshua Project Unreached Peoples List these people have no church and as yet no cell, church or mission has committed themselves to prayer, adoption or church planting among this people.

Egypt

People Name Language Population
Albanian (Shqip) Albanian, Tosk 18,000
Dom Gypsy (Nawar, Ghagar, Helebi) Domari 234,000
Libyan Arab Arabic, Northwest Egyptian Bedawi 300,000
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