Prepare the Way. For Baptism and Membership. Discovery Book

Transcription

1 Prepare the Way For Baptism and Membership Discovery Book 1

2 Writing Team Neil Engle Rick Gates Ed Linberg Jim Lorensen Robin McGonigle Lee Parker Kim Blakley Rea Barb Runge Editor Michael E. Dixon Copy Editor Kaitlyn Rose Cover Design Arista Graphics Photographs Lorrie Calabrese-Keller: p. 7 Michael Domínguez: pp. 6, 13, 15, 28, 31 Kevin Grace: p. 14 Steve Weller: front cover Sandy Dixon: p. 30 Illustrations Jules Edler and Patrice Holt: p. 26 Will Hardin: pp. 19, 29, 32 Art Kirchhoff: pp. 8, 10, 33 Bob Watkins: pp. 2, 11, 24 Elizabeth Wright: pp. 22, 23 Interior Design Dan Fruend Art Director Michael Domínguez Prepare the Way: Discovery Book is part of Prepare the Way, a series of resources to prepare people for baptism and membership in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This series is published by Christian Board of Publication, 1221 Locust Street, Suite 670, St. Louis, MO Printed in the U.S.A. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, and are used by permission. In some instances adaptations may have been made for the sake of inclusive language and clarity. 2 Copyright 1998 by Christian Board of Publication. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the publisher s written permission unless stated otherwise for particular pages.

3 Contents Welcome!... 4 Let s Get Acquainted... 5 FAITH Hear and Believe BAPTISM REPENTANCE Repent and Confess Be Baptized FORGIVENESS Receive Forgiveness HOLY SPIRIT Receive the Holy Spirit The Ballad of Walter Scott Dare to Be Disciples

4 Welcome! Your journey in life has led you to a new place. You are considering accepting Jesus as the Christ, the son of the living God, being baptized, and becoming a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). That will be an important decision, one of the most important decisions you will make in your whole life. By choosing Jesus, God, and the church, your life will be different. You shouldn t make an important decision quickly, even if you feel ready to make it and know it s what you want to do. Give it some thought. Do some research. Most of all, pray about it. This book is part of a course to help you prepare for baptism and church membership. It s called a Discovery Book, because there is a lot for you to discover about the Bible, about Jesus, and about your church. Have a good journey! Walk with Jesus Christ. 4

5 Let s Get Acquainted We learn at an early age to use the five fingers on our hand. We use them to master counting, to discover how to hold up the appropriate number of fingers when someone asks us, How old are you? Those fingers help us play musical instruments, build things, and reach out to touch someone we love. One of the early leaders of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Walter Scott, found yet another way to utilize the five fingers. At the time he was preaching, people traveled on horseback. He wanted a simple means by which anyone could share the gospel the message about God and Jesus Christ anywhere they went without having to carry extra books and materials. Scott developed his Five-Finger Exercise. Beginning with his thumb, he stated that the gospel begins with faith with hearing and believing the message about God s love for us and how God sent Jesus Christ to be our Savior. Second, we must repent or turn away from our sins, the wrong or unhealthy things we do and say. The middle finger represents the act of Christian baptism. The fourth (ring) finger stands for the forgiveness God gives to us, so that our sins are not held against us. The final finger is a reminder of the gifts of the Holy Spirit God s living presence among us today. According to Scott, we are active and God is active in our encounter with the gospel. We are responsible for the first three fingers responding in faith, repenting, and being baptized. God reaches out to us by giving us forgiveness and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The five main ingredients for your life as a follower of Jesus Christ and as a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are as close as your hand. Expect to have lots of fun and experience lots of learning during the next several weeks as we discover the Five Fingers of Walter Scott. Prayer of Preparation: Dear God, thank you for the opportunity to be part of this class. Thank you for our church and our leaders. Help me as a I learn more about you and what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Amen. 5

6 Who Am I? My full name is. I like to be called. (nickname) I attend School and am in the grade. I live at. (address) I live with. (list the members of your family) I like to.(list your hobbies) I would describe myself as. I would describe my relationship with God this way:. I came to this class because. In this class, I want to learn. I go to church because (circle any reason that applies to you): My friends go It s close to my house My family goes I like the people at church I like it I believe in Jesus I always have I think I should I think it s fun Other reasons: 6

7 What s in the Bible? The Bible has two sections, the Testament and the Testament. The Testament tells the stories of God s people for many years before Jesus came into the world. The Testament contains the stories about Jesus and the people who believed in him. Each Testament has books. Find the index in your Bible and count the number of books in the Old Testament:, in the New Testament:. Some of the books are longer than others. That s why, when you open your Bible in the middle, you will probably open it to the book of Psalms. Psalms is a collection of poems and songs that describe a person s relationship with God. Each book of the Bible is divided into parts. There are chapters and verses in each book. (But there are no chapter markings in short one-chapter books. Can you find some?) The chapters are marked at the top of each page. Little numbers right before the words indicate the beginning of a verse. When a reference to the Bible is given, it states the book, the chapter, and the verse like this: John 3:16. Look up this scripture and read it. Many of the books of the Bible are named after people. Look at the index to your Bible to list some of these books in the spaces below: Some of the books of the Bible are named to describe what is in that book. See if you can guess which books are named this way: means beginning ; means laws ; means it is a collection of sayings ; tells the story of people leaving, exiting ; tells about the things the disciples did. Some of the books of the New Testament were actually letters written to people in different cities. Those books are named after the cities. Some examples are: & were two letters written to people at Corinth; was a letter written to people at Galatia; was a letter written to people at Ephesus. 7

8 Meeting Jesus Christ You have heard about Jesus, but you may not understand what Jesus has to do with the church and the people who call themselves Christian. Following are questions for you to consider. Do your best to answer as many as possible without looking at the scriptures in parentheses. Then, as a class, we ll check our answers using the scriptures. 1. Where was Jesus born? (Luke 2:1 7 or Matthew 2:1 2) 2. What were his friends who followed him often called in scripture? (Luke 6:12 16) 3. What were they like? Did they always live good lives or did they at times disappoint Jesus? (Luke 22:24 and Matthew 26:33 34, 69 70) 4. Do you think Jesus was ever tempted to disobey God s will? (Matthew 4:1 3) 5. In what part of the Bible can you find out the most information about Jesus? 6. What kind of followers does Jesus need today? How should they live? (Matthew 16:24, Luke 14:27, John 8:31, John 15:8) 7. What did Jesus do for people? (Mark 8:1 8) 8. How did Jesus teach us to treat our enemies? (Luke 6:27) 9. How many of the original twelve disciples who followed Jesus can you name? (Matthew 4: 18 22) 8

9 Jeremy and His Five Fingers by Narka K. Ryan and William S. Ryan Why do you weep, Elizabeth? Do you not like the new home we have here near the river? Is it not all we hoped for when we left England? Hastily wiping her eyes, Elizabeth smiled through her tears. Forgive me, Jonathan. Of course, it s more than what we both wanted. It s the church, though; it s the only church in the area, but it is not like ours. This morning when we could not receive communion because we did not say all the words everyone else did, I felt so left out, so rejected. And I wondered, when will we ever be able to be a full part of the church again? Jeremy overheard the conversation of his parents and he thought about it on the way to Mr. Barton s store with the daily supply of eggs from their chicken coop. It s not fair, he thought. Is that the way all churches are? With the eggs delivered, Jeremy came home the long way. That meant walking along the beautiful Ohio River, climbing around rocks, and watching the fish jump out a distance in the water. Today he came upon something different. Right at the river s edge, a young man was standing on the back of a wagon, talking to a group of Jeremy s parents friends and neighbors. Frequently some traveling salespersons would try to sell medicine or herbs, and Jeremy might listen for a moment before running on home. But today, Jeremy caught the words church, one, and simple. He stopped at the edge of the group. It seemed as if the man was speaking directly to Jeremy. If only Mother and Father were here. But he couldn t pull himself away for fear he d miss the exciting words of the young man. Walter Scott for that was his name was traveling all along that part of the Ohio frontier sharing his simple plan of salvation. You don t have to have a token to be a church member, he said. You don t need to recite creeds to join a church. There is no creed but Christ. Jeremy swallowed hard. It was exactly what his parents had been talking about. This was the subject that had brought those seldom-seen tears to his mother s eyes. The church of Jesus Christ on earth is one. We are meant to be one people. God means for it to be that way. And it s as simple as this. Hold up your hand. I can show you on the fingers of one hand. Touching his little finger he said, First, you ve got to believe that Jesus is the Christ and confess that faith. Putting his thumb to his ring finger, he said, Next, you must repent of your sins. Thirdly, you must be baptized. These are the three things we must do. The next two fingers are God s actions. Holding up his index finger, Scott said, God will forgive your sins, and then fifth, with his thumb outstretched, he raised his voice and shouted victoriously, God will give you the gifts of the Holy Spirit and eternal life. It s as simple as that, Scott said softly. Let me repeat it for you. Again he spoke the words of faith, repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jeremy was glad because he knew he d heard something important. Having run all the rest of the way home, he came into the house, laughing and talking all at the same time. With hand held high, he said, Listen, I ve found us a church that s made for people like us! He started with the first finger. He was so excited that his parents made him repeat it 1. Why did Elizabeth feel so bad three times. about the church? It makes sense, Elizabeth, smiled caught Jeremy s attention? 2. What did Walter Scott say that Jonathan. Come on, Son. 3. In what way did the five-finger You and your exercise help the new movement mother and I are spread across the frontier? going back to town to talk to 4. What do you think happened your Mr. Scott! when Jeremy and Elizabeth and Jonathan met Mr. Scott that night? Adapted from a story by the same name in Community of the Called: Older Children/Younger Youth, Christian Board of Publcation, Used by permission. Let s Think About It 9