Paramount Church October 25, 2020

Sermon notes: Baptism: Matt 28:18-20 Methods for making disciples: Word and Sacrament (Baptizing). 3 Ways to Use baptism properly: -It does not save us. We trust Christ, not baptism for salvation. We look to Christ to Whom our Baptism points. -It is a visible Gospel. It preaches the Gospel to us: Christ's death, burial, resurrection. Not your act, but God's promise. Not our gift to God, but His gift to us. Not a pledge of our obedience, but His promise to us. -It is initiation into God's visible church. Disciples are made by baptizing. It is a covenant sign (Abrahamic Covenant: context) that is universal: to all nations. Matt 1:1 Jesus: Offspring. Matt 28: He is administering the Abrahamic Covenant in the New Covenant. Gal 3:16. Isa 53:8. Reformed teaching on Baptism: 39 Articles, WCF, Belgic Confession. The Bible knows nothing of an unbaptized Christian. >Christ's sacraments are inseparably connected to church membership. Acts 2:41-42 (Great Commission in action: Baptism/Church Membership). We are not baptized into isolation but into discipleship/grafting into Christ/integration into the covenant community (church). It teaches us that we belong not only to Christ but to each other. Parental vows in presenting children for baptism. Church architecture: Baptismal font placed at the entrance at the nave; initiation; reminder of your baptism: being engrafted into Christ; being part of this community; set apart; washed; marked with the Triune Name; adopted into His family; joy; communicates the Gospel. notes by Marissa