Sacraments: Lesson 1

Sacrament of Baptism

Our lesson was on the Sacrament of Baptism. Here is some of the highlights and information regarding what we covered in "big group"

Bible Text:
Matthew 3:1–17; Mark 16:15–16; Matthew 28:19–20; Colossians 3:1–14

Lesson Focus:
In baptism we join the family of faith and receive God's promises of forgiveness, salvation, and new life.

Big Question:
What really happens during baptism?

Key Words:
BORN AGAIN, INFANT BAPTISM, DAILY REPENTANCE, BODY OF CHRIST

Here are the definitions of the key words:

BORN AGAIN:
having received in baptism salvation, forgiveness of sins, and the promise of everlasting life with God.

INFANT BAPTISM:
occurs when a baby receives the sacrament and becomes a full member of the body of Christ. The infant becomes a member not by his or her own decision, but by the undeniable grace of God.

DAILY REPENTANCE:
the realization every day that you are a sinner, but through your baptism into Jesus Christ you are redeemed and forgiven.

BODY OF CHRIST:
the entire company of saints, including everyone on earth—past, present, and future—who lives in the promise of salvation in Jesus Christ for eternity.

The Adolescence Connection

What really happens during baptism?

The metaphor of God's cleansing through the practice of remembering your baptism can be lived out through daily washing. Youth wash their hands to eat (sometimes) and bathe to remain acceptable to their peers. Establishing the connection between daily washing and being washed in God's grace through baptism helps youth to remember that God's grace cleanses them and makes them new in God's eyes, just as bathing helps them to remain clean and ward off disease and unpleasantness.

Baptism has become a powerful part of our communal life. It is through this sacrament that people are initiated into the community of faith. Belonging is important to youth. Their need to be part of a group helps them to bond together and feel the strength of numbers. Episcopal priest and author John Westerhoff refers to one of the stages of faith as "affiliative." By this term he means "belonging" to a certain denomination or church and claiming the name of that church. Belonging is an important step on the journey of faith. Remembering their baptism and reviewing the symbolic inclusion will give youth a sense of being a part of a larger community. It is in this community that youth begin to discover what it means to say, "I am a Christian. I am a member of the Lutheran Church." This belonging becomes part of their identity.

Confirmation Retreat 2010

On September 17-19, we had 49 youth and 12 adults who went to Spring Hill for our Confirmation Retreat. The retreat was our "kick-off" for the 2010-2011 year. We had a great time. Below is a picture/song/video highlight of the week.

Series One: Sacraments

On Sunday, september 26th, we will begin a 4-week series on the Sacraments. We will spend two weeks on baptism and two weeks on communion. Below is a video message (1 minute) on what the highlights of the teaching time will be. Below the video will be the schedule for the series.



September 26: The Sacrament of Baptism

October 3: Word With Water

October 10: The Sacrament of Communion

October 17: Take and Eat

We hope to see you out for all four weeks as we take a look at the Sacraments and what they mean for us as a church body.

Spring Hill 2010

This past weekend, our numbers dropped a little with illness and other commitments that came up. However, we still took a large group and we had an amazing time. The above picture is our group picture. Listed below will be a few individual pictures to give a feel for the weekend.

Paint Ball



Climbing Wall



Z-Ball



Dinner



Theme



One: God / Faith / Life

What are you going to do with the one life that God has given you to live ?

Big Stuf

Over the next few weeks, we will be putting up many different promotions about Big Stuf. These will be official promo's from them and from other churches that have gone. Big Stuf camps and the ReThink Group is a great organization and they put on a top-notch camp. Check out the promo below. Benbeath the promotion, there is some more information about the camp.



The camp is located on the beach in Panama City Beach, Florida. The great thing about this location for Big Stiuf is that the hotel, meals and worship times are in the same location. Also, Big Stuf rents out the whole hotel. So, it is a secure site. While on the beach, we are out in front of the hotel and with students and adults from the camp there; there are eyes and ears all around.

The beach also has lifeguards and uses the flag system. So, if the waters are choppy, we will know. They will have the flags out and individuals will be checking the area to make sure everyone is following the rules.

We are looking at a great trip. We hope that many students will go on the trip and they can ask those outside CTS to go on the trip. The morning and evening services will uplift them and challenge them and their souls will be filled.

Also, for your information, one of the reasons that I have chosen Big Stuf is that they are the organization that we do our sunday night curriculum from. Also, if you have seen the 7-Checkpoints around the ARC (which have been very important in the lives of the students the last few years), they come from Big Stuf / ReThink. We as a church are connected with them and I (Jeff) have done 5 Big Stuf trips in the past and they are a great group of individuals.

More Later.

Spring Hill: Here We Come !!

In two hours, we will be packing up the buses and headed off to Spring Hill in Seymour, Indiana. We will be taking 60 folks up with us. A few of our students and adults had to "back down" because of some illnesses. We will be praying for you as you are back here resting. This should be a great weekend. The theme is ONE. Next week, we will have many pictures, stories and recaps from the weekend up on the blog and then next week (Sept. 26), we will begin our first series.

Off & Running

Crosstrainers kicked off on Sunday morning and it was a great experience. It was wonderful to see the 110+ folks in there from confirmation students, peer guides, and adult leaders.

We introduced the class, what we were studying and showed promo videos for Jr High Believe and Big Stuf Camp. We then showed a video song that the students and adults enjoyed. Afterwards, we broke them up into their 13 small groups and gave them time to get to know one another.

There are many great things to look forward to this year and one of them is coming up just around the corner ----- FALL RETREAT.

Over the next week, we will be giving you information on the schedule and what we learned. The next two items on the calendar are the following:

- spring hill: sept. 17 - 19 ( be at the church by 4:45)
- sept. 26 at 10:45 - series one: sacraments begins

I look forward to the journey.

CT Adult Meeting

On Wednesday night, we had a great meeting. We, as adults, discussed many things. Here is a brief agenda of what was covered:

- Welcome & Introductions
- Small Group Assignments
- Spring Hill Retreat: This Year & Next
- Big Stuf Camp 2011
- Cross Trainers Survey Results
- Web Blog Update and Groups Contributing to it
- Flow of Class: Tweaks in Scheduling

the discussion flowed well and we are anticipating a great year which will kick off on September 12th. September 12th will be a time to get to know each other and then we will have our retreat on Sept. 17-19 and we will be off and running on Sept. 26th with class.