How to Get Started
Sermon 1: How to Get Started
Main Passages: Acts 2:37-41
Main Idea: All things in life have a beginning point. Your life has a beginning. Your educational career, your marriage, your status as a parent all had an initial starting point. And so it is with becoming a follower of Jesus. So, how does faith get started? To answer this question, all we need to do is look at the first sermon of the church where we see the first believers starting their faith journey. Here we will find how we launch our lives into God’s work in the church
Opening Question:
Name someone who has big, huge, can’t knock it down faith in God. Does that kind of faith impress you? Would you like to have that kind of faith?
Background
Jesus has been crucified, and rose again
Jesus spent 40 Days with his followers, appearing to many
Jesus’ followers waited and prayed for the Holy Spirit
Into the Text First, we must consider what Christ has done for us (Acts 2:22-24, 29-33, 36)
Jesus is part of God’s plan
Jesus was crucified
God raised him up
We are witnesses
By the way- He is both the Lord and Christ
Consider what you must do in response to this (Acts 2:37-38)
Receive the word (believe, accept)
Repent (Turn from your own way)
Be baptized (Identify with Christ)
Key Question
But don’t I need to clean up a few things before I’m baptized? No.
- (Acts 2:44) “…and all who believed were together…”
- Acts 8:12, “… they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized”
- Acts 8:13, “…Simon, himself believed and was baptized”
- Acts 8:36-38 “Look- here is water, what is hindering me from being baptized. Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may”
- Acts 10:47-48, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit”
- Acts 16:31-33, “They replied believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. . . then immediately he all his household were baptized
- Acts 19:4-6, “he told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is in Jesus. On hearing this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”
A Few Observations
All those baptized expressed belief
This means activating the mind and the ascent of the will
Baptism happened after belief (every single time)
The term baptism means to dip, plunge or engulf with water (and this was done near large bodies of water (every single time)
Jesus commands me to baptize people
Baptism best represents the death burial and resurrection of Jesus (Romans 6:1-5)
Application:
- Are you saved?
- Have you been (Biblically) baptize