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“Understanding the Ordinances of the Church”
In my office, I have some different pictures of my family. I don’t have those pictures because I forget what my family looks like. I can identify them in a lineup at any time. I have pictures of them because I love them, and I want to focus on them.
So also, the Lord gives us physical signs of certain things that help us remember who He is, what He has done, and how He loves us.
For example, a wonderful sunset helps us remember that God is an awesome Creator.
A newborn child helps us remember that God is the giver of life.
A warm embrace from a Christian brother or sister reminds us of the gift and power of Christlike love.
Well, today, we will learn about the ordinances of the church. We’re going to learn that the ordinances of the church are physical symbols that help us remember and focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Today’s sermon is entitled “Understanding the Ordinances of the Church.”
Before we get into this, let’s pray together and ask God’s Spirit to lead us.
(prayer)
At First Baptist Church Bartow, we believe that there are two ordinances of the church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and we will look at both of those this morning.
Before we get into the two specific ordinances, let’s talk about what ordinances are.
Our first area of concentration is this:
I. The ordinances of the church are opportunities to focus on the gospel.
Many of you may not know what an ordinance is when it comes to the church. You may hear the word “ordinance” and think of a city ordinance.
Well, that’s not what we’re talking about this morning.
An ordinance is something that is commanded or decreed.
We call these ordinances because they were ordained, decreed, or commanded, not by a legal official but by our Lord Jesus Christ.
These two ordinances are directly from the lips of Jesus Himself, as we’ll see later in the sermon. Anytime Jesus says to do something, we must pay attention.
These two ordinances, or sacraments as they are sometimes called, are not only ordained by Jesus Himself, but they are also beautiful reminders of the gospel, and they are opportunities for us to focus on the gospel. Listen to what the Bible says about this:
Speaking of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus says in Luke 22:19, “ . . . Do this in remembrance of me.”
Also, we’ll talk about this more later, but Paul says of baptism in Romans 6:5, “For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.”
You see, the ordinances help us focus on Jesus and His work.
We’ll see this even more as we explore the ordinances in just a moment.
Some Christians who came before us, the Protestant Reformers, used to say that the ordinances were visible words of the gospel. I like that. We hear the gospel preached with audible words and see the gospel displayed with visible words through the ordinances.
So, we hear the gospel preached through sermons and Bible study, we sing about the gospel through musical worship, we fellowship because of the gospel, we give for the sake of the gospel, and we see the gospel displayed in the ordinances of the church.
Let’s look now at the ordinances.
First, . . .
II. We remember the gospel in the Lord’s Supper.
The beginnings of the Lord’s Supper go back to the last meal that Jesus and His apostles would share before His crucifixion.
Jesus and the apostles were all Jewish, and they were preparing to celebrate the Passover meal.
The Passover meal remembered God’s grace in passing over the people of Israel when all the first-born of Egypt died, and it remembered God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian slaver
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By First Baptist Church Bartow
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In my office, I have some different pictures of my family. I don’t have those pictures because I forget what my family looks like. I can identify them in a lineup at any time. I have pictures of them because I love them, and I want to focus on them.
So also, the Lord gives us physical signs of certain things that help us remember who He is, what He has done, and how He loves us.
For example, a wonderful sunset helps us remember that God is an awesome Creator.
A newborn child helps us remember that God is the giver of life.
A warm embrace from a Christian brother or sister reminds us of the gift and power of Christlike love.
Well, today, we will learn about the ordinances of the church. We’re going to learn that the ordinances of the church are physical symbols that help us remember and focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Today’s sermon is entitled “Understanding the Ordinances of the Church.”
Before we get into this, let’s pray together and ask God’s Spirit to lead us.
(prayer)
At First Baptist Church Bartow, we believe that there are two ordinances of the church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and we will look at both of those this morning.
Before we get into the two specific ordinances, let’s talk about what ordinances are.
Our first area of concentration is this:
I. The ordinances of the church are opportunities to focus on the gospel.
Many of you may not know what an ordinance is when it comes to the church. You may hear the word “ordinance” and think of a city ordinance.
Well, that’s not what we’re talking about this morning.
An ordinance is something that is commanded or decreed.
We call these ordinances because they were ordained, decreed, or commanded, not by a legal official but by our Lord Jesus Christ.
These two ordinances are directly from the lips of Jesus Himself, as we’ll see later in the sermon. Anytime Jesus says to do something, we must pay attention.
These two ordinances, or sacraments as they are sometimes called, are not only ordained by Jesus Himself, but they are also beautiful reminders of the gospel, and they are opportunities for us to focus on the gospel. Listen to what the Bible says about this:
Speaking of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus says in Luke 22:19, “ . . . Do this in remembrance of me.”
Also, we’ll talk about this more later, but Paul says of baptism in Romans 6:5, “For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.”
You see, the ordinances help us focus on Jesus and His work.
We’ll see this even more as we explore the ordinances in just a moment.
Some Christians who came before us, the Protestant Reformers, used to say that the ordinances were visible words of the gospel. I like that. We hear the gospel preached with audible words and see the gospel displayed with visible words through the ordinances.
So, we hear the gospel preached through sermons and Bible study, we sing about the gospel through musical worship, we fellowship because of the gospel, we give for the sake of the gospel, and we see the gospel displayed in the ordinances of the church.
Let’s look now at the ordinances.
First, . . .
II. We remember the gospel in the Lord’s Supper.
The beginnings of the Lord’s Supper go back to the last meal that Jesus and His apostles would share before His crucifixion.
Jesus and the apostles were all Jewish, and they were preparing to celebrate the Passover meal.
The Passover meal remembered God’s grace in passing over the people of Israel when all the first-born of Egypt died, and it remembered God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian slaver