Pastor Matt Stone presented the lesson on Sunday on "Sacraments". In the United Methodist Church, two acts of worship are considered to be sacraments-- Baptism and Communion. What makes these sacraments? These two acts are ordained by Jesus himself. Jesus was baptized by John (Mark 1:9) and told his followers to go and baptize people "in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Jesus instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion, instructing his disciples to partake of his body and blood- the bread and the cup- "in remembrance" of him (1Corinthians 11: 23-26). Since these two acts are outlined in Scripture as practices that Jesus commands us to do, the United Methodist doctrine defines these as sacraments.
Baptism- In the United Methodist Church we baptize people of all ages. We believe in infant/small children baptism as an affirmation of God's prevenient grace-- the grace that goes before. Parents take the vows on their child's behalf. In our church, we affirm that "children are born into the brokenness of the world and should receive the cleansing and renewing forgiveness of God...." ("By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism"). Baptism is a sign of God's grace and that God's grace is at work in a person's life even before that person responds to God's grace by professing his or her faith. Not only do parents accept the vows of baptism for their child but the entire congregation does too. We also believe that a person only needs to be baptized once. Since we believe that God does the work in baptism, we also believe that God does it perfectly and therefore there is no need to baptize a person more than once. There are 3 ways to baptize: sprinkling, pouring and immersion. At KUMC we traditionally do baptisms by pouring or sprinkling. The reason being more about convenience, we don't have a baptismal pool, rather than any other reason. In an immersion baptism, the dunking in the water is very symbolic-- dying to your old self when you go under the water and being raised to a new life in Christ when you are brought out of the water. Not all Christian denominations baptize infants. Some practice believer's baptism meaning that a person can be baptized only when he or she is old enough to make a profession of faith. In the United Methodist Church, we call this time Confirmation. Confirmation is a time when a person is old enough to accept for himself the vows of their baptism. They don't get re-baptized but they confirm that they are now ready to accept God's love and grace and the responsibility of seeking a life in Christ.
Communion- Christians may and should partake in the sacrament of Holy Communion frequently. Through Communion, we are nourished by God's saving grace and reminded of the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. Communion is done most of the time in community. Celebrating communion not only draws us closer to God, but also draws us closer to one another. In the United Methodist Church, all are invited to receive the bread and cup. This is called an "open table". In the UMC Communion litergy, the invitation is to "all who love Christ and earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another." Other denominations who practice closed Communion believe that being worthy to take Holy Communion means being in a right relationship with the church and/or sharing the church's understanding of Holy Communion.
The sacraments are more than just rituals. They are practices ordained by Jesus himself as ways for us to more fully experience God's forgiving love and grace. They are ways in which we live out our faith and come to know God better.
(Notes taken from: Credo Confirmation Curriculum)
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