“Rise and Be Baptized” Acts
A Baptism Lock-In or
One Day Confirmation Retreat
Glen Dawursk, Jr. – www.yuthguy.com
Click here to download this file
Suggested Schedule
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· Human Bingo; Coin
Race; Fruit Basket Upset; or Stop & Go |
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· Baptism Part One:
“What’s Your Name?” See attached sheet |
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Baptism Part 2: |
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·
Read Matthew 3:1-6. Describe
what was happening here. How did John the Baptist baptize? Why do you think confession of sins goes
along with baptism? |
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·
Read Matthew 3:13-17 and Mark 1:9-11. What do
these verses tell us about Jesus’ baptism?
How are these verses similar?
Different? How were you
baptized? When? |
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Baptism Part 3: ·
Have each youth or paired youth read a verse and summarize the
passage: Matthew 28:19-20;
Acts ·
As a group discuss:
How are these baptisms alike? Different?
Were their any requirements to be baptized (such as age, belief,
etc.?) What is important for us to
remember about baptism? |
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· Show a video of yours or your
child’s baptism. |
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·
Take them to the Baptismal font.
Show them it. What happened when they were baptized?
Martin Luther once said: “When you
wash your face remember your baptism.”
What does that mean to you? |
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Leader’s Narration and Instructions:
Show a new name tag with your name on it to the group.
Everyone here has a name tag because everyone here has a
name. Your parents gave it to you when
you were born. How many of you have a
middle name? How many of you were named after
a relative or holiday? Have you ever
wanted to change your name? Why?
In the Old Testament, God did change some names.
Gen.
17:5 - Whose
name was changed? Why?
·
(Abram to Abraham; because it symbolized the
covenant or promise between God and Abraham)
Gen.
17:15 - Whose name was changed this time? Why?
·
(Sarai to Sarah;
because it symbolized the covenant or promise between God and Sarah)
Just as God called Abraham, He also
has called us. He desires to be in
partnership with us also. He desires to
make a covenant with us.
John
10:3 - Who is the Shepherd? Who are the sheep?
But does God really know
everyone? Isn’t that impossible?
Psalm
147:4 - He even
knows every star by name.
Isaiah
40:26 - And not one
star is missed! Surely He knows our
names.
Show my name tag all crumbled, dirty and ripped.
This name tag has some serious problems. What’s wrong with it?
Can a name ever become “bad”? Do some names have bad reputations? Why?
That is how our name looks to God. He expects this (Clean Name Tag) but all we
can do is the (Dirty Name Tag). Our
reputation simply stinks and we deserve nothing from God.
Our alias before God are: Sinner, Condemned, Traitor
(Judas), Children of the Devil. Yet, He
still wants us and still calls us by our names.
2 Chronicles
Joel
·
(God. Deliver us.)
Acts 2:1
- Call upon whom? What will He do?
·
(God. Deliver us.)
Matt.
·
(He will save his people from their sins)
But what is God’s plan? Look up Acts 22:16
·
(God’s plan is forgiveness of sins or making our
name tag clean before God through baptism.
Through baptism, He wants us to become the heirs to His kingdom. Because of Jesus, we now carry His “family”
name.)
Look up
Galatians
Show a new name tag with my name with
the word “Jesus” superimposed over it in red.
Act
4:7-12 - By what power or what name do we receive a
new name?
·
(Jesus)
Because of Jesus, we receive a new name at baptism. We receive “Jesus” as our name before God and
our alias are Forgiven, Clean, Saved, Beloved and Children of God.
Rev.
3:12 - What does Jesus say will be written on us?
·
(A new name).
What is the new name?
·
(Jesus, Saved, Children of God)
At confirmation, we acknowledge our baptism by publicly
re-confirming our baptismal name change.
It was at our baptism that we received the gift of eternal life as an
inheritance that comes with our new family name. We became a “Child of God.”
But it doesn’t end here.
Many people forget their promise to God at
confirmation. They forget about Christ’s
sacrifice to get us a “clean” name before God.
But God doesn’t forget.
Gen 17:9
- God expects us to keep what?
·
(Our part of the covenant).
With our new name, what is our new
part of the covenant?
·
(To follow Jesus and to follow His
teachings)
What if we don’t? Look up Daniel 12:1
·
(Our name won’t be written in the book)
What is the book?
·
(The Book of Life – the list of all true
believers and followers of Christ)
What happens if our name is not in
the book? Look up Rev. 20:15.
·
(We will perish in hell for eternity)
Tell story about Alexander the Great:
“Change your name or change your ways!”
Story:
Alexander the Great had taken over the entire known world
and he was in his favorite room basking in his greatness when suddenly armed
guards opened the chamber doors and dragged in another solder. The soldier laid on the ground at the feet of
Alexander the Great. One of the guards,
a centurion approached Alexander and said, “Alexander, sir, this man does not
deserve to be in your army. He has been
a disgrace to all soldiers by his conduct, lack of teamwork and insubordination
to authority. He has not lived up to the standards of a soldier in your
army. He has been disloyal and has
brought shame to his unit. He should be
dishonorably discharged and punished immediately. For a moment there was quiet in the room as
Alexander pondered what to do. He
eventually looked down at the man and said, “Soldier, what is your name?” The
soldier leaned his head back, looked up at Alexander and said, “Alexander,
sir.” Alexander the Great look sternly
at the man and quickly retorted, “Soldier, you either change your name or change
your ways.”
We are called Christians.
Martin Luther said we were “little Christ’s.” We can not say we are Christians and then not
act as Jesus would have us to act. In the
same way Jesus says to us, “Either we change our name or change our ways.”
At baptism and confirmation we take on the name of
Jesus. As heirs to the God’s kingdom, we
are representatives for God here on earth.
He expects us to live as examples and to keep our part of the new
covenant we have with God through Christ.
Seem too tough? Just remember,
that at baptism, we also receive the full power of the family name.
Philippians
2:5-11 - Whose name is exalted?
·
(We all are)
Because of our namesake, we now have special
privileges. We can go to God whenever we
want.
Proverbs
·
(He protects us. He helps us stand up against the powers of
sin and He does not crumble. He gives us
His strength.)
Wow! Not only does
God give us a new name tag at baptism, He also helps us keep it clean.
Praise
the Lord! “Shout with joy to God, all
the earth!
Sing the glory of His name; make his praise glorious!” Psalm 66:1, 2
Student Worksheet
Small
Group Activity #1
Bible
Study
OT Name Changes
Gen 17:5 ___________’s
name was changed because _____________
Gen
God Wants Us?
John 10:3 Who
is the shepherd? ________________
Who are
the sheep? _______________________
But Does God Know Our Name? Really? Everyone?
Psalm 147:4 He knows every
____________ by name.
Isaiah 40:26 And not one is ___________. He surely knows our names as well!
What’s Our Name Anyway?
Can a
name ever become “bad”? YES NO
I don’t know
How
does our name look to God? _________________________
Our
alias’ are: __________, __________, __________, ____________, _______________
The Name Game
Can we change our names by ourselves? YES
NO I don't know
2 Chronicles 7, 14 God
expects us to ___________ ourselves and _____________.
The Game Plan
Joel
God's Game Plan
Acts
Through Jesus, we now can carry His _________ name and share His
____________________.
Acts
4:7-12 By whose power
do we receive a new name? ________________
Our new alias' are: ___________, _________________,
____________,
____________,
_________________, ___________.
But It Doesn't End Here …
Gen. 17:9 God
expects us to keep our part of the ____________________.
What
is our part? ________________________________________
Daniel 12:1 What
if we don't? Our name won't be in the _________________________
Rev. 20:15 Then
what happens? We will ________________.
So… A Name Change Requires
a Life Change Too!
Story:
Alexander the Great had taken over the entire known
world and he was in his favorite room basking in his greatness when suddenly
armed guards opened the chamber doors and dragged in another solder. The soldier laid on the ground at the feet of
Alexander the Great. One of the guards,
a centurion approached Alexander and said, “Alexander, sir, this man does not
deserve to be in your army. He has been
a disgrace to all soldiers by his conduct, lack of teamwork and insubordination
to authority. He has not lived up to the standards of a soldier in your
army. He has been disloyal and has
brought shame to his unit. He should be
dishonorably discharged and punished immediately. For a moment there was quiet in the room as
Alexander pondered what to do. He
eventually looked down at the man and said, “Soldier, what is your name?” The
soldier leaned his head back, looked up at Alexander and said, “Alexander,
sir.” Alexander the Great look sternly
at the man and quickly retorted, “Soldier, you either change your name or
change your ways.”
Like the soldier, what do we need to do?
You
either ________ your ________ OR ___________ your _________.
And
God Gives Us the Power to Do That, Too!
Philippians 2:5-11 Because
of Jesus, who is actually exalted?
____________________
Proverbs
Not
only does God give us a new nametag
at baptism, He also helps us to keep it clean.
Baptism
Water Olympics
Created by Glen
Dawursk, Jr. -- www.yuthguy.com
Rules:
There will be about 7-9 people on
each team. The teams must choose people
from their group for each competition.
All members of the group must participate in at least one competition.
Points will be given for each
competition as: 5 for first, 4 for second, and 3 for third and 1 for everyone
else who participates.
Competitions:
·
Water scrub: (One Person)
Each person is given a half-cup of water, a toothbrush and
3-5 painted pieces of plastic. The
object is to clean the paint off the plastic pieces first. Water cups can NOT be refilled.
·
Squirt Gun Bulls-Eye: (One
Person)
Each person will get two individual squirts at a bulls-eye
target. Practice squirts count. The closest person after the second round
wins.
·
Penny Drop: (One Person)
Each person will be given 4-5 pennies. Each will be dropped into a pickle jar filled
with water. The object is to get the
penny to land in the glass at the bottom of the jar.
·
Squirt Gun Race: (One
Person)
Each person is given a filled squirt gun. A twine is stretched across an area. On the twine is a key chain. The object is to be the first person to
squirt the key chain to the other side.
The players cannot move past the start line and squirt guns cannot be
refilled.
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Water Balloon Toss: (Two
People)
Two members from each team will toss a water balloon to each
other at the direction of the ref. The
farthest distance without popping determines the winner. Dropped balloons count as a loss.
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Water Relay: (Two People)
Two members from each team are given spoons. A cup of water and one team member is put at
the start line and the second team member and an empty cup is at the end
line. A piece of tape is stretched
through the middle. The first and second
team members meet in the middle. The
first team member takes hi/her spoonful of water and pours it into the second
team member’s spoon. The second person
empties his/her spoon into the empty cup.
The process continues until the timer buzzes. The team with the most water in the end cup
wins.
·
Water Bowling: (One
Person)
A set of 3-5 empty milk cartons are
at the end of a sheet of plastic. One member of each
team will get three water balloon rolls to knock down the milk cartons. If the balloon pops, the throw is a gutter
ball. Best score after the three rolls
is the winner.
In
Building Baptismal Scavenger Hunt
Glen
Dawursk, Jr. – www.yuthguy.com
Click here to download
this file.
Leader’s
Guide
1. Hide and tape down the following
Items.
2. Include a card with the correct
number under the item.
Question |
Item |
Code |
1) Something that symbolizes NEW
LIFE |
Picture of a Baby |
6 |
2) A symbol for baptism |
A Shell |
15 |
3) The Holy Spirit’s Animal at
Jesus’ Baptism |
Feather |
18 |
4) What a baby wears at baptism |
A Baby’s Baptismal Gown |
7 |
5) Something that could serve as a
baptismal font |
A bucket |
9 |
6) The symbol of a Christian |
Fish |
22 |
7) Something possibly from John
the Baptist’s Coat |
(camel) Hair |
5 |
8) Something the symbolic color of
baptism |
Something red |
14 |
9) The “stuff” combined with the
word at baptism |
Water |
5 |
10) What John had around his waist |
Belt / Leather |
19 |
11) What John ate for breakfast |
Picture of Grasshopper |
19 |
3. When the youth have completed the
scavenger hunt.
4. Write the following phrase on the
board: “Baptism gives us ________________.”
5. Have the youth count out the letters
of the alphabet and determine which letter is for which code number. The code numbers spell out the word:
FORGIVENESS.
6. First youth to come up to the board
and fill in the space wins the scavenger hunt.
Youth’s
Handout
In
Building Baptismal Scavenger Hunt
Glen
Dawursk, Jr. – www.yuthguy.com
1. Answer the question
or clue by finding the “hidden” item.
2. Write down what the
item is and the number under it.
3. DON’T move, change
or take any clues.
4. When you are
finished, return to the meeting area.
Question or Clue |
Item |
Code |
1) Something that symbolizes NEW
LIFE |
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2) A symbol for baptism |
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3) The Holy Spirit’s chosen animal
at Jesus’ Baptism |
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4) What a baby wears at baptism |
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5) Something that could serve as a
baptismal font |
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6) The symbol of a Christian |
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7) Something possibly from John
the Baptist’s Coat |
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8) Something the symbolic color of
baptism |
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9) The “stuff” combined with the
word at baptism |
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10) What John had around his waist |
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11) What John ate for breakfast |
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