Verses Used:

• Matthew 3:13-17;  Matthew 28:19-20
• Col. 2:11-12
• Genesis 15:6

Takeaways:

• Baptism isn't about your personal holiness, it’s about God’s purpose for us.
• For John, it was a recognition that his role was to point to Jesus.
• For Jesus, it was a demonstration of God’s purpose for him, and the start of his earthly ministry.
• Through His own baptism, Jesus was declaring God’s claim on His life and purpose.
• Faith (or trusting God), is the first step to walking in our God-given purpose.
• The point of baptism isn’t that we are declaring our self-righteousness, it’s declaring that we want to change. We are publicly declaring God’s claim on our life and purpose.
• A disciple is baptized and finds their identity in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Or kingdom identity - Family Servant and Missionary.
• The Father gives us our family identity. We get to treat everyone like family.
• Jesus gives us our servant identity. Saved people, serve people.
• The Spirit gives us our missionary identity. Found people, find people.
• The Holy Spirit is every much God as the Father and Son, but He has a different role. He is personal, present, and powerful.
• God is a missionary. God and the Holy Spirit is the actively growing the kingdom by reaching more and more people with the gospel of Jesus.

Discussion Questions:

• Do you think God has a purpose for your life like He did for John the Baptist and Jesus? What do you think it is?
• If you believe God has a purpose for you to live in to, how might that impact your day to day living?