• Following Jesus means taking the next step. Discipleship isn't complicated — it's just saying yes to whatever step Jesus is asking of you right now.
  Luke 5:27-28
• Baptism is the first step of obedience. Every believer in Acts follows the same pattern — hear the gospel, believe, get baptized.
  Acts 2:41
• Baptism preaches a sermon you can see. Going under the water pictures Jesus's death and burial. Coming up pictures his resurrection. His story becomes your story.
  Acts 8:36-38
• Baptism is a symbol, not a savior. Like a wedding ring doesn't make a marriage, baptism doesn't make a Christian — it announces what Jesus has already done.
  Acts 2:38
• Jesus does the real work. Before anyone gets baptized, Jesus is the one who cuts hearts open and gives new eyes, new wants, a new direction. Obedience follows what grace has already done.
  Acts 2:37

Before your group meets, take a few minutes with these:

1. Read Acts 2:36-41 slowly. Notice the order: Peter preaches, people are cut to the heart, they believe, then they're baptized.
2. Think through your own baptism story — or the fact that you haven't yet. What did it mean, or what's kept you from it?
3. Pray for someone in your life who hasn't taken that first step. Ask God to give them a heart like the 3,000 in Acts 2.

1. Where do you see the pattern of hear, believe, obey in your own story with Jesus — and where are you in that sequence right now?
2. Baptism means ‘I've decided who I'm following,’ not ‘I've figured everything out.’ What are you waiting to have figured out before you take a next step with Jesus?
3. If you've believed but haven't been baptized, what's the honest reason you've put it off?
4. What's one next step of obedience — baptism or something else — you've been putting off, and what would it look like to say yes this week?

Don't let the conversation stop at the door.

• Have you ever seen someone get baptized? What was that like?
• What's one ‘first step’ you remember taking that felt scary at the time?
• If Jesus asked you to do one brave thing this week, what do you think it'd be?

Memory verse this week — read it, say it, learn it together:

Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. — Acts 2:38

Table Talks continues next week as we look at what it means to live in community. But today is still a big day — if you're being baptized, we're celebrating with you. If you're not yet, we hope today gave you a clear picture of what it means to say yes to Jesus.

Keep taking your next step. Whether that's baptism, joining a community group, or something only you and Jesus know about — don't let this be the week you just talk about it. Let it be the week you do it.