Home Group Discussion & Prayer Guide
Text: Mark 1:14-15 | April 27, 2026
Anchor Verse: "What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord." — Acts 22:16
Question 1 — The Bath: Washed Inside and Out
The sermon connected Leviticus 14–19's ritual washings to baptism: just as an Israelite was washed before approaching God's house, we are washed before approaching the eschatological feast at Mt. Zion (Isaiah 25:6–8). Baptism represents both inward cleansing (forgiveness of sins) and an outward declaration of that cleansing.
When you think about your own sin and God's holiness, what does it mean to you personally that God made a way for you to be washed and welcomed? How has that reality — or the loss of that reality — affected how you approach God day to day?
Question 2 — Allegiance: Pledging Loyalty to the King
To be baptized "in the name of" the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a legal declaration of allegiance. In Jesus' world, doing something "in the name of" someone meant acting under their full authority and ownership. Baptism is a public pledge: I belong to this King now.
The sermon said "faith in Jesus means allegiance to him as King." Where in your daily life is that allegiance most tested — where is it hardest to live as someone who has already pledged their loyalty to Jesus? What would it look like to live more consistently under his name?
Question 3 — Participation: Following Jesus on the Narrow Path
In Mark 10:38–39 Jesus asks his disciples: "Can you drink the cup I drink, or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" He is asking whether they will follow him all the way — through suffering and obedience — into the glory on the other side. Baptism is a pledge to walk that same path.
The sermon described three things baptism declares: "Like Jesus denied sin in the flesh, so will I. Like Jesus suffered unjustly in obedience to the Father, so will I. Like Jesus was crucified in love for his enemies, so will I." Which of those three is the most costly for you right now — and what does it actually look like in your current season of life?
Question 4 — The Pattern: Repentance, Faith, Instruction, Baptism
The sermon walked through seven baptism accounts in Acts and showed a consistent apostolic pattern: hear the good news → repent → believe → receive basic instruction → be baptized. No one in Acts believed the gospel and stayed unbaptized. The two belong together.
Have you been baptized as a believer — after your own repentance and faith? If so, how vivid is the memory and meaning of it? If not, what has kept you from taking the step? Is there anything that needs to change?
Question 5 — Count the Cost, Then Go
Jesus warned his would-be followers to count the cost before committing (Luke 14:26–29). The path of baptism and discipleship is costly — it requires denying yourself, taking up your cross daily, and following Jesus. But the sermon's final word was urgency, not hesitation: "What are you waiting for?"
What is the most concrete cost you are facing — or avoiding — in following Jesus right now? And what would it look like for this group to help you carry that cost rather than carry it alone?
Closing Prayer Prompts
Close your time together by praying through one or more of these:
- Thank God for the washing — that he didn't leave us in our uncleanness but made a way for us to approach him.
- Pray for anyone in your group who has not yet been baptized — that they would have the courage to take the step.
- Pray for those baptized long ago — that the reality of what they pledged would be fresh and alive today.
- Pray for faithfulness on the narrow path — that each of you would follow Jesus in obedience even when it costs something.
- Ask God to make your group a community that looks like what baptism declares: washed, loyal to the King, walking the way of the cross.
