1. Young Adult Ministry of the
Northeast American Diocese

2. Announcements
 Pre-Marital Preparation – 4 times a year
 Feb. 2nd
 June 8th – St. Thomas Unruh Philadelphia
 Family Conference
 Oct. FOCUS Conference
 Unit Registration
 October 26, 2013 – One Day Conference

3. FOCUS Faith Series - Objectives
 Understanding about the Orthodox Faith
 In depth study of Hebrews 6:1-3
 Understanding the Basic Teaching about Christ
 What is H. Baptism

4. Hebrews 6:1 – in context
 Pressing onto maturity (5:11 ff)
 Journey from infancy to maturity - Moving toward &
leaving behind. – Spatial imagery – journey. From one
stage of learning to another.
 5:1-10 Exposition; 5:11 ff hortatory
 Christian experience is path from being a child
(nepios) to being a mature person (teleios)
 Third warning passage of Hebrews
 Goal is perfection or maturity

5. Grace of Baptism
 “However far a man may advance in faith,
however great the blessings that he attains,
he never discovers, no can he ever discover
anything more than what he has already
secretly received through Baptism” St. Mark the
Monk
 Illuminated – Heb 6:4
 Christian life aims to live out the baptismal
vocation

6. Baptism and Salvation
 “Unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the
Kingdom of God. What is born of the Spirit is spirit
and what is born of the flesh is flesh.” – St. John 3:5
 St. Mark 16:16, "He who believes and is baptized will
be saved."
 Primary agent is God. It is an act of God. God
recreates.

7. Union with Christ
 Participation in the life, death & resurrection of Christ
(Tomb- Womb)
 Romans 6:3ff: “Or don’t you know that all of us who
were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through
baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
we too may live a new life.
 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like
his, we will certainly also be united with him in a
resurrection like his.”

8. Forgiveness of Sin.
 Forgiveness of Sin. State of Fallness into which we are
born
 Acts 2:38 ”Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit.’”
 Acts 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21

9. Image of God - renewed
 Restoration of the image of God tarnished by sin
 Gen 1:26-27
 “Regenerated in the image of the Logos”

10. Members of the Royal Priesthood
 Royal Priesthood
 Baptism
 Chrismation – anointing and becoming spirit bearers.
As John Zizioulas says, “The theological significance of
this (receiving communion) lies in the fact that it reveals
the nature of baptism and confirmation as being
essentially an ordination.”

11. Adoption as God’s children
 Adoption as God’s children
 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the
children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not
make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather,
the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to
sonship.
 Lord’s Prayer recited by only the baptized

12. John’s Baptism & Jesus’ Baptism
 John baptized in water, but the Messiah to come would
baptize the people in the Holy Spirit and in fire (Mart.
3:11)
 Insufficiency of John’s Baptism – Acts 19:1-7

13. Baptism & Other Sacraments
 In Orthodox Tradition Baptism is connected to
Chrismation and Eucharist
 Baptism is the sacrament of initiation

14. Resources:
 Online:
 http://www.antiochian.org/content/infant-baptism-
what-church-believes
 http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7067
 Print:
 The Shape of Baptism, Aidan Kavanagh
 The Church at Prayer, The Sacraments, ed. A.G.
Martimort
 Documents of Baptismal Liturgy E.C. Whitaker
 Glory and Burden Paulose Mar Gregorios