In this step, you will be challenging your students to consider their own participation in the New Testament practices of Communion and baptism.

Studying Romans and 1 Corinthians helps us understand the importance of Communion and baptism. Considering Jesus’ teaching, how can we grow to respect the practice and follow His model today? Let’s partner up and discuss our attitudes toward both.  

Either assign partners or let students choose someone with whom they are comfortable sharing. It is okay if there’s a group of three. (If your class is meeting online, you can use the breakout room feature of your video chat software.) Prompt them with the following questions, letting the oldest partner answer questions about baptism first. Pause between each question to allow time to discuss.

• What are your first memories of baptism? Was it your own baptism—or someone else’s? 
• Tell about what you think our church guidelines for baptism include. What symbolic significance does it have? (If your church has a brochure about baptism, be sure each of your students receives one.) 
• What are some honest reasons why some people don’t want to be baptized? 
• Why are baptisms public rather than private? 

Tell the younger partner to answer first in the next set of questions about Communion.

• If you’ve had a Communion experience in another church, share how it was practiced in another setting.
• Do you think some people take Communion for the wrong reasons? What would some of these reasons be? (Answers might include because everyone else is doing it, or because it is a “rite of passage” at a certain age.)

Before you close your lesson, provide an action step for your students to follow. If a student has already been baptized, encourage them to give a testimony of this experience to at least one person in the upcoming week. If they have not yet been baptized—and have legitimate questions about the practice—encourage them to seek out a leader, parent, or mentor and discuss those concerns openly. If they are not participating in Communion, have them dialogue with their parents about reasons behind this.

Pray together when you are finished, thanking Jesus for the significance of His death on the Cross and His extraordinary sacrifice He has asked us to commemorate through both baptism and Communion.