What is a Sacrament?

In the United Methodist Church, a sacrament is an act that declares or communicates to us what God has done or is doing for us, through Jesus Christ. It is an act which Jesus participated in and which He commanded that we do.

What is a "Means of Grace"
Some churches teach that salvation, in part, is transferred from God to the person through the sacraments. They believe that while Jesus died to provide us salvation, there still remains the need for something to channel that salvation to us. Such a channel of salvation is considered by some as a "means of grace".
If you have a bill, you need the means to pay it. You may have a job that pays enough in wages for you to pay the bill, still, until the money is in your hands to pass on to the bill collector, the debt remains unpaid. So, some people believe that the gift of salvation (payment for a debt) was made available by Jesus Christ, but the debt goes unpaid, until the means to pay it is placed in the hands of each individual. How to get salvation to each person is a "means" of getting God's "grace" to them.
The United Methodist Church and some other denominations do not teach or support this definition or doctrine. For us, Jesus Christ not only provided for our salvation, He also "paid the debt", and is Himself the only channel of God's grace. For United Methodists, a "means of grace" is a sacrament or other way to communicate what God has done for us. God's Word can be a means of grace when through it we understand God's love and grace for us. Examples of similar communication would be: a "kiss", which can communicate "love", and a "handshake" can communicate "friendship". But, just as a "kiss" is not love itself, and does not mean "love" if that is not the intent, or if the person receiving the kiss does not recognize that meaning in it; so too, the sacraments do not have meaning, or communicate anything unless the persons involved recognizes the meaning in the act. Like a paper of receipt is not the payment itself, and is meaningless unless both the person paying the debt and the person who is paid, both recognize and agree on the meaning of the receipt, what it communicates to these persons.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are testimonies to faith in the grace and love of God through Jesus, and are therefore a "means of grace", if those participating recognize the symbolism in the water or the bread and cup. The elements do not, can not save the soul; nor do they transfer salvation to the person receiving them. The sacraments are reminders to us and declarations of our common faith in Christ and what God has done for us through His Son.



What is Baptism?
Baptism is a tradition from the Old Testament days. Kings were anointed (baptized) at the beginning of their reign. Prophets were anointed (baptized) to show they had been chosen by God as His spokesman. Numbers 19:18-19 shows that people were sprinkled to indicate they had been ceremonially cleansed from some impurity. In the New Testament then, baptism was not a new thing, but it took on new meaning. Mark 1:4-11 shows us that John the Baptist baptized people as a testimony they had repented from sin, and were looking for the coming Messiah. Luke 3:21-23 tells us of Jesus' baptism. Jesus has never sinned, so we know His baptism was not a testimony of repentance. Jesus was baptized as testimony that He was God's Son and was now beginning the special ministry for which He had been sent.
The mode of baptism has been different all through the centuries. Different denominations baptize differently: by sprinkling, pouring, or by emersion. What is important is what the baptism stands for, the testimony it gives. Since Baptism is an act which Jesus did, and which He commanded us to do (Matt.28:18-20), and communicates God's love for us, it is considered a sacrament. Christian baptism is a symbolic testimony (communicates) what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8-10 tells us that "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." And Romans 6:3-4 tells us "do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." When a child is baptized, the parents testify that Christ died for this child, and the child is justified by Christ's death. Baptism (declares) reminds us that God loved and justified us even before we were able to respond. It is therefore a "means of grace".

What is Holy Communion
Holy Communion (the Lord's supper), is the meal which Jesus shared with His apostles the night before He was crucified. (Ex.12:1-13)
That night, Jesus was celebrating the Passover meal with His apostles. The Jewish people had been celebrating Passover every year since their deliverance from slavery in Egypt (approx. 1450 years before Jesus' days on earth).
God commanded that every year, the Jewish people would kill a special lamb, cook it, and share this special meal. During the meal, the story of the Exodus from Egypt was told. The people were reminded of the suffering of slavery, and the grace of God which had brought them out of Egypt and led them to the Promised Land. The main parts of the meal were the lamb, whose blood represented the salvation of God; bitter herbs which represented the bitterness of slavery; salt water which represented their tears; and unleavened bread because the Israelites left Egypt in a hurry and did not have time to let their bread rise. Unleavened bread also came to represent a clean heart before God, as leavening represented sin; and 4 cups of wine: 1- called the "cup of sanctification" signifying that they-as a people- had been sanctified (set apart for God), 2- called the "cup of deliverance" signifying their deliverance from slavery, 3- called the "cup of redemption", signifying the blood of the lamb which was put on their door posts so the plague of death would pass over them, 4-the "cup of hope, or blessing" looking to the future in paradise.
On the night Jesus was betrayed, He celebrated the traditional Passover with His disciples. (Mark 14:12-26) But, He would give this meal new meaning. When it was time to take the bread (unleavened), Jesus blessed it, broke it, gave it to the disciples and said, "Take eat, this is my body which is given for you". Jesus was saying that this bread did not just represent the unleavened bread their ancestors brought out of Egypt; it would now represent His body, pure and holy, without sin. Then, when it was time to drink of the "cup of redemption", Jesus took the cup, blessed it, gave it to His disciples and said, "Take and drink, this is the covenant in My blood, which is shed for you." Jesus told them, "Whenever you do this, do it in remembrance of Me." (Luke 22:17-20) He was saying that this wine did not just represent the blood of the Passover lamb, but it would now represent His blood, which would be shed for all mankind. The Passover is no longer to remember deliverance from slavery in Egypt, but now, "as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." (1Cor.11:23-26)
Holy Communion is a sacrament: It was commanded by God (Exodus 12:24). Jesus said, "Whenever you do this, do it in remembrance of Me." It was celebrated by Jesus with His disciples. It represents: something God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. The breaking of the bread and drinking of the cup represent the giving of Jesus' body and blood for our deliverance from sin.