Truth We Can Touch: How Baptism and Communion Shape Our Lives

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are more than just water, bread, and wine. They are God’s promises to us in physical form.

What is happening when someone passes through the waters of baptism? What’s the significance of eating bread and drinking wine together as a church on Sunday mornings? What’s the point of these physical substances?

Tim Chester guides us through the Bible, explaining how the sacraments, embodying the promises of God in physical form, were given to us to strengthen our faith and shape our lives. The physical bread, wine, and water are a confirmation of our union with Christ. Chester aims to help us treasure baptism and Communion and approach them rightly, so we can receive the full benefit God intends them to physically bring us.

• Explains how baptism and Communion nurture our faith by physically confirming God’s promises to us
• Looks beyond the usual debates to explore how the sacraments are intended to shape Christians’ lives
• Explains how baptism and Communion relate to God’s covenants throughout the Bible
• Empowers churches to explain the meaning of baptism and communion to their members
• Makes a clear and compelling case against both the traditional Roman Catholic position on baptism and Communion and the common evangelical viewpoint today
• Foreword written by theologian Sinclair B. Ferguson

Tim Chester (PhD, University of Wales) is director of theological studies and lecturer in spiritual formation at Crosslands. He has over 25 years of experience in pastoral ministry, as well as being the author or coauthor of over forty books, including A Meal with Jesus; Reforming Joy; and, with Michael Reeves, Why the Reformation Still Matters.

Sinclair B. Ferguson (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary and the former senior minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina. He is the author of several books, including By Grace Alone and Lessons from the Upper Room. Sinclair and his wife, Dorothy, have four grown children.