Offers a comprehensive look at the theology of sacraments, this volume explores one of the church’s most misunderstood—but most essential—practices. For many church people, worship is about preaching and music. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are occasional additions to Sunday services. Recognizing that church-goers are uncertain about the need for sacraments, Ronald Byars describes the possibility that the very act of worshipping—the actions observed, the postures assumed, the sound and sight of water, the smell and taste of bread and wine—subtly alter the temper of the heart and the mind. If Christians encounter the sacraments honestly, they act as a gateway to the very heart of the gospel.