"Baptism - Feel It!"

Pastor Laura Guy

June 17, 2007

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We heard Raccoon John Smith tell about why our founders - Campbell and Stone - decided that believer baptism by immersion would be the way that Restoration churches would baptize people. In wanting to restore the church to what they saw in the New Testament, they couldn't find any evidence of babies being baptized. Since Jesus was immersed in the Jordan River, they felt that his followers should be immersed, too. Besides that, they also recognized that a believer baptism by immersion was the one form of baptism that all Christians could agree was valid - an important step in their goal of unity.
We read Acts 16:25-34 where the jailer became a believer in Jesus because of Paul and Silas. When he brought them to his home, his whole family believed and were baptized. We also remembered that the great commission that Jesus gave in Matt. 28 says that we are to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Baptism is the one unifying mark of all Christians.
We thought about the meaning of baptism as it is practiced in our denomination. It is our official entry in the Church, the body of Christ. It unites us with all Christians in the world, as well as all Christians from the past and all the Christians yet to be born. It is also an experience of dying to our former self, going under the water as Christ went into the tomb. Then we rise out of the water to walk in newness of life with him. It symbolizes the washing away of our sins. Lastly, our baptism is the moment when God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We watched a video of the baptism service from National Community Church. (You can watch it here. Click on "Baptism by the Bay.") We noticed the look of joy on the faces of the people as they came out of the water, and we noticed how their church family surrounded them on this special day.
We offered people the opportunity to be baptized for the first time or to reaffirm their baptism at an upcoming baptism service.