Keen to be baptised? How’s November 23 sound?

One of the most beautiful things about following Jesus is that he never calls us to walk alone. Faith is of course personal and individual; you need to turn to Christ, repent and believe to be a Christian. You can’t just join a church, you need to know Jesus yourself. 

But once you know Jesus you are called to gather with God’s people to hear from God, to serve and encourage each other and to pray to God and praise God. We saw some of this when we studied Colossians earlier in the year:

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” (‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬)  

Beyond gathering, one of the things Jesus calls his followers to do is to be baptised. So in Matthew 28, Jesus says, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the son and the Holy Spirit.”

When we’re baptised, we’re publicly indicating that we are part of Jesus’ story: we have died with him, risen with him, and we are walking with him. Romans 6 says, “We were buried with Christ through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead… we too may live a new life.”

That’s not religious ceremony. That’s resurrection. It’s saying, “The old me is gone. The new me, the forgiven, Spirit-filled me, is alive.”

Many of us, myself included, were baptised as infants and I am a massive fan of infant baptism for lots of reasons. I was born into a Christian family and baptism is a covenant sign of my inclusion in faith. Moreover, infant baptism beautifully pictures the reality that salvation is all of God. I did nothing to arrange my baptism just as I did nothing and brought nothing to my salvation in Christ. Simply to the cross I cling! 

Now, we don’t rebaptise people who were baptised as infants because Jesus died once so we are only baptised once. But we do offer a moment for confirmation of baptism promises or a public testifying to the grace of God in your life if that would be appropriate. So if you have previously been baptised but had a significant reignition of faith, please reach out.  

But I do want to specifically speak to the many people in our church who have become Christians recently or been a Christian for a while and never been baptised or christened as a baby, child, youth or adult. If this is you, we would love you to consider being baptised in November at church.

Maybe you grew up around church, or maybe you’re new to faith, well here is your moment. Sunday November 23. Not because it earns you anything, but because it expresses what God has already done in your heart. It’s the outward sign of an inward grace.

If you have never been baptised and are keen to consider it, please reach out to me or a member of the leadership team. Even just hit reply to the church news email and we will get back to you. 

Equally, if you have children or teenagers who are expressing interest in being baptised, please reach out. Speak to Lauren or Jesse and they will be able to give you some guidance and help. We believe people can be baptised at any age because we believe people of all ages can come to know and love the Lord Jesus and take their place in the life of the church.  

So on November 23, we’re going to celebrate baptisms.

And I’d love you to think: is this your moment? Your moment to declare to the world that you are a follower of Jesus.

Please reach out this week. 

We would love to chat to you.