Baptism

I felt privileged last Sunday to be able to witness my wife’s baptism together with five other people also being ‘dunked’ at Orwell Church Ipswich. It is a joy to witness any Baptism but I wondered how many husbands have witnessed their wives Baptisms, as often people would be baptised earlier in life maybe in their early teens or younger in some cases. Not all cases of course, there are plenty of stories of childhood sweethearts who grew up in the same church and were baptised in the same church, or the older couple who both got saved and then go on to get baptised together. For me though it felt a privilege that I was able to witness Her Baptism even though my Wife could not witness mine all those years ago and also that our Son who is three and half was also there for Mummy’s Baptism too (probably even less children who have witnessed a Parents Baptism)

It was great to see both young and old being baptised and I am sure it is also a great encouragement to any local church when a believer takes that step of obedience and follows in the footsteps of our Lord. It is fantastic to see and hear of many other baptisms taking place of late such as Kings Gate Church, Bury St Edmunds “During the months of July and August we had the privilege of baptising 19 people – young and old - (including some Latvians youth who were with us for a week over the Summer) all of whom have, in recent weeks (at the New Day event in the Norwich showground) or recent months (through the on-going work of the local church), have responded to the good news of Jesus. And this is not something that is exclusively happening at Kingsgate church – but at least two other churches in the area have had similar experiences (The Christians Resource Centre and Christchurch Morton Hall). “ Norman Blows, lead elder Kings Gate.

Baptisms are great, they are that next step for many in their early Christian lives and for others are that step of obedience which never took place or which they feel needs to be done (even though they may have been Christians a number of years, perhaps been christened and/or confirmed). For all, it is a time of great joy as we share in the hope and knowledge that death and sin has been defeated and as we are reminded back to our own baptisms years ago. It is an opportunity for people to leave a lot of stuff in the water and Baptisms can also prove useful for those that really want to say from now on I want to walk closer with the Lord.

For many churches the practicalities of Baptisms may sometimes prove a challenge. At Orwell it consists of a very large round pool with steps and I sat wondering the mess this would make if it did leak – a very large volume of water on a second floor, not good, but thankfully no leaks! I know of New Wine Church in Sheringham that did some of their baptisms in the summer in the North Sea (what an outreach tool too) and others in a children’s paddling pool - remember to bend your legs!!).

Where there are such practicalities to consider then there is often the necessary delay in doing baptisms with often a number of people waiting to all get baptised at the same time. But delay in the absence of such practical restraints to my mind is not entirely helpful either for the local church and most importantly the individual. The Bible seems pretty clear to me that there need not be delay, we see in the New Testament many being baptised “that Day” e.g. the 3,000 believers we read of in Acts. It is a great shame that there are many churches that have the baptistery in the floor that has not be used for years or seem reluctant to open it up, perhaps requiring attendance of baptism classes or having to read this or that book first. Yes of course some explanation of what baptism represents is certainly something that should be done and can be done in various ways. It would be a shame however, if practices actually get in the way of someone with a real desire and enthusiasm to take this step only for them to be told to have a think about it and to jump through a few hoops first, often a source of great discouragement for all concerned and for some who may decide they no longer want to do it. Let’s no put stumbling blocks in the way of new Christians or any Believer for that matter who want to follow in the footsteps of our Lord. The message was a simple one 'Believe and be baptised'.