A Message from Pastor Jamey
Hey everybody,
One of my favorite Sundays is right around the corner! We will celebrate baptisms on February 18th after the second service! I love the excitement of Baptism Sunday. Why do I get excited about people being dunked underwater on a Sunday afternoon in The Commons? Because each person going through the waters of baptism publicly declares that they have placed their faith in the risen Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. I know that this a momentous occasion for the person being baptized; it signifies that God has been at work in them, so much so that they had to let others know. That’s pretty exciting. Recently, I have fielded quite a few questions about baptism. I thought I would take this opportunity to respond to some of them because I would guess that for every person who asks me a question about baptism, quite a few others are wondering the same thing, but they haven’t asked.
Who should be baptized?
Any person who has placed their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins should be baptized. After all, Jesus commanded His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19b). If that’s you, you should be baptized.
When should a person be baptized?
When the Apostle Peter preached a message in Acts chapter 2, we’re told that a bunch of people came to faith. Then we’re told, “Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.” (Acts 2:41). That’s pretty interesting; 3,000 people got baptized the very day they placed their faith in Jesus.
The same happens in Acts chapter 8 when Philip leads the Ethiopian official to faith in Jesus. We’re told, “As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. Acts 8:36-38
On our website, we say this about baptism: Baptism is not for perfect people. There is not a standard you have to meet before you get baptized. The only requirement is that you have completely trusted your life to Jesus Christ, He is your Lord and Savior, and you are no longer living for yourself but for Him.
If you wait until you stop sinning to get baptized, you’ll never get baptized. Getting baptized isn’t the culmination of your walk with Jesus; it marks the commencement of it.
Can my child be baptized?
That depends. If your child trusts in Jesus and is interested in being baptized, your child is probably ready. If they aren’t yet interested in baptism, they should probably wait. Attend some of our baptism celebrations with your child and see if they have questions. If you need guidance on this, our NextGen team would love to assist you in guiding your child in this decision. By the way, if your child DOES decide to be baptized, that doesn’t mean they might choose to be baptized again later in life. This is a pretty normal occurrence. And while the Bible doesn’t say anything about being baptized more than once, if baptism is a symbolic act of publicly declaring one’s faith in Jesus, I can’t think of any reason not to allow that. Which brings me to the last question:
Can I be baptized again?
Baptism is NOT what gets a person into heaven. There are no examples in the Bible of someone being baptized more than once. Having said that, I know plenty of people who were baptized early in their walk with Jesus; they’ve gone through some testing or faced a trial, or they wandered some in their faith, and they want to be baptized again as a form of rededication. They want to publicly state that “they’re back,” and they are inviting accountability from their faith community by doing this. While there isn’t any biblical weight to this, I still would advise a person in this situation to follow what they sense the Holy Spirit is leading them to do. If you feel led to take that step…then, by all means, take it!
Interested in going public with your commitment to Jesus? You can sign up for the next baptism here.
I look forward to seeing you and your guests this Sunday as we continue our series, The G.O.A.T.
Blessings,
Pastor Jamey
