Talks

Don’t we just love baptism Sundays?!

Matt briefly explains what baptism is all about – 3 things:
1) It’s a day to celebrate! Big Picture: God created a perfect world with a perfect relationship with Him, which became broken when Adam and Eve chose against God’s plan.. But God sent Jesus on a rescue mission! And because Jesus died for us on the cross, the broken relationship was restored. We can acknowledge our failures, ask for forgiveness and welcome Him as Lord and Saviour. Now there’s a personal invitation from heaven for us to respond! Baptism is part of our response.
2) It’s a symbolic day! Just as Jesus died and was buried for 3 days, we go in the water, die to ourselves and rise again to a new start and a new life in Jesus.
3) It’s a declaration day! Those being baptised acknowledge their sinful nature and make a decision to live a life not of independence but *dependence* on Jesus. They also share part of their story and make some clear statements of faith and how they want to live going forward.

Zoe explains the different ways we can support children in foster care and Paul gives us an insight of what God thinks about putting the lonely into families. They also share what fostering has lookied like for them the last few years and how it could possibly develop for them in the future. 

Matt moves us on to the topic of baptism and explains why we baptise people:
1. Jesus says
2. It’s a symbol
3. It’s a declaration
4. It’s an encounter
The highlight of the day was Dan Pepper sharing his moving testimony and being baptised. Oh, what a happy day!

We always love Baptism Sunday!
Matt explains shortly what Baptism is all about, starting with the question: Are you thirsty or hungry this morning? A long time ago, God invited us through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 55 to be part of a banquet that feeds beyond our physical hunger. 2500 years later, Jesus follows this up by declaring to the women at the well that he is the water that will not leave you thirsty. We need to seek him, believe in him and repent, recognise that we need a saviour. He loves to forgive generously and to give us life in its fullness.
1) Baptism points backwards to the decision we’ve made to accept Jesus into our lives and to follow him.
2) Baptism points to Jesus, we identify with Jesus himself: Going into the water signifies the death to our old self and we rise as a new creation.
3) Baptism points forward to the family of God, the church.
Those being baptised have come to that conclusion and want to declare this before God and the world. Four wonderful testimonies are included in this talk.

Zoe reminds us why we believe baptism is important:

Jesus himself got baptised (Matthew 3:13-17)
Jesus tells us to baptise people from all nations in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28.18-19)
Baptism is a sign of transformation. (Galatians 3.26-27)
Zoe gives us a lovely analogy of a school in Kirkby that went from wearing non-uniform to wearing a uniform and how it has transformed some of the students not just outwardly but also on the inside. In the same way, we are clothed “in Christ” with all the benefits that comes with.

Matt explains with quotes from John the Baptist, Paul, Peter and Jesus himself that “what happens today” is “weirdly wonderful and wonderfully weird”. Baptism is a physical, symbolic and spiritual event which we celebrate today, hearing three touching testimonies.