Family Letter

Concerning Baptism

Our church will hold a Thanksgiving Baptism service on 11/25 this year. In order to help those amongst us still trying to decide if they should be baptized, I have briefly outlined some of the key considerations below.

1. Why baptism?

· The simplest answer is “to obey the specific command of Jesus” (Mt. 28: 16-20);

· Second, the Acts of Apostles recorded that baptisms took place for different ethnicities, genders, and at different geographical and political locations (Acts 2:38-41 in Jerusalem; Acts 8:12 in Samaria; Acts 8:35-39 the Ethiopian; Acts 9:18 Paul in Syria; Acts 10:44-48 the Gentile Cornelius and others; Acts 16:14-15 Lydia in Philippi; Acts 16:30-34, prison guards in Philippi; Acts 18:8 in Corinth of Greece);

· Third, in Didache (Teachings of the Apostles) written around the turn of the first and second century, believers faithfully carried out Jesus’ command of baptism;

· Fourth, the Christian Church through 2000+ years of history continues to practice baptism, regardless of denominations.

2. Who is eligible for baptism?

Anyone who repents of sin and accepts the Gospel of Jesus Christ can be baptized. According to Acts (above), there was very little time gap between a person’s conversion to Christianity and baptism. The SFEFC believes that if one is genuine in one’s belief in the Gospel and assured of one’s relationship with the Lord, one should take the earliest opportunity to be baptized. We believe baptism has too rich a significance for the individual to be delayed for too long.

3. What is the key significance of baptism?

Baptism is an expression of repentance and forgiveness of sins; it is also a public commitment to be united with Jesus Christ the Lord. This union shares with Christ the difficulties as well as the benefits—in Biblical terms, it is “death and resurrection.” The act of being immersed in the water symbolizes the death and burial; the reemergence from the water speaks of the rising from the dead one day. Baptism acts out a personal commitment to live in a new way with a hope of sharing a future life (Rom 6:3-5; Gal 3:26-29).

4. If I am not good enough, would I be a disgrace to Christ and His Church?

No one is good enough to deserve the salvation from Jesus Christ. Nor can one become a good Christian on human endeavor alone (Phil 2:13). When a couple exchanges marriage vows, neither is saying that they are already a good enough husband and wife. But that they are genuine in the commitment and because of this, recalling the wedding moment often becomes an impetus to work on their marriage. Baptism is similar.

Anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of his life, has received the remission of sin upon repentance, and is willing to follow Jesus Christ, for better or for worse, needs not delay any longer. Grab an application form from the racks in the foyer and turn it in to me.

Pastor Raymond 10/7/2007