Baptism
Baptism is the way that we respond to Jesus’ love for us. In Baptist churches we do things the way they did in the early church and baptise by immersing in water, using the baptistery in the Worship Area.
If you’ve decided to follow Jesus, the next thing to do is to be baptised.
Jesus’ message to people was simple: turn away from your sins, turn to God and follow me. In accepting Jesus as Lord of our lives, we are declaring that he died for us to take away our sins and rose again from the dead. He calls us to be baptised as a sign that something has changed in our lives.
When we are baptised, we declare three things:
that Jesus is Lord
that we turn away from our sins to follow him;
that we will serve him in all that we do.
We do not baptise babies, because they cannot make those promises, but there are no age limits on when you can be baptised.
Baptism is a public declaration, so they are held during a worship service. Water is obviously a sign of being washed clean but it is more than just that. In Romans 6, Paul says that being baptised is like symbolically dying to our old lives and rising again to the new life Jesus offers us.
If you feel that God is calling you to take this step, then please speak to John or Gustavo and they will help you to prepare for this amazing and important act.
Find Out More
To find out more about baptism at Bishop’s Stortford Baptist Church, contact John Walford or Gustavo Gubiani.