Why Baptism?

When Christians are baptised, they fulfill the command of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20) and are submerged in water to identify with His death, and rise out of the water to identify with His resurrection (Romans 6:1-10; Colossians 2:12).

This identification with the death, burial, and resurrection through baptism testifies to the fact that we believe in faith that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, rose three days later, and now is alive and Lord over all of creation.

It seems that everywhere you look in the book of Acts, baptism follows immediately after people profess their faith in Jesus. In many churches in our country, baptism is taught as an 'optional extra' - do it if you feel like it or when it feels right seems to be the prevailing teaching. Baptism wasn't an optional extra for the early church; it was a command of Jesus and the Apostles took it seriously, making it clear that part of a response to the gospel is baptism. 

Maybe you're a Christian and you haven't yet been baptised, fully submerged in water. Please can I urge you, if you haven't been baptised and you know Jesus as Lord of your life, to consider getting baptised. We have a baptism service on the 16th November at Hope Church, if you'd like to be baptised then, please email office@hopechurchipswich.net and let us know. We will ask you to attend a baptism class beforehand in order to ensure that you fully understand what baptism is all about and to talk through the practicalities of the baptism service. 

You may not want to get baptised in front of 200+ people - that is fine - you can get baptised in the sea, or in a paddling pool in your back garden! It doesn't matter where, the most important things is that you obey the command of Jesus to be baptised. 

Tom Scrivens