A baptism service has lots of practical aspects to think about, so I thought I’d put everything I could think of together here, so that I can find it all next time. Perhaps you’ll find it a helpful resource also. There’s probably things I haven’t thought of: I’d love to hear them. I’d bang them in an email something like the following:
This Sunday myself and another elder will be baptising.
I’d encourage you to watch the baptisms in this service (they start about 33 minutes in) to see what they look like. You’ll notice the person has their hands folded across their chest and up to the shoulders, and we take them into the part of the pool near the band, so they can go backwards easily.
On Sunday I will ask these questions before you get into the pool.
[Name] do you believe in one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? [I do / yes]
Have you turned from sin and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, who died and rose to save sinners? [I do / Yes]
Do you promise, relying on the Holy Spirit, to seek to follow Christ and to serve him in every part of your life? [I do / Yes]
[Name], on your confession of repentance towards God, and of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and because you have requested this, we baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit
I will certainly be praying that the Lord would bless you, encourage other believers, point nonchristians to Jesus, and glorify his name!
Please do get a written testimony to me as soon as you are able to, and no later than 17 May for the 26 May baptisms and 31 May for the June 9th baptisms. It would be great to keep it to under two A4 sides, I’m very happy to chat about it with you if you want help putting it together. I’d encourage you to remember those principles of ‘be pointing to Jesus, be plain, be personal’.
If you could let me know also whether you’d like to give your testimony in full, prerecord it, or be interviewed so that you just say a couple of bits from it, that would be great.
You’ll go in in bare feet. Do bring a big towel and a full change of clothes. If there’s someone you’d like to hold your towel, please do arrange that!
If on the morning service that day you’re able to meet me at the front of the church, we can chat about a couple of things, and pray together. I’ve really enjoyed doing the classes thinking about baptism and church membership with you, and I hope you found them helpful too.
On the 28th of January, we have our Real Lives event at Carey on Sunday evening, where we’ll be hearing from Hilary about how the Lord has been at work in her life. And then, the week following that, we’ll be starting a new exploring faith course, LIFEstories, where we’ll watch the testimonies of some people from Carey, how they came to know the Lord, as well as some short apologetics videos. Over the three weeks we’ll be thinking about science and God, about suffering, and about knowing peace with God through Jesus Christ. So I thought it would be good to look this evening briefly at the example of someone else who met Jesus, and about the awesome changes it made in his life.
In Acts 16:16-34, we have Paul and Silas in a Philippian prison, having been locked away for demonstrating that King Jesus is more powerful than any spirit. And yet, despite being in prison, they sing and pray, knowing that though people can lock them away they still have freedom because of Jesus. Knowing that even though their feet are locked in the stocks, nobody can do a single thing to stop God’s gospel running freely. And their fellow prisoners are all listening in, as they sing and pray.
Then, there’s this massive, violent earthquake that rocks the whole building, knocks open the doors, and loosens everyone’s chains. The jailer is utterly despairing, because he’s convinced that the prisoners will all have escaped and he’ll be in the deepest possible trouble with his superiors. In fact, he’s so far from seeing any way out of this that he decides to take his own life. But then thankfully Paul shouts, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” And so the jailer rushes in and – even though he knows he’s not going to be in trouble for the loss of the prisoners, he’s still trembling.
Why? Because the Lord has used this massive earthquake to spiritually shake the jailer. And sometimes he does that, through a massive upheaval – someone who hasn’t thought much at all about spiritual things realises the shortness and the frailty of life. Realises their need to be safe, not just in this life but forever.
And so, the jailer brings Paul and Silas out and asks them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” He recognises that these two men, who were full of praise even in a prison cell, are the ones who can answer this most important question of how HE can be rescued and kept safe.
And after he receives his wonderful answer, I want to point out two things about the jailer. Two things that have changed because of the fact that he has met Jesus. First of all, this man who was despairing for his life is now, according to verse 34, filled with joy. And the reason for that joy is incredibly simple: he and his whole family have come to believe in God. Knowing Jesus means that we have come to know God – the maker of all things, the giver of every good gift. The Father who loves us. And so, while we will still have struggles in life with physical and mental health, and bereavements, and financial problems, and all kinds of hard circumstances – when we meet Jesus, we can go from deep despair, not knowing the One who is in charge of all these hard circumstances, to joy – because we know the One who has all this in his hands,… and know that we are loved by him.
So, the Philippian jailer moves from despair to joy. And then also in his actions there’s a big change too. We’re not told he was a harsh jailer, but I can’t imagine the way he treated his prisoners would have endeared him to a criminal defence lawyer in 2024. According to the government website, prisoners in the UK today have a right to healthcare. Whereas it’s not until hours and hours after Paul and Silas have been locked away that the wounds they have received in the beating they received before the magistrates are treated.
The jailer doesn’t seem overly concerned about the comfort of his prisoners, until after he meets Jesus. He probably had been no worse than any of his fellow jailers. But now, because he has met Jesus, he wants to serve others – particularly his brothers. He knows Jesus has washed him clean, and so he washes the wounds of Paul and Silas. He knows Jesus has fed him with the bread of life, and so he lays a meal before the men. He knows the One who is preparing an eternal place for him, and so he brings these two prisoners into his own home. He does all of this, not long after midnight. He doesn’t wait until it’s a more convenient time for him. He simply gets on with serving, meeting the needs of his brothers.
What brought about this change? It was meeting Jesus. it was the wonderful gospel truth of verse 31. See, if I had to get up to a certain standard to be able to meet Jesus, how could I know if I’d attained it? But as the jailer is told: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” So, the jailer, and me, and you, and every person we meet – we don’t need to get up to a certain level before we can meet him. I simply need to believe on him in order to have him – and all his benefits.
The JAILER’S chains fell off, his heart was free. He rose, went forth, and followed Jesus – that very night. No wonder he now has joy! He knows he has been saved! He had already been saved from being killed for letting the prisoners go before he asks that question. But now, he has been saved from eternal death. No wonder he has begun to serve others – he knows the Lord Jesus now, that one who bled, so that our wounds could be healed. And he knows him freely.
This is why we want to reach out with this gospel. We want others to meet Jesus. We want these changes for others. This is why we NEED to pray. Because even if we speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but God’s Spirit isn’t at work, nobody’s going to believe what we’re saying about how good this good news is. But if God is at work, there will be trembling. There will be deep, heartfelt questions. There will be joy and changed lives, as people come to know Jesus.
Even if we spend hours on end reading the Bible and listening to Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermons, unless God opens our eyes and hearts, we won’t grow in delight in Jesus and joy in the salvation he has granted us. Even if we wrestle hard against sin, unless God is at work, there will be no true desire to sacrificially serve our brothers and sisters.
So let’s pray for God to be at work, just as he was at work in that jail in Philippi.
Not That Richard Baxter 