Together in Portland: Be Baptised

For adults: if your child has made the decision to follow Jesus and persisted down the path of learning to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what he did, it might be the right time to talk about baptism, or publicly following Jesus in the example of full immersion water baptism.

This guide is a bit longer than our usual Family Guides, so feel free to split it up into a couple conversations as your child’s attention span allows. These topics will be revisited in our Baptism Course for families, which will take place a couple weeks prior to the opportunity to get baptized. We have provided some space to write down any questions that may arise, and we would love it if you would print and bring this packet to class with you!

Part 1: Follow Jesus

Have you ever been to a wedding? What was it like? What was special about it?

Give space for answers.

A wedding is a special event where you take something private—how much you love and are committed to another person—and you make it public. You stand up in front of your family and friends and promise to continue your love and commitment always.

Baptism is sort of like a wedding in that way. The decision to follow Jesus might be something that happened in private, but when we get baptized, we make it public. Maybe you decided to follow Jesus when you were alone, or with a friend or trusted grown up; or, you might have prayed it in your heart, between you and Jesus. But when we get baptized, we take what’s private in our hearts—our commitment to and love for Jesus—and we say it in public alongside our brothers and sisters at church, who will remind us of and help us stay true to this big decision!

Before we go too much further, let’s remember what following Jesus is and what it means. God is on a mission of love, to rescue and make new the whole world—making all the sad things untrue. Each of us gets to be a part of it, when we decide we want to say “yes” to Jesus’ invitation to join him and follow after him.

Do you remember when YOU decided to follow Jesus and invited him to be your rescuer and king? What did it feel like? 

Give space for answers.

If your child has not yet made the decision to follow Jesus, start there! If you go back a few pages, you’ll find a guide called “Follow Jesus” to help facilitate this conversation. 

You might remember that a few important and exciting things happen when you decide to give your life to Jesus and his ways. You get three new things.

1. You get a new IDENTITY. You are a child of God! Your “old self” and all the wrong you did was crucified with Jesus on the cross. Your sins—the lies, the mean words you have used, the hurt you’ve caused people—have been paid for. The Bible says that if we are in Christ, we are a “new creation.”

2. You get a new FAMILY. The church—everyone else who follows Jesus—are now your brothers and sisters. Even your mom. The church family prays together, spends time together, and helps each other both with the things one another need, and also helps us stay on the path of repentance and following after Jesus.

3. You receive a new MISSION. When we read the Bible, we see that God invites people like us to team up with him in making the world right again, the way God designed it to be. He invites us make things fair, to be creative, to live in peace with others, and invite others into his family too.

Wow! What a gift it is to be in God’s family together.

When did you ask Jesus to be king in your life? Let’s write it down so we always remember.

Part 2: Baptism in the Bible

It’s so special that we both follow Jesus, huh? Let’s read a little more about why we get baptized.

Let’s open our bibles to Acts 2, starting in verse 37 and going to 41. Right before this part we’re about to read in the story, Peter shared about who Jesus is and what he has done for us: that he died in our place, came back to life, and is our rescuer and king.

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

1. When the Holy Spirit came and the people heard the good news about Jesus, four things happened. First, the people felt CONVICTION in their hearts. Conviction is knowing you have a problem you need help with; these people knew in their hearts that they had done wrong things, and they needed help to go another way. 

2. Second, they CONFESSED with their mouths. Confession is talking about what I did—telling the truth about our sin, admitting the ways we thought our ideas of how to live were better than God’s. It’s taking responsibility for what happened without making excuses. They talked about the fact that they needed forgiveness; they recognized that they had a problem and were talking about it. 

3. Third, the people REPENTED. To repent is admitting what we did wrong and changing how we live in response. It involves two actions. The first action is to be honest about our sin, and the second action is to “turn and walk the other way.” It means we work to live God’s way instead of ours. 

   a. Repentance isn’t just a one time thing. Even when we follow Jesus, we will make mistakes. So being honest about our sin and turning to walk the other way will be something we have to do over and over again. 

4. Fourth, the last thing the people did was to be BAPTIZED! “Baptism” is how we show God, our family, our friends, our church community, and others of our repentance. Simply, baptism is an outward action that shows our inner decision to repent and follow Jesus. We go underwater to symbolize Jesus’s death and burial- we come out of the water in victory, just like when Jesus rose from the grave!  

When we follow Jesus, we’ve already done the first three things (felt conviction, confessed, and repented). Just like all the people present at Pentecost, we are invited to follow Jesus into baptism too.

Part 3: Baptism at Bridgetown Church

You are invited to get baptized too. Have you ever been to a gathering where we’ve had baptisms before? 

Give space for answers.

Remember the wedding we talked about at the beginning? At a wedding, the bride and groom say vows or “commitments,” and at church we do that too. And you know what? The church makes promises back. These are the “commitments” we say at Bridgetown Church.

Take time to read through each of these. These are the commitments your child will agree to before their baptism, along with the commitments our church family will make to them. For the purpose of this guide, we’ve added “helpful kid language” in italics. 

The Individual’s Commitments

• Do you repent and renounce all past sin, and all of your involvement in the world, the flesh, and the devil? 

  • Do you repent and turn away from all past sin and choose God’s way over the world, our temptations, and Satan? 

• Do you believe the good news that Jesus is both a teacher and Lord of your life? 

  • Do you believe Jesus as your teacher, your king, and your Rescuer? 

• Do you receive the Holy Spirit as the gift of God’s empowering presence with you each moment of each day?

  • Do you receive the Holy Spirit as a gift from God of His presence with you all the time? 

• Do you commit to apprentice under Jesus for all your life—to make the driving goals of your life to be with Jesus, to become like Jesus, and to live as if he were you?

  • Do you commit to learn from and follow Jesus for the rest of your life and to do your best to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do the things that Jesus did? 

• Do you commit to live under his authority, as it comes to us through the Scriptures, and church history, living in obedience to him?

  • Do you commit to listen to Jesus, believe Jesus’ words in the Bible and His work in His people through history, and obey Jesus’ ways over your own? 

• Do you commit to doing life with Jesus’ community of apprentices, the church, living as family, eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper, and practicing the way of Jesus together?

  • Do you commit to living your life as an important part of God’s family, the church, by spending time with them, remembering the good news of Jesus with them through Communion, and following Jesus together?

The Church’s Commitments

• Do you commit to doing life with them as a community of apprentices, the church, living as family, eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper, and practicing the way of Jesus together?

  • Your church family will commit to live life with you as an important part of God’s family by spending time with you, remembering the good news of Jesus with you through Communion, and following Jesus together. 

• Do you commit to showing the Father’s heart of love and compassion for them, forgiving them when they sin against you  and calling them back to obedience and life?

  • Your church family will commit to show you love and compassion and will forgive you even when your actions hurt them. They will always remind you of how living with Jesus is the best.

• Do you commit to sharing your resources with them as they have need?

  • Your church family will commit to help you when you need help. 

• Do you also commit to never abandon the journey to Christ-like maturity, in both your life and theirs, as both men and women, as apprentices of Jesus, until Jesus returns and we reign with him?

  • Your church family will commit to follow Jesus themselves and to encourage you to follow Jesus every day. The church will keep doing this for each other until Jesus comes back to make all things new and we get to reign with him in his Kingdom forever. 

Which of these do we have questions about? Are there any you don’t understand all the way or feel a little nervous about? 

Give space for answers. 

Let’s write down those questions, and bring them to the class with us.

This has been a lot to talk about. It’s really exciting and also a lot to think over! I’m proud of you for thinking about taking this big step. Let’s pray together, and then talk about this again in a few days, and see if you’re ready to take the class and get baptized.