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Why Baptism?
Amelia
The Baptism of Jesus is one of the rare times in the Bible where the full Trinity is present. God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit all showing themselves together; often two of the three appear, but rarely all three. Another way that showed the important of the even and the example Jesus set for us to follow.
To accept you’ll never feel worthy, this is what I battled with. But Jesus meets you where you’re at; as human beings with free will, we’re not meant to feel worthy. We’re always going to make mistakes and do things that need forgiving.
After finding my way back to my faith and Church in 2023, I’ve decided to get Baptised again on the 28th January 2024.
Getting Baptised (again) had crossed my mind a few times over the year leading up to it.
Being Christened when I was a baby was one reason why I sat with it and prayed on it for a while. Not coming from a religious family, it felt like it was a ‘just what people did’ event, not because of the importance or beliefs surrounding it.
My decision to go ahead with it came from so many conversations and so many feelings over the year leading up to it.
Choosing a Church Family
Start with what you know. I’m lucky enough to have found 3 Churches now where I feel a sense of belonging. All have entirely different worship styles:
My Childhood Methodist Church is warm and light, but is an ageing community and could be described as set its ways & therefore slightly outdated.
After searching for a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve 2023, I found a gorgeous Parish (where it turned out I knew the Organ player, divine guidance strikes) – they have a stunning church that gets filled with incense where they wear the most gorgeous robes and have a full choir. Truly, it’s beautiful.
Then there’s the Free Methodist Church I’ve decided to call
my Home and get Baptised into – full of energy, young families and so much enthusiasm; there’s a full band every week and a group of the most passionate Pastors.
Each one holds a special place in my heart, and each are there when I need them. It’s all about feeling and trusting the timing of things for me.
Catholics and Free Methodists
What are the differences between Methodists (or Christians) and Catholics? Well, we’re all Christians at the heart of it. But as many will know, the Catholic Church as a whole is considered far more strict than some of the other Churches.
The Catholic Church, as one example, has 7 sacraments that they believe are the cornerstones to the religion and their worship. These are;
- Holy Communion
- Baptism,
- Confessional
- Marriage
- Confirmation
- Holy Orders
- Anointing of the Sick.
Free Methodists on the other believe that only 2 of those listed above are Holy Sacraments. That while the others are important, they aren’t sacraments. Those 2 are;
- Baptism
- Holy Communion
They are never disputed. The Last Supper, and Jesus being Baptised by John the Baptist (in Matthew Chapter 3 above) show us the way he wanted us to follow. He always led by example so there is no dispute there. Those are the two that are never debated across the whole of the Christian faith.
What Happens at a Baptism?
The definition of Baptism is:
In our Free Methodist Church, we worship from a local theatre on a Sunday Morning – no font or pool to be baptised in (the Church itself is only a few years old).
We have a full service, where on of the Pastors preaches about Baptism and its importance in welcoming new people officially into the Faith.
Being on the Coast of the UK, the Sea would be the perfect location – but also being a typical English February, that’s better for the Summer months. So, after the service, we head to one of the Pastors homes to be Baptised and continue the event. In my case, there are 4/5 other people also being Baptised on the same day which will make it even more special.
Facts or Feelings?
Facts or feelings. It’s an interesting topic that came up on our Alpha Course recently. When you came to Faith, which came first when trusting in Jesus, facts or feelings?
For me it was always feelings first. When I set foot in my childhood Church that first Sunday back, I instantly had this warm feeling, like I was being given a huge hug. That’s the only way I can describe it. I had the same feeling again when finding my way to my second Church at the Theatre, and again on Christmas Eve at the Parish. It’s how I know and trust I’m in the right place.
However, it’s not always the way. Some people are much more facts driven and have to be convinced in their head first, before their heart believed. For example; no one will argue that Julius Ceasar lived, yet there are only a handful of written texts in existence that confirm this.
Jesus on the other hand, there are thousands and thousands. It’s then not so much a debate of whether Jesus walked the Earth, but whether he was the Son of God and you believe he died for us.
Generally when these kind of conversations come up, people always believe that there is a higher power of some sort, it’s just the debate over what that higher power is; God, Manifestation, Law of Attraction etc. A lot of people will call it something different, but usually people can agree that there is something much greater than us at work.
I’m love life with my faith much more than I did without, even when it’s not quite going the way I’d planned. Life’s hard enough on its own, I’d rather put my trust in God and have some help along the way.
I always love conversations about Faith, whoever they’re with. There’s always a new perspective to see. And if things are hard; sit with it, pray on it for a while.
God Bless.
Lia x
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