3.10 baptism

• what is baptism a sign of?

  • sign of initiation through which a person becomes a member of the church and a child of God
  • this is for all Christians apart from Quakers and the Salvation army
• was Jesus baptised?

  • Jesus himself was baptised by John the Baptist
  • ordered his apostles to baptise all of his followers ( Matthew 28:19 )
  • through baptism a person enters the life of the trinity
  • they become a child of the Father, join in with Jesus' death and resurrection and are filled with the Holy Spirit
• what does baptism symbolise?

  • new stage of life
  • child of God
  • joining in with Jesus' death and resurrection
• how would adults be baptised in the early church?

  • totally submerged underwater
  • symbolised joining Jesus in the tomb after he died
  • just as Jesus gave up his life to the will of God so the person being baptised commits their life to God in the same way
• what does the rising out of the water symbolised?

  joining in with Jesus' resurrection to begin a new life as a Christian
• how are people baptised in todays church?

  • water is poured over their heads
  • idea of joining in with Jesus' death and resurrection is just as important
• what does the use of water symbolise?

  • the Holy Spirit
  • during baptism a person is filled with the Holy Spirit who sustains a believers faith and commitment to God
  • same spirit that filled Jesus at his baptism
• why is baptism important ?

  • cleanses a person of all their sins
  • fills the person with the Holy Spirit to give them the strength to resist evil
  • pledge that the person will join God in heaven after they die
  • shares the Trinity with the person
  • Christians join in with Jesus' death and resurrection so share in Christ's victory over the power of sin and death
  • sacrament or sign of initiation through which a person becomes a member of the church and a child of God
• what is said to the person being baptised during baptism ?

  ' I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for the forgiveness of your sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.”