be baptised!

I had a great time talking to people last night who are thinking about joining the church. We had over 25 people on our last getting connected course and are now enjoying catching up with them individually as they come into the church family. Its so encouraging to hear how much people are enjoying the church; the worship, the teaching, the friendships.

Interestingly, two of the things we often end up talking about with people are baptism in water and the holy Spirit. When people get saved its often in response to a proclamation of the gospel that emphasises repentance and faith. Nothing wrong with that but I am always struck by the first gospel message preached by peter:

"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. Acts 2:38

Peter includes baptism and receiving the Spirit as a key part of his invitation to respond to Jesus’ death and resurrection. What a privilege therefore to be able to talk with people about these things and see them establish a great foundation in their new life in Christ.  

There are some great resources around if you want to strengthen your understanding of these things and help others enjoy all that God has for them. The bible is a good place to start of course! A few years ago I went through acts and underlined all the references to being filled with the Spirit in purple. I still use it to remind myself and show others what an amazing thing God is offering us.

More recently, this months Newfrontiers magazine has a great article about baptism in it by Matt Partridge and we also have some great resources online in our very own kings people web site including a FAQ on baptism in water. Finally there is David Pawson’s “The normal Christian birth” which covers repentance, faith, water and spirit baptism in some detail.

Another key thing that is often overlooked in a normal Christian birth is being part of a local church. We are not meant to follow Jesus on our own but are born into a family. That’s why we are stepping up our efforts to see more and more people added to the church family at Kings.