|
We have been blessed with a number of baptisms this year. Jesus'
love is available to all, young and old, and whatever the story
of your life. Have a look at the pictures of this year's
baptisms - young and old, with all sorts of life experiences!
Find out more about baptism in general
here.
Stuart, Rob, Tamsin and Sarah are Baptised at Ignite
On the evening of our October Ignite Youth Service the church
was packed to support four of our young people make their public
declaration of faith and be baptised in Jesus name.
Tamsin explained that Jesus loves us and forgives us and
gives us guidelines for life. She told of her amazement that the
most powerful being in the universe loved her. She wanted to be
baptised to tell people that 'Jesus is my Lord and I want to
live my life for him.
Rob
explained how his faith gives him guidelines on how to live life
and how to consider others. He knows that God is there and loves
him, that God was there during tough times at school and through
the support of church in prayer and encouragement. "God has made
me special" he said, and he wanted to be baptised to publicly
show he believed in God, and that he wanted to follow God's way,
not the world's way, 24/7.
Stuart, became a Christian when he was 8, partly in
response to Tracey Chivers (Rob's mum) committing herself to
Jesus at that time. Stuart said a prayer of committment with his
mum. He knows that with God, there is always someone to turn to,
that God Loves him, and that Jesus died for him. For him,
baptism is a turning point - now I can live with Christ.
Sarah told us that 'my faith is everything to me'. Jesus
has made a big impact on my life, and is the way I live my life.
Although she has been coming to church all her life, it's in the
last two years that it has become personal.
Her friend Zoë's baptism really challenged her that God was
speaking to her, and she highlighted how a sixth former at her
school, Catherine Davison was always ready to listen and pray
with her. She wanted to be baptised to show everyone that "Jesus
is my Lord and Saviour".
You can listen to the service
here.
We were honoured to share in the
celebration of the baptism of two members of our fellowship, Rob
and Sally-Ann
Rob told us that as a child he had
attended church with his family (in his bow tie!), but that he
had never understood the reasons behind the worship. When his
family later split up, it had seemed that it was all a pretence
and he became an atheist. But then he went to a Christian Union
weekend with his school, and saw people calling to God, and
praying, and opening their hearts to him. This challenged him,
and he prayed with all his soul to ask God to come into his
life. God took hold of his life, and showed him how many
blessing we have received. He gave Rob a purpose to his life,
which Rob summed up in Jeremiah 29:13 "You shall seek me, and
find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart."
Sally had never been in a church before a
year ago. I can't easily summarise her testimony, so listen to
the audio clips. Click on the following links (about 5Mb so
better with broadband) which include Rob's and Sally Ann's
testimony.
Sally Ann finished with this passage from
the Psalms "You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance; you
have taken away my sorrow and surrounded me with joy. So I will
not be silent; I will sing praise to you. Lord, you are my God;
I will give you thanks forever. " (Ps 30:11-12)
Audio Links - Sally Ann's testimony
follows Rob's on the first track and then continues on the
remainder -
1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Pictures of the baptisms
Baptisms - 26th February
We joined together with two
friends today to share in the joy and celebration at their
baptism at SBC.
Mike Lamb from SBC movingly
told us how the Lord Jesus rescued him from the power of alcohol
and this baptism was his choice of committment to the Lord.
George Hosking from Croydon
Society of Friends told how God spoke to him as a boy, but over
the years until he was thirty he drifted away from God. He found
faith again over a number of years with the Quakers, and whilst
believer's baptism is not common amongst Quakers, for him it is
his statement of his trust in God.
Pictures of Mike Lamb
Pictures of George Hosking
25/02/06
|
