Archive for Baptism

Reaching Young Adults

By David Adams · Comments (0)
Tuesday, January 18th, 2022

I regularly hear church leaders say, “We need to reach young adults,” usually in a church that is struggling to reach and keep young adults. If this is your church, there is hope! Here are three suggestions for reaching young adults.

1. Listen

Listen to God. Why does he want to reach young adults? How has he led you to desire to reach them? How would he have you proceed?

Listen to church members. To whom else in your church might God be speaking about reaching young adults? What wisdom do others have on the subject? (Someone has probably “tried that before,” right?)

Listen to young adults. Build friendships and hear what they are saying about faith and church participation. Avoid the urge to tell them what they should be doing differently. Make sure you are not approaching young adults with a target mentality. Young adults are not a project or a goal to achieve, but individuals to be valued, heard, and loved.

2. Evaluate

What are the possibilities for your church? There certainly nothing wrong with dreaming big, but if there are few young adults in your community or few in your church today, then starting one group or hosting a meal with young adults may be a great start! Your local Baptist association or state convention may be able to provide a demographic study that will help you understand the possibilities, or you can look for yourself at the US Census data for county population characteristics here.

Evaluate the desire of your church’s leaders and members to (1) give up some comfort and control (favorite pew, decision-making, programming, finances, traditions), and (2) mentor and bless new young leaders. These two areas may reveal the biggest barriers to reaching young adults. If you reach young adults but are not ready to invite them into significant ministry and leadership roles, they are likely to go elsewhere.

3. Get to work

Based on 1 and 2 above, recognize that simply starting a young adult class/group or adapting worship style will not reach young adults. Spiritual, relational, and organizational effort is needed.

Spiritual – Invite existing adult groups to pray regularly for young adults as well as you or others who are leading your church’s efforts to reach them. Pray for opportunities to meet needs and share the gospel.

Relational – Weddings, births, kids’ sports, Vacation Bible School, fall festivals, and other events provide natural points of connection with young adults. Be intentional in using these opportunities to begin new friendships. Invite two or three young adults to meet you for breakfast to discuss plans for starting a young adult Bible study. Ask other church members to make a point of getting to know young adult neighbors.

Organizational – Start a new Sunday School class or small group when a core group of young adults are ready to begin. In the meantime, develop one to four young adults through a personal discipleship group or less formal get-togethers. As you reach young adults, invite them to serve in the church. Young adult guests who see young adult greeters, ushers, committee members, and ministry leaders are more likely to believe your church has a place for them, too.

David Adams

Director of Discipleship

Texas Baptists

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Categories : Baptism, Bible Study, Connect, Evangelism, Group Life, Growing your Group, Outreach/Evangelism, Small Groups, Sunday School

Connect through Baptism and Membership 3: Membership

By Jason McNair · Comments (0)
Tuesday, August 27th, 2019

By now, if you have followed this series of articles and you are encouraged with tips and ideas to identify, intercede for, invest in, intentionally share the gospel with, and invite the “one” into your ongoing group ministry. The next step was believer’s baptism. Our previous article highlighted the importance of baptism as an expression of obedience to Christ.

Following Baptism, church membership is a vital next step in the spiritual maturity of a new believer. Recently, our church plant went through a discussion about the importance of membership and began accepting members for the first time in its three-year existence. In our discussions during the leadup to our first membership meeting, it was interesting to discover that there are only a few specific verses in the Bible that mention the importance of church membership. In the new testament church, membership is just assumed.

Jesus implied about membership when he talked about “keys to the kingdom” in Matthew 16 and 18. The book of Acts speaks of “the numbers being added daily” in Acts 2, 4, and 5. Paul tackles membership in 1 Corinthians 5, 12 and 2 Corinthians 2. But in all these references (and many more) the leaders of church just assumed that a constituted church would have, as part of its polity, church membership.

Your “one” might be nervous about taking a step into church membership. Consider discussing the topic over a meal and try to answer their questions and concerns about how your church views church membership and the benefits of being united as the body of Christ.

Jason McNair has served for more than a decade as Strengthen Churches Missionary for Utah Idaho SBC and hosts a LifeGroup in his home every other week. He and his family are charter members of LifePoint Church in Farmington, UT

Bonus Post: Baptism Sunday, September 8, 2019

On September 8, 2019, churches across the Southern Baptist Convention will be celebrating “Baptism Sunday” as they #FillTheTank in anticipation of the need for spontaneous baptisms in our churches that day.  Through this special emphasis, there will be preaching on this topic, a call for response to the gospel, and an opportunity to be obedient through baptism immediately following their decision. More information about “Baptism Sunday” can be found below.

J.D. Greear article in Baptist Press promoting Baptism Sunday from 08/12/2019
http://www.bpnews.net/53426/jd-greear-why-baptism-sunday

Baptism Sunday Resources for your church
https://www.namb.net/baptism-sunday-resources/

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Categories : Baptism, Membership

Connect through Baptism and Membership 2: Baptism

By Steve Bradshaw · Comments (0)
Monday, August 26th, 2019

As the Director of Evangelism for the SBC of Virginia, I am excited about the Southern Baptist Convention’s renewed emphasis on sharing the Gospel.  As I have been praying for my neighbors and the unsaved people that the Lord has placed on my heart, I am asking Him to direct me to someone in whom I can generate Gospel conversation.  Depending on the circumstance, I could use the Three Circles tool, or show The Story video, or simply share my testimony of how the Lord saved me.  But most importantly, I must invite them to trust the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior too.

And if they do, we will rejoice together with the Angels in Heaven over this one who repented and turned to Christ.  I will also encourage them to be doers of The Word by confessing Jesus to others as an indication of their genuine decision.  But soon after, I will charge them to be baptized, just like Jesus, by immersion as their first public expression of obedience to Christ.

According to our Southern Baptist Confession of faith, The Baptist Faith and Message, article VII on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead.

So, baptism connects the believer.

– It connects the believer to Jesus.  It says, I am one of His.  I identify with Christ.

– It connects the believer to other believers.  It says, I am one of them.  I identify with Christians.

Now, it is important to note here, that soon after baptism, we encourage believers to find a local church where they can be discipled and transformed into the likeness of Jesus.

Acts 2:41–42 (HCSB)

41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.

On September 8, 2019, churches across the Southern Baptist Convention will be celebrating “Baptism Sunday” as they #FillTheTank in anticipation of the need for spontaneous baptisms in our churches that day.  Through this special emphasis, there will be preaching on this topic, a call for response to the gospel, and an opportunity to be obedient through baptism immediately following their decision.

If you have never trusted Jesus, or never been baptized as an outward symbol of your inward conversion, we invite you do so, on Sunday, September 8.  For more information about “Baptism Sunday” visit the links below.

J.D. Greear article in Baptist Press promoting Baptism Sunday from 08/12/2019

http://www.bpnews.net/53426/jd-greear-why-baptism-sunday

Baptism Sunday Resources for your church

https://www.namb.net/baptism-sunday-resources/

Steve Bradshaw is the Director of Evangelism and Strategic Initiatives, SBC of Virginia

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Categories : Baptism

Connect through Baptism & Membership 1: A New Creation

By Jeff Ingram · Comments (0)
Sunday, August 25th, 2019

Becoming a Christian is the best thing that can happen to a person; the second best thing is for a new believer to be baptized and become an active member of a Bible-teaching church!

  • Why is this important? Because the Bible states in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” (CSB)

Think about it. God’s promise to you is that you are a new person. Whereas you used to be spiritually dead, dead in your sins, unresponsive to knowing God in a personal way, not interested in the Bible, God’s Word, and unable to enjoy true fellowship with other Christians. When you trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior you became a new creation, meaning all your sins are forgiven, you can now enjoy friendship with God and His people, the church, and have God’s assurance that heaven is in your future!

  • So, what’s next? How do I live this new life? This verse in Galatians 2:20 tells you how to live your life each and every day as a new creation in Christ: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”(CSB)

Don’t miss this: your salvation was not earned by anything you have done. The perfect, sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ, died for your sins, so that you would not have to die for your sins! Therefore, let Jesus live His life through you, trusting Him completely to guide your daily decisions. Why? Because He loves you and gave His life for you!

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Categories : Baptism, Membership