steps for child baptism at Sanctuary Columbus Church

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1 steps for child baptism at Sanctuary Columbus Church Baptism is a huge decision in the life of a Christ-follower. We want to make sure that you and your child understand this moment as fully as possible. The following steps are designed to guide you through your decision, and to provide us with the information we need to help you to have a great experience. Please complete the following: 1) Schedule a time to meet with Rich. He is available Monday - Thursday with some evenings open. Parent and child should be prepared to talk about individual and family faith in Jesus and how God is leading the child to be baptized. 2) Read the brief Talking to Your Child About Baptism, look up the verses, then write down your questions for Pastor Rich. 3) Fill out and submit the My Personal Story paragraph. Writing down your story gives us a glimpse into your journey with God, and major events happening in your child s life. 4) Schedule your Baptism via the connection link on website or info(at) sanctuarycolumbus(dot)com or sign-up on the Steps Card in Sunday service. It s that simple! Let s get started. Keep reading. 1

2 baptism KINDERGARDEN 6TH GRADE EDITION talking to your child How do I know if my child is ready? A childʼs understanding of Jesus progresses as they grow. Sometimes it is difficult to know when a child is ready to be baptized. A childʼs understanding of Jesus tends to develop in the following pattern: 1. Jesus is a special baby. They realize that Heʼs not like other babies. 2. Jesus is Godʼs. 3. Jesus is a good role model and we should follow his example. 4. Jesus died on the cross for me, and He is alive. There is a huge difference between knowing the facts about Jesus and making the decision to trust and follow him. Baptism identifies us with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. If your child has not made that choice to be a friend with Jesus forever, this is a wonderful time to talk about who Jesus is and what he does for us, but your child should not be baptized at this time. Each child is unique and will articulate their understanding of what it means to be a Christfollower (a friend with Jesus forever) differently. Some guides that can help you discern if it is time for your child to be baptized are: Do they understand what sin is? They canʼt understand that Jesus saves them, until they know that they are lost without him. Have they made a conscious decision to follow Jesus, or asked him to be in control of their life? People make the decision to follow Jesus at all different points in their lives. There is no absolute right or age-appropriate time to make this decision. Do they show any activity of the Holy Spirit? At the moment a person receives Jesus as Lord then the Holy Spirit indwells a believer to produce spiritual fruit. (Galatians 5:22) Follow your childʼs lead and do not attempt to talk them into being baptized. We want them to understand that this is their step not the decision of their mom or dad or Royal City Kids leader. Enjoy this time as an opportunity to build into your child spiritually. 2

3 explore your child s understanding of baptism As children explore who God is and what he means to them, they might begin asking questions about baptism. To more fully understand where they are coming from, it might help to follow up their questions with a question. You might find that they are asking questions for many reasons including: their friend is being baptized so they also want to do it, they think it looks like fun, they heard if you get baptized you get presents, they are trying to understand what it means to be a Christ-follower or they have chosen to be friends with Jesus forever and are ready to make this commitment public through baptism. lead a child through what it means to be a Christ-follower Use the questions listed below (or ask questions of your own) to get the child to put his/her thoughts in their own words. Look up some of the Bible verses together. Ask the child to read the Bible verses or get their ideas on what they mean in their own words. Using the Bible helps them to understand that this is not just your idea, but that it comes from God. 1. Admit youʼve sinned. Ask for forgiveness. What is sin? Who sins? Romans 3:23 Do you ever sin? How does God feel about sin? Romans 6:23 2. Believe in Jesus and that he died for you. Who is Jesus? John 1:1, 14 What did Jesus do for us? Romans 5:8 What must we do with Jesus? Acts 16:31, John 1:12, John 14:6 Jesus died for everyone, but does that mean everyone automatically goes to heaven? John 3:18 3. Choose to be a Christ-follower/friend with Jesus forever. Does all this make sense? You have a choice. Romans 10:9 13 use common, child-centered terms Consider the words that you use. There are adult words and other words that are more child friendly. Check your vocabulary. Are your words easy to understand? Here are some common terms and more child-appropriate terms. sin: wrong things; not nice punishment: get in trouble; time out crucify: died on a cross savior: someone who agrees to be in trouble for you resurrection: didnʼt stay dead receive Jesus into your heart: choose to be friends with Jesus forever; a Christfollower leadership or Lord: follow what Jesus says; ask him for help to do the right thing 3

4 explain how Jesus died for us and why we make him our forever friend Do you remember how God can do everything and see everything? Well, that means He can see all the things we do, even the things that arenʼt nice. He also knows when we are saying stuff that isnʼt nice, and even when weʼre not thinking nice things. All of that really disappoints God because he doesnʼt think itʼs OK for us to do anything wrong. Can you imagine all the wrong stuff you or I do no matter whether or not we get caught? It means we should be in a lot of trouble. So much trouble, that we would not be able to have a relationship with God, and one day when we die, we would be separated from God forever. But God loves us so much, he sent Jesus to help us out. Jesus never did anything wrong, but he still agreed to be in trouble with God for all the things that we did wrong. Itʼs like He agreed to take all the spankings and time outs for what other people had done. Can you imagine how many that would be? Do you know how He had to do it? He had to actually die hanging on a cross. Jesus loved us so much, he died on the cross for you and for me. But He didnʼt stay dead, which is how he can be with us today. And the good news is, that what He did will count for all the bad things you and I do. He will forgive us if we just admit that we do things that are not nice, tell him that we believe that he died on the cross for us, and choose to be friends with Jesus forever a Christ-follower. He will always be there for us and will help us find out how to do good stuff. 4

5 my personal story Please write a paragraph or two describing how and when your child decided to follow Christ. You can use the following questions to help them articulate their own story: When did you decide that you wanted to be friends with Jesus forever? Where were you, who was with you, how did you feel? Was there someone special that helped you understand who Jesus is? If so, who are they and how did they help you? How would you describe who Jesus is and what he means to you? Have there been any situations where Jesus has helped you or made a difference in your life? After you have written your story, save it and send it to rjohnson(at)sanctuarycolumbus(dot)com FYI We always like to share what God is doing in our community. In the event we publish your story, weʼll edit out names, correct grammatical errors, etc. Itʼs such a great way to speak to others who may hear a prompting from God, as you have, to follow this step of baptism. Thanks for sharing your story with us. Sanctuary Columbus Church P.O. Box Columbus, OH (p) (e) info@sanctuarycolumbus.com5 5