On Sunday night, the church baptized three new believers and it was so incredible to witness. The children were invited to sit right up next to the baptistry (which was concealed under the platform, so it was right in front of the sanctuary) and watch everything up close. Then, when the newly baptized people walked out, they were immediately engulfed by the people that are part of their lives and spiritual walk. A kid from the youth group was baptized and the entire youth group ran up with noise makers and made sure to give him a big hug--while he was still dripping wet!
On the way back to Pastor Ramone's house, Liliana was asking how we would say "I watch baptisms" in Portuguese--and Pastor's response was awesome. He told us they don't say they watched baptisms because that separates the people watching the baptism from those being baptized. Instead, they use the verb "estar" or "to be."
How cool is that? And how true is that? As the church, we don't (or we shouldn't) merely watch baptisms, we are integral parts of every baptism. We are one body and when someone is baptized and joins the body, we all grow and we are all part of the experience. We don't just sit back and watch a new believer, we disciple and teach and help a new believer grow into a mature disciple of Christ.
I would love to say, in English, every time someone is baptized "We were baptized today," but I know people would look at me really weird. So I'll stick with Portuguese: "A gente esta baptister hoje."
P.S. I realize my Portuguese was probably really, really off--but hey, I'm learning
When I was baptized in high school, my friends made signs and cheered really loudly when I came back up. I remember our pastor coming up to give his sermon after that and saying that he wished baptisms were always like that. It was the best one I have ever been to!
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