So, what's a Baptist, then mister?

Had a lovely time this afternoon, speaking to a Primary School class on the differences between  Baptists and the Church of England. I started off by contrasting the leadership structure of the CofE with our own. Their 'Supreme Governor' is the Queen and they have Archbishops, Bishops, Priests and Deacons, etc., while we simply have elders, one of whom is the pastor, and deacons. I told them that the Prime Minister appoints the Archbishop of Canterbury and other senior clergy, while in Baptist churches, church members elect their own leaders. We discussed the difference between Christening and believer's baptism, why I don't wear clerical garb, the Baptist approach to the Lord's Supper, and how our church buildings reflect our differing emphases. 

Then came questions from the floor. The children asked: How old Jesus was when he was baptised? If Jesus was at God's right hand, who was at his left? How many people I had baptised? How old do you have to be before being baptised? How old was I when I was baptised? Had I been to any other Baptist Churches? What religion was Jesus? Do we eat food other than bread and wine at the Lord's Table? Those and many more questions kept me on my toes.

The class kindly gave me a round of applause at the end and I clapped them back for all their brilliant questions. 

A brace of theological journals

You wait for ages for a decent online theological journal and then two turn up. The Gospel Coalition's  excellent Themelios and Affinity's baptism-themed Foundations are out now. 

Yesterday

Yesterday was a pretty packed Sunday. In the morning service I preached on John 10:11-21, where Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd". As the good shepherd Jesus: 1) Guards his sheep (vs. 11-13), 2) Knows his sheep (vs. 14 & 15), 3) Gathers his sheep (vs. 16) & 4) Laid down his life for his sheep (vs. 17 & 18).

We moved our usual 6pm meeting to 3pm for a service of baptism. I had the happy privilege of baptising the teenage daughter of members of our congregation. In addition to our own people, the event was attended by her relatives and friends from other churches in the area. I anticipated that there would be some non-Christian people in the congregation, so I preached evangelistically on Ephesians 2:8-10. I explained that as baptists, we only baptise people who profess to have experienced salvation. The text gives the meaning of Christian salvation: 1) Christians are saved by grace alone, 2) Christians are saved through faith alone & 3) Christians are God's new creations. Our young friend gave a bright testimony to her faith in Christ and then I baptised her in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. These services were at Peknap Providence Church.

As we had no evening service, my wife and I were able to visit a recently bereaved lady. What a day of contrasts, from rejoicing with those who rejoiced at the baptismal service to sharing in the deepest sorrow at the passing of a loved one. The one question that I constantly ask myself as as pastor is, "Who is sufficient for these things?"