When we are born we are born into our family, our blood and genetic family. Parents want the best for their children. They want their children to have all the opportunities they have had, and to enjoy all the things they themselves have found enjoyable in their own lives. So parents who belong to a church want their children also to be part of the church. They want their children to work and to build up the church community in their own parish. But to become part of the church the children must be baptized. Through baptism people become part of the church, become part of God’s family and are called to follow Christ.
Baptism is the first sacrament of many, but if you are not baptized you may not receive the other sacraments. The congregation welcomes the new member of the church, and we belong to the church for the first time. We are baptized because our parents want us to belong to the church. As we grow we learn more about what it means to belong to the church. When we are baptized it is a sign of being freed from all evil. And we become a child of God and receive new life and become ready to receive the other sacraments.
As a member of God’s family you have a duty. A duty to proclaim the faith, this has been handed down to you through the centuries by your fore bearers. And now you have to carry the tradition on. The holy spirit is given in baptism because people are baptized “In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit”. Having become a member of the church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself but to him who died and rose for us. From now on, he is called to be subject to others, to serve them in the communion of the church and to obey and to submit to the church leaders. In proclaiming the faith of the Christian church.
The cleansing of water is a sign that God is washing away everything that separates the one being baptized from him. Those who are not yet baptized do not share the life of Christ which is stronger than sin and death. We are born in a state of separation from God. This state is called original sin, because it goes back to the origin of the race. Original sin is washed away by baptism.
As a Christian you are special in your community, and it should be shown in your every day behaviour. Both from others towards you, and from you to others. It is only within the faith of the church that each of the faithful can believe. So it is our responsibility as Christians to make sure we do everything we can to follow the faith of the Christian Church. Live as God wants us to live and encourage and help others to become involved and follow Christian faith.
Baptism is the entry into the Christian Church. We are reborn into the family of God, and it is the first of many sacraments we will receive inside the Christian Church. Baptism is said to break the state of separation between yourself and God. And once united with God, we are to have good commitment and responsibility for the Christian faith. And do our best to proclaim the faith and live like Christians and the way God wants us to. Baptism has been ordained onto us by Jesus Christ and his disciples, and should be practised in the Christian Church.
