I recently taught a group of 9 – 11 year olds about Christian baptism. We only had the one week on this topic so I had to fit a lot into 40 minutes. I decided to tell them a story to convey some of the important dimensions. When you get to the end, you’ll know why I’m posting it during Pentecost.
Let me tell you a story. I’ll make it about a boy since a lot of you are boys but there were girls there that day too. We need a Hebrew name, lets call him Samuel.
Samuel lived in Jerusalem a very long time ago, about 2000 years ago. I’m going to make him a little older than you, let's say 12. I’ll tell you why later. Sam has a younger brother and sister. His Dad is a baker and they live in a two story house near the Temple in Jerusalem. Being near the Temple was good for Jewish people in Jerusalem because it meant they could go to worship God with hundreds of other people in the holy place where Levites sang beautiful worship songs, where priests said prayers for everyone, and where all the animal sacrifices were made to God. (This led to a very interesting side-track about animal slaughter during Eid, which one boy had observed in Sudan). People who didn’t live in the city of Jerusalem mostly went to the local synagogue to sing and pray, that was like going to the local church school. So living near the huge temple in Jerusalem was special to ancient Jews.
On the day I’m going to tell you about, Samuel and his family were at the Temple for a prayer meeting. It was the Feast of Shavuot, a time once a year when prayers of thanks were given to God for the first wheat crops, and also for the gift of the Scriptures, which for them what was we call the Hebrew Bible. They were praying in one of the spaces in the Temple – it was a huge place, bigger than a rugby field - and so the family could stay together, they gathered in the part where women were allowed. As well as the holy prayers and songs, there was music and festivity and in the outer courts lots of lovely food for sale, grapes and nuts and cheeses and bread and grape juice. It was very exciting.
That year something different happened, almost as soon as they arrived for the Scripture readings that started at 9 am. Some men got up and started shouting, it was quite a melee and Sam’s father actually thought they had been drinking too much beer. But there was also a strange rushing wind, that shook the foundations, and flickering lights, bright as fire. The men who were shouting seemed to be using all the different languages of the visitors worshipping there. (In the Temple, they usually only prayed in Hebrew).
One man called Simon ended up making a long speech about a holy man called Jesus. Sam’s parents had heard of this Jesus, a famous teacher. They thought he was a trouble-maker, and that he was now dead. Simon said No, he was actually God’s Messiah, the one Jews had been waiting for God to send for centuries. I won’t tell you the whole of Simon’s message, but it ended up with him explaining that Jesus had died on a Cross but then been Raised from the dead to bring all people forgiveness and a new way of life. He asked for anyone who wanted to follow the Jesus Way to come outside to the Southern Steps where they could be baptised.
Sam’s parents were excited. It had been a day full of noisy energy and enthusiasm. They said they wanted to follow Jesus the Messiah, and to receive his forgiveness and new life. They told Sam he was old enough to decide for himself. A few months earlier he had turned 12, and celebrated his bar mitzvah, which is a ceremony where young Jews take on their parents’ faith for themselves. It had involved a lot of Bible memorisation and special prayers, and of course a big party. Jewish people still have these celebrations and today girls have them too.
So Sam thought about it. He wanted to be close to God, and maybe following Jesus was the right way to do this. But he also felt there was time for him to learn more, as his family followed the Jesus way, which was later called being Christian. He decided to wait till he was older. He was thrilled though when his mum and dad were dunked by an elder under the water of a mikveh, and came up with huge smiles and a heart full of joy and praise. That day 3000 people were baptised.
The story is in the Bible in Acts Chapter 2.
I finished by explaining that Baptism today is also about being drenched in water, by someone from the church leadership. This once in a lifetime action is to show you are committed to being a follower of Jesus. I said, there is no set age, but if you think you'd like to be baptised as a follower of Jesus, talk to your folks about it.
The suggestion that "the House" of the Pentecost story was in fact the Jerusalem Temple first came to my notice in Bible history videos called That the World May Know, where archaeologist-pastor Ray van der Laan put a very good case for that location. You can listen to the audio of the topic under the heading Shavuot.
For those who are interested here is the whole lesson plan:
Warm up – Quiz.
Not a competitive quiz, just to let me know where the group was at, and the things we needed to cover. I explained that its a very important part of being Baptists, in fact to all Christians, but there are some different perspectives which we’d possibly get into later.
"Put a red sticker on anything you think is wrong, and a green one if you agree with what it says. If you want to know more about something put a yellow sticker on it as well as your red or green. And you can pass on a question." (Accept discussion that emerges).
Bible Background:
Look up Matthew 28: 18 - 20 in Bibles.
"Jesus mentions baptism along with becoming a disciple, learning to obey his commands and experiencing his presence always. So baptism is not an optional extra, like whether you want ketchup on your fries. Its part of the deal in following Jesus. Some people say its like wearing a TShirt that says you are on Jesus’ team. What do you think of that idea? ..."
"Does anyone know where else the Bible talks about baptism?" (answers may include John the Baptist, Jesus own baptism, both in Mark 1, Philip and eunuch in Acts 8, washing of renewal in Titus 3 , unity passages in Paul. Bright kids might also think of what water signifies in Scripture, eg Noah, Moses)
"The Word baptism (baptizo) means drenching. (like getting drenched in a rainstorm.) There are people who say you can only be drenched by going right under the Water, and others who say the amount of Water isn’t critical. For example, in countries where Water is precious, they might use a smaller amount, or if the person getting baptised is disabled, we might pour Water over them. Lots of churches down through the centuries have baptised babies and some of them only use a sprinkling of Water, though others dunk the baby right in...I'm not going to spend a lot of time on that right now, because here at EV we usually baptise by full immersion. But I’m happy to answer any questions later."
"Look up Acts 2, verse 38 and 39. Simon Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your Sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your Sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
"The 37 verses that come before this tell a story many of you probably know, about the Day of Pentecost. We usually look at this chapter when we are thinking about the Holy Spirit but today it going to help us think about baptism."
"Let me tell you a story" Sit kids on floor in story-telling mode; have some pictures of the 2nd Temple and mikvehs to show. Its best to use your own words if you are familiar with Acts 2, otherwise use use script above.
What kind of things do you think Sam might consider in deciding whether to be baptised that day or to wait till he was older?
One way of describing Baptism is that it is "an outward sign of an inward change". But those people in Jerusalem had just begun their journey with Jesus. Not a lot had changed – but it would, and later in the chapter we hear about their worship, prayer, sharing and spreading the good news.
Three Ps of Baptism
We note from the New Testament that baptism was PUBLIC, PERSONAL and involved
PROMISES.
Today, it is Public. Baptism needs to take
place in a church service, or with people from the church present, eg at a
beach. You can’t baptise yourself.
It is Personal. The individual must consent or agree. Their full name is
used; we don’t baptise whole cities or even whole families, although this was
done in earlier times when a father or king was seen to represent other people.
(there may be a discussion about infant baptism here, which didn’t happen
with my group. If it did, I would be respectful of the teaching of other Christian
traditions but point out that a person baptised as an infant needs to “confirm”
their own faith once old enough. Some do this with water.)
It is Promises - the person
getting baptised promises to do their best to follow the Jesus way, with God’s
help. And by the people witnessing the baptism also make promises, that they will
support the person in growing in faith. Most churches fill in a certificate of
baptism.
In these ways baptism is bit like a marriage. Your parents didn’t keep their love and commitment a secret, they told everyone publicly as they committed to their relationship and their friends and family promised to support them."
Discussion: What kind of things do you think Sam might consider in deciding whether to be baptised that day or wait till he was older? What might help you decide to ask for baptism? Could also go back to Quiz issues.
Finish with a Gospel in Colours Craft
We used beads for a bracelet, see Child Evangelism tools, but cardboard sheets to make shields would also work.
This is based on the old Wordless Book - I adapted black and white so as not to have racial overtones, and added in blue for baptism.
- God made the
world and everything in
it to flourish = green
- Things went wrong - brokenness made it sad = purple/bruises
- Jesus came to show how we should live = yellow/light
- He died to fix the brokenness = red/blood
- and Rose again = Clear/Cream to restore the relationship with God so we too can live in the light. This happens not by our goodness but because of Jesus.
- The way we show the world we are part of Jesus’ team of disciples - followers – worshippers – is to be baptised = blue/water
OR you could go outside and have fun with water guns!
One pastor finishes a baptism service by
swishing his arm through the baptistry and splashing all those sitting close by
–“ Remember your own baptism!” he’d say.
For parents:
It might be worth giving parents a heads-up that the topic of baptism is being discussed. Make it clear that the aim is not to persuade the kids to present for baptism, although some may show an interest in this. Rather we are preparing children to observe and participate in baptismal services with a good understanding of what is happening, and why this ritual is important for believers.
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