I have a friend at work who is pregnant with her first child. A beautiful baby girl (I saw the ultra sound pictures, so I know).
Anyway, we have been discussing Baptizing her baby, vs. dedicating her baby.
So this is for her. If you want to listen also, well…ok. It won’t hurt you to hear about the graciousness of our Lord and how He loves adopting little babies and giving them His name and making them His own…vs. stuff WE PROMISE to do.
Anyway…here it is > Baptism and Holy Communion
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Thanks to flickr for the photo.
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Filed under: Baptism |
The Old Adam Lives! 
God be praised for His pure, unmerited grace!
Amen!
Out of His sheer goodness and mercy!
Yes our Lord and his promises he makes in his name. Nothing could be more certain!
Thanks a bunch 🙂 This was very helpful
Glad to help, Jade.
– Steve
Steve,
Great word from Pastor Mark! But I am a bit confused though. If God does “the Sacraments” to us… He causes and finishes our faith… He has set us free from the Law and the spiritual treadmill… then why all of the preconditional attachments to the Lords Supper. If one believes but is yet to be baptized (and I realize that delayed baptism is problem associated with American Christianity) why can’t they take communion. It seems that Baptism in the N.T. is paralleled with circumcision in the O.T. (in Lutheran theology) but if this is true then there isn’t a complete and total break with the O.T. ways. Free from the Law… being able to approach God with confidence… assurance from God for those who believe… but then it seems that the restrictions associated with baptism serve to throw a ‘monkey wrench’ into the gears. Though Southern Baptists don’t believe in the sacraments they still hold somewhat of the same view as to whether or not an individual can take communion. I thought of this today as I say in a service at an LCMS church. Sorry about the ranting… but I am a bit confused here. Thanks.
Mitchell,
If one believes and is yet to be baptized, then they should be Baptized. Baptism is the entry point into the Christian life. We may not be able to know the heart of the believer, but we can count on what God does in Baptism.
So, while some Lutherans demand adherence to their doctrine, and membership in their church before they will allow you to commune with them, we believe that Baptism and a belief that the Lord is present where He said He’d be present (in the bread and the wine – in the case of the Lord’s Supper) is enough for people to receive the Lord’s Supper.
So we invite ALL Baptized Christians who believe that He is truly present in the Sacrament, to come and receive it along side of us.
If we are in error in doing this, we believe we err on the side of God’s grace.
I’m not sure if I understood your question exactly right, Mitchell. If I didn’t maybe you could rephrase it for me.
Hey Steve,
I’m really between a rock and a hard place. I’ve studied enough to know I disagree with the S.B. denomination but I’m afraid to move my my family to another church and just replace one form of legalistic adherence with something else… or something worse. My son is 16 and will be leaving in a few years… I’m afraid with a shallow view of Christianity… at my own doing if I don’t just make a decision. Part of wonders about staying where we are and teach them at home about the faith. This is tough.
Mitchell,
I feel for you, friend. you do have some tough choices to make.
I think Pastor Mark might be able to offer you some good advice on your situation. I’m sure he’d be happy to have you contact him about it.
Or, I could suggest something to you, and you could do the opposite…and probably be ok. (with my track record)