goy = not Jew – Kanisa la Christadelphian huko Anderlecht

Finding faith formation and a baptismal place

mars 10, 2024mars 2, 2024 par Marcus Ampe, publié dans Christadelphian, Faith, Questions & Answers, Reflection - Meditation

communion - baptism renewal — Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com

To baptise, water is needed, and not even a little, for true baptism is not by sprinkling with water, but by immersing in the water.

Where that immersion happens does not play a role. Baptism can thus take place in many places and in different forms. If it is warm outside, this can happen in a river or in the sea. If the weather does not allow this, you can use a baptismal basin in a church, but if there is none, you might as well let the baptism take place in a public or private swimming pool.

But one can actually say that baptism can also take place in a bathtub, a barrel, a pond, a well, a swimming pool, a river, a lake or in the sea.

In house churches, baptism usually takes place by immersion in a body of water outside the house church, unless it is done in a bathtub there. There is a lot of preparation among the Christadelphians that will make way before they really start the actual baptism. This is to ensure that the baptismal candidate clearly understands the essences of faith and thinks according to Biblical teaching.

The Christadelphians do not proceed to the baptismal ritual until the newly converted Christian has made a personal confession of his or her faith. In doing so they follow the New Testament example.

In some cultures people are baptised immediately after conversion, in other cultures people prefer that the baptismal candidates undergo a certain preparation. In the latter case, one is sometimes guided by the pursuit of perfection. However, it seems to be a healthy New Testament custom not to pull conversion and baptism far apart.

Paul was baptised three days after his conversion (Acts 9), the Ethiopian eunuch was immediately baptised at his confession of faith (Acts; 8) and the three thousand who converted on the day of Pentecost were apparently all baptised the same day (Acts. 2:41). In the case of Paul, the Ethiopian eunuch and the three thousand in Jerusalem, we must note that they were Jews and thus already had a broad knowledge of God’s commandments and His Will and the Messianic prophecies. Their rapid baptism must be seen in this context.

In our region, we have more to do with non-Jews and people who were not raised according to Jewish teachings. Many lack Scriptural knowledge and several grew up in a faith group where people do not honour the God of Israel, but adhere to the Trinity. Because they are so imbued with traditions that do not follow Biblical teaching, their conversion and demand for baptism also requires more attention.

When we, as catechists, have persons who have limited knowledge of the Way, it has proven useful to teach them thoroughly, so that they choose, with full knowledge of the facts, to be baptised and thus choose to be included in the ecclesia.

For that education, there will be the Bible studies as well as the sermons during the weekly services. But in our current age of electronic reporting, there are the websites of the religious community where various topics can be discussed. The articles posted on the internet can help build faith.

Faithful to God are baptised

février 27, 2024février 22, 2024 par Marcus Ampe, publié dans Almighty God, Faith, Thought for today

trekking -pilgrimage - looking over the lake in the mountain - walking — Foto door Robert Forever Ago op Pexels.com

There must be no Jew at all to be faithful to the God of Israel. That God of Abraham does not expect the goyim or non-Jews to comply with all Jewish laws to show their allegiance to Him.

Pure worship is something Almighty God desires. That pure and true worship will manifest itself from the actions of the believer.

The Book of Ezekiel teaches us that pure worship revolves around more than formal acts of worship. It requires us

(1) Giving Jehovah full devotion, (2) remaining united in pure worship and (3) showing love for others.

From the clues we receive in the Holy Scriptures about true worship, we learn that it first and foremost requires a certain attitude from the worshipper. Whoever wishes to address God, the Heavenly Father, must do so in all honesty. By the way, God knows and tests the heart, and so no one can pretend to God otherwise than that person actually is.

“But Jehovah, the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not rely on his appearance and his tall figure. I rejected him. It is not about what man sees: man looks at appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” (1Sa 16:7)

“A man always chooses the right path in his own eyes, Jehovah tests what moves him internally.” (Spr 21:2)

“It is I, Jehovah the Lord, who understandeth the heart, who testeth kidneys, who rewardeth every man according to his walk of life, and giveeth unto every man what he earneth.” (Jer 17:10)

If we love God we will also be willing to give ourselves fully to Him. Baptism gives a sign to God that one wants to be purified from past sins and that one wants to enter a new life in which one wants to maintain loyalty to God.

Even though we as a people have countless religious, social and ethnic backgrounds, we realise that we must maintain the unity by which we can be recognised as God’s people, and with immersion in the water we indicate that we want to be purified or laundered from sins and want to be included in the community of baptised people.

Believing in Jesus Christ, with our immersion we also indicate that we want to bow down humbly and enter that world of Christ. Jesus prayed whether his true followers should be ‘one’, working together in unity towards the same goal, just as he and his Father are ‘one’ through their cooperation and unity of thought.

“I have caused them to share in the greatness which you have given me, that they may be one as we are:” (John 17:22)

Being one is an important fact for us. Jesus we want to follow wishes that we will be one, just as God the Father is in union with him and he is also in union with Jehovah.

“Brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I call you to be all united, to avoid divisions, to be completely one in your thinking and your conviction.” (1Co 1:10)

“So we are one body together in Christ and we are, each separately, each other’s body parts.” (Ro 12:5)

“There are no more Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen, men or women-you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Go 3:28)

Going under in the water we are purified and all differences are washed away. A baptism is not about sprinkling with some water, but about « going under ». We also think of immersing ourselves in Jesus’ blood, so that our conscience can be cleansed from dead works.

“how much more will not the blood of Christ, who thanks to the eternal Spirit has been able to offer himself as a sacrifice without blemish, cleanse our conscience from deeds that lead to death, and sanctify it for the service of the living God?” (Heb 9:14)

“let us then approach God with a sincere heart and firm faith, now that our hearts have been cleansed, we have been freed from a bad conscience and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” (Heb 10:22)

Preceding

Additional readings

A world where one must make oneself clearly known #1 From the first to the 19th century

février 15, 2024février 7, 2024 par obligingworldviewer, publié dans Christadelphian, Faith, History & news feed, Jesus Christ - son of God, World events & environment

Photo by Porapak Apichodilok on Pexels.com

In this world where there is a lot of commotion, there is little room for the Divine Maker, and the majority of the people in our region are busy collecting money and material goods.

Yet there are certain people, who are often looked at as madmen, who afford to look beyond this earthly world. They are firmly convinced that in the future, after a terrible war (World War 3 or Armageddon), there will be a much better will develop a world in which people will be fully happy.

For some years now there have been such people in Belgium who also try to convince others that there is a better future ahead, for a long time it was just lonely goons or lonely trekkers who moved from « Jet » to « Jar » to proclaim the Good News for a long time they had to feel lonely in a world where there was little obedience to that special news.

But things started to stir in the capital of Europe during the previous year. Some people indicated that they no longer wanted to move up alone, but that they wanted to join others who had also traveled a bit here in Europe. had travelled away. Some islanders who saw their land torn away from the European Union did not give up the courage to continue talking about their faith on the mainland, they had already managed to pull a pioneer to the New World to walk down the steppes there From there from that United States it went back to Europe where seeds were planted in Great Britain in the late 19th century, but also on the Western European mainland.

They were followers of Dr. John Thomas who wished to make it clear to others that almost two millennia earlier a Nazarene preceptor had brought about a change in the world of faith Yeshua ben Josef, better known here by the name of Jesus Christ, had the way been cleared there in the Middle East for goyim or non-Jews to now possibly come under that large umbrella and be included as members of God’s People.

But to be able to join that People of God one must be willing to do something for it Already from the first century of our era, that was made clear by that Jewish rabbi who had come to fulfill the prophecies as the son of God, his faithful followers too, the apostles, were aware of the importance of what their teacher had to say and why it was necessary for them to explain this further.

Preceding