LifeTalk Podcast
LifeTalk is the official podcast of LifeHouse Church MOT. Our heart for this podcast is to help our church grow and to go deeper here at LifeHouse. We’ll be interviewing staff members & hearing their testimonies. We’ll be discussing various topics such as parenting, marriage, day-to-day functions of the ministry and so much more from a biblical perspective. Our goal is to help equip our church to glorify JESUS in every area of life.
LifeTalk Podcast
Pastor Podcast - 1 Corinthians 11 - Gathering, Communion, & Baptism
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If church can be streamed, why fight traffic, wrangle kids, and walk through the doors? We get honest about how easy it is to drift into isolation and call it “community,” especially after COVID and with nonstop technology. From Hebrews 10:25 to the meaning of ecclesia, we make the case that gathering is not a guilt trip. It is a gift. When you’re not present, you miss what God wants to do in you, and the church also misses what God wants to do through you.
We also unpack the two ordinances Jesus commands the church to practice: communion and baptism. We clarify ordinance vs sacrament, explain why we see communion as symbolic remembrance rather than a means of earning grace, and talk through why churches should protect the meaning of the Lord’s Supper so it doesn’t become empty routine. Communion is a shared declaration that we believe the same gospel, and it’s meant to strengthen weary believers who feel alone out in the world.
Then we dig into baptism by immersion, the biblical order of belief then baptism, and common questions about infant baptism, “rebaptism,” and kids who want to be baptized. We share personal stories about hesitation, pride, and why delayed obedience is still disobedience. If you’ve been following Jesus for years but never took this step, this conversation is your nudge toward clarity and courage.
Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who’s been drifting from church, and leave a review if this helped you re-center your priorities. What’s the biggest obstacle that keeps you from gathering consistently?
New episodes every Monday
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Intro music by Joey Blair
Monday Add-On And Rainy Pivot
SPEAKER_01Well, hey Lifehouse family, welcome back to our Monday time. We're still searching for a good name. Got another submission this week. Call it the director's cut, the pastor's cut, maybe the extended edition. You know, it's like movies. You have this uh, you know, extra scene. So that's like what Monday is, you know, add-on to Sunday. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because those movies when they have like the editor or the stars kind of giving commentary on the movie. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's kind of a we're building up. Keep sending them in. All right. We'll we'll find a good thing before the end of the year. But but yeah, so this week changed it up a lot this week's together Sunday. Different than we're used to.
SPEAKER_02Things did not go according to plan. You know, the plan was to have it outside in front of the cost. I'm done with this rain. I mean I think it's been a lot this last time. Oh man, it's still kind of the rain has stopped, but it's still dark and gloomy. I'm ready for some sunshine. I definitely am one of those who's impacted greatly by the lack of sunshine.
SPEAKER_01We're heading into my least favorite time of year where the days get so short. I need that. I enjoy the ball, but the shorter days.
SPEAKER_02So, but fine. You know, we we just took things indoors, and I I do think that the rain kept, you know, some of our congregation away, which was a burden. The whole idea was for this to be that the name of this the Sunday was Together Sunday, where we can all just come together and celebrate the two ordinances, so communion and baptism. But really, what I'd like to talk a little bit more and clarify is just three things. One is like, what was the purpose? What together, what's the big deal? Communion and baptism. So those three things. And
Why Gathering Matters In Scripture
SPEAKER_02yeah, like it is so important to come together. And I know we have online services, but you know, Hebrews 10 really is the go-to scripture what in regards to this, where 1025, where it says, do not forsake the assembling, or do not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but instead, you know, encourage one another, and all the more as the day draws near. And really, so Paul is expressing and exhorting believers, wanting them to understand and be obedient to the importance of gathering to assembling. And it is it is absolutely imperative. Like, really, the church, ecclesia, I talked about a little bit about this on Sunday, is the Greek word that means to those who are called out and together, like summoned together. And so what we do on Sunday mornings is the expression of that. So, really, like our name, church, like our identity is the people who are called out of the world and together. And so, really, I do think our culture, just at large, there's we're such a busy culture, a fast-paced culture. And so so many believers who consider themselves a part of the church are really neglecting coming together so often. It's a burden to me. It's just you know and I don't want to think about it in a legalistic way. Oh, you have to come together every Sunday morning, you know, or you're in sin. No, like, but really it is something that we do, it's a part of who we are. And so, and it's a blessing, like it's meant to be a blessing, not a burden, not oh, you have to do this, check off the box. It's it's a profitable thing to do for believers to gather together to assemble and not just show up. We talked a little bit about this, but to do so in a way, uh you in in unity, like we're to come together, you know, loving, worshiping, serving the same God, and it's a it's a connecting experience, it's a bonding experience. We don't just come and fill a seat, we come and we sit at the table and we eat together the word of God, the bread, you know, and and we fellowship with one another in such a way that's impactful, meaningful, and profitable for us. So, and for everyone.
SPEAKER_01Hugely important, and like you say, in our society, you know, and there's so many directions we could go too with what we're dealing with, you know, technologically, like you say, it's a blessing to have online service. And so we don't want to ever, you know, say, don't join us online, you know, especially people traveling or hey, if you're sick, you know, it's kind to your brothers and sick sisters to not come in on a day. But you're blessed, you can still participate, but that should not be a replacement for if all you're doing is tuning in. And of course, we know the COVID pandemic kind of created this. It was a short time, but people kind of, ah, well, I can just do church from my living room. And really, that's not what we see biblically, and I would also just say technologically bigger, is dividing us. It's actually isolating us. So much of the research and all saying that if you think online relationships or screens are going to replace the face-to-face interaction, you're you're really mistaken because you're missing out on how God designed us. I mean, this is like when we try to buck against what God put together, embodied relationships. It really is no replacement. I'm always burdened with some of the churches out there who say, join us for church online. And I'm like, well, I don't know that that's like church. You know, again, great to hear. I know before we moved to Delaware, it's great to hear from Lifehouse so we knew when we came here what Lifehouse believed and it led us here, but it was not a replacement to participate in California.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. And just to explain, that's really one of the reasons that we do that, right? And to hopefully just share people, this is who we are. You know, there is, you know, those situations where there's shut-ins, you know, where people literally cannot physically come. And so, or they're sick that Sunday, or maybe one of their children are sick that Sunday. And so we provide that with that in mind, you know, in particular, but we don't ever want it to be a replacement. It's not meant to be. I do think, and I'm burdened because I do think so many people feel that it is sufficient, that it is, you know, that it's enough, and that they're, you know, being obedient to the Lord. And I would say no, like they're missing out, but also they're not benefiting from a grace that God holds before us in the body of Christ. We are to be a part of the body of Christ in a meaningful way, using our gifts in conjunction with brothers and sisters. And there's so many different scriptures that that speak of that and describe what the body of Christ is in that manner, but it is so important to do that, to come together, to gather and assemble.
Online Viewing Versus Being Present
SPEAKER_02And one thing that I would also just clarify, because we've had many conversations about this, the gathering, the meeting together, the Hebrews 1025 gathering, assembling is what takes place in the sanctuary, right? I mean, so if you come and you serve in some way, but don't make it into the sanctuary, you're neglecting, in my understanding of that scripture, the meeting together. And so we really need people to serve too. I mean, we have two services, we have lots of children that we want to be ministered to in different capacities, different areas, safety team, but we don't want people to serve at the expense of gathering in the sanctuary. It is such a burden. Again, you know, if you miss one Sunday for some reason, you know, again, we don't want to be legalistic about it.
SPEAKER_01It's very important that we're there on that.
SPEAKER_02But we want our congregation to understand that what that that the assembling, like at least myself and I think the other elders are all in agreement with this, the assembling of Hebrews 10, 25 is what takes place in the sanctuary. We gather to worship, we gather to to feast on the word together.
SPEAKER_01Very important. That's why we do two services. You know, for those who serve, know we want you to serve one and sit in the other. It's a very primary thing. We don't want you to be serving at the expense of worshiping, gathering, doing the appropriate thing on Sunday. So it's a both and, not an either-or. That is very critical. So hopefully, you know, again, we could talk a lot about it. And again, we don't want to be legalistic, you know, but the missing out, not only are you missing out, but the church misses out. The Bible says the whole body fits together. When you're not here, you're missed. And there may be somebody that could speak into your life or you could speak into their life. Like there's so much that happens on a Sunday morning. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: So many direct missing when it's tangible.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. And it's tangible and intangible. Like I think about, you know, even the idea of, you know, you may not even interact or have a conversation with someone, but they're watching you and they see your faithfulness and coming week in and week out. They understand and believe your children know and see that this is important to you. And so, in essence, like even without like verbally like interacting, like you're in faithfulness, living in obedience to God's word, and that is bearing fruit. It's impacting others, hopefully, you know, and so it's it's just so important. It's foundational, it's critical, it's crucial, and it's in God's word, it's a command, you know. And so I would say if that's something that you struggle with, like pray about it. You know, and I'll say, like some of the, you know, I mean, I know we live in a very wealthy society, you know, a lot of people have vacation homes and beach homes, and you know, travel sports is another challenge where we're that that take place on Sundays where a lot of people, you know, and again, I it's it's hard to navigate these issues, and I don't want to think about it in a legalistic manner, but we see this command in scripture, and so that's something for every believer to pray about and to really try to be obedient to God's word in. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And again, we could go on, but I would say it's really about your priorities. And I always say, like, what's your default? You know, is your default to be in church or to be out of church? Are you finding reasons to come or reasons not to come? And that's really what I think you have to examine your heart. Like, I'm looking for every reason to be here versus making excuses or getting distractions and so on.
SPEAKER_02And I would say I'm humbled knowing and seeing, like having conversations with people, and when they when they share with me the sacrifices that they've made to honor the Lord in order to be here, I see young families with babies, right? That's that's one thing. Probably that mom, that dad didn't get any sleep the night before, and they have a young baby, so they're not just having to get themselves out the door, but them and their baby and the diaper bag and the carrier and all those different things. It's a challenge. It requires more much more effort than it does for me to come. But that's worship. Like I am so blessed when I see, you know, people, you know, it's not easy for them, but they come anyway, you know, and it's it's just a joy. And I think that all those people would say that they made the right choice, that they they're doing the right thing, and God honors obedience, and so he blesses obedience. And so, yeah, I think so that that that idea, gathering, assembling together is such an important thing for Christians to understand. Anything else you want to before we move on to communion?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so hopefully that creates some clarity, not confusion. We want to, as Nate likes to say, avoid the extremes, you know, of again deprioritizing church, but the other side is don't make it legalistic, like it's a salvation issue. It's really a a blessing, you know, an obedience issue, like we'll continue to talk about through communion and baptism. But if any as always, if you got questions, send them in. We're glad to talk through some of these things or concerns people have, but just especially what we believe here at Lifehouse Church about the gathering. And that was exhibited yesterday. Yeah. It can feel like two churches sometimes, but we are one body. And so we're gonna be able to do that. One body gathering. We got a big family.
Why Communion And Baptism Matter
SPEAKER_01That's right. But we got the opportunity as that family uh to celebrate baptism and communion. Maybe a good thing to these are what you referred to yesterday appropriately, the ordinances. So maybe before we get into them, what is an ordinance versus a sacrament? I know some people may think about or hear these different things or have no idea what those
Communion As Remembrance Not Ritual
SPEAKER_01words mean.
SPEAKER_02Aaron Powell Well, I mean, I think there's a lot that can be said, but ultimately ordinances come from the word ordained, you know, and so these are the two institutions that Jesus ordained very directly, explicitly to the church. So with communion, you know, the Last Supper in the upper room, when Jesus with his disciples, when he said, This is, you know, the new covenant in my blood, you know, take, eat, do this in remembrance of me, do it. You know, again, and all authority and heaven and earth have been given to him. Jesus never made suggestions, he gives commands. This is an ordinance, you know, and then connected to the Great Commission, go make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, again, an ordained command for the church, the followers of Jesus, to implement and to do. So, specifically speaking of communion, you know, and it's such a practical thing. Again, it's a blessing to do, you know, and there's all there's different ideas with different denominations and and faiths about what communion is. So we don't believe, you know, that it's the actual literal body of Jesus and blood of Jesus, you know. We believe that it's symbolic, you know, and that it represents and it's an illustration, the bread and the juice that helps us recall and takes us back to, you know, what Jesus began with his last with his disciples there in the last room, communion specifically, we're talking about, and that the church has celebrated and participated in for thousands of years, you know. Jesus did not say how often or frequently to do it, he didn't clarify that, he just said to do it. And so I will just say, you know, we as a church and as leaders of this church have prayerfully and are prayerfully considering what's the best practice? Like how frequently should we do this? What settings should we do this in? And so, you know, we've come to the conclusion, one consideration is we don't want to do it every Sunday because we don't want it to become ritualistic and rote, like we're just going through the motions, oh, we got to take communion in such a way that it's not meaningful and impactful. It's meant to be meaningful and impactful. And so, considering our congregation and the size, we've chosen at this point to do it once a month, usually the last Sunday of every month. And again, we don't want to rush through it. Uh, we want to, there's to be a time, as explained, you know, in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, a time of examination where we examine our hearts. You know, it's something to be done together within the body of Christ. That there's some confusion about that. Is it a sin, you know, to do communion with your spouse at home? You know, I I remember one time, the first wedding that I ever officiated, Joel and Brandy Miller, I know that they wouldn't mind my sharing this because Joel and I have conversed have a conversation about it. They love the Lord, they still do, they follow Jesus, but they, as a part of their wedding ceremony, took communion. And really the heart of them doing that is they wanted to impact their unsaved family members that were there. Well, as Joel and I have discussed, I don't think that was the right setting for communion. That wasn't the gathered body of Christ. They were, there were a lot of Christians there, but it's something that the body of Christ, like, we're to do together. Like we we I love what Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 11, where he says that when we do this, as often as you drink the cup and eat the bread, you proclaim or declare the Lord's death until he comes again. And so, in essence, it's like us singing with one heart and one voice, you know, as we partake together, we're looking at one another and we're saying, like, what Nate believes, I believe. Like, I'm not alone. It's hard when we go out into the world and we can sometimes feel isolated and alone in a minority, but we forget that we have a family, we have brothers and sisters, you know, that can relate to us and believe what we believe. And so it's an edifying, encouraging thing to do. And again, it's an ordinance, one of those two ordinances.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I think just to round out the sacrament and ordinances, you have a lot of people who have come out of the Catholic Church or maybe you're listening. You know, there's different, like you say, beliefs, sacraments, and like you said, some believe, you know, it's literal. And also that you must do these things to receive grace, that they are a means of grace.
SPEAKER_02A means of grace. Like God will love you more. Right. You're receiving more. Right. You'll you'll be in a better position spiritually if you take them. And so we do not believe that. We believe that we benefit by like it's a profitable thing to do, a profitable practice. God blesses obedience, but it does not put us in a greater standing. In other words, God's not going to love us more if we partake in communion. You know, and so that's an important distinction that people need to understand.
SPEAKER_01So you want to clarify the terminology there of a sacrament is meant as a means, a belief that this is again adding to in some way where it's an ordinance. You say it's beneficial. You know, we spend that time reflecting as a body, thinking about, you know, it's we're very forgetful people, but like you say, we declare, we remember what Christ has done for us, the grace that we have already received. And maybe we're starting to deviate or whatever, but it can bring us back to remembering Christ's death and doing it together. Like you said, it's a edifying too, like yesterday, see everybody doing this together, that we're not alone. So I think very important to clarify that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and it's so it's a blessing to do it. So let's let's talk about baptism.
Baptism As Immersion After Belief
SPEAKER_02Baptism, yes. So there's a lot of different understanding about understandings and convictions about what baptism is. You know, I was, I was brought up in a Methodist church, was baptized as a baby. Some people in Catholic churches were baptized as babies. I think Lutheran churches and and Presbyterian churches, so there's a lot of that. But what we see in Scripture, I believe, is people, so and then, you know, again, so just to kind of understand, some people believe baptism is a sacrament, and that through baptism one is afforded essentially salvation, you know, grace. It's a means of grace, you know, by simply getting baptized. But that's not what we see in scripture. Like what we see, we see this command, you know, of Jesus, go and you know, make disciples baptizing them, and then we see like the Ethiopian eunuch all throughout the book of Acts, people coming to saving faith, believing the gospel, placing their faith and trust in Jesus, and then immediately then being baptized, not to be saved, but to express the fact that they have been saved, to declare uh in an outward manner to testify, Jesus says, You will be my witnesses, to testify of their saving faith. And so we don't believe, again, that God loves you more if you get baptized or that you have to get baptized to be saved, but you are baptized because you're saved. And just to clarify, the word baptism comes from the Greek word baptizo, which literally means to be immersed and submerged in water. So that's the mode of baptism, you know, and so it really is a picture like of like when we become Christians, we're all in, you know, and it's illustrative of the gospel, like where, you know, you when you go under the water, you're it's illustrative of the death and burial of Jesus. When you come up of out of the water, it's illustrative of the resurrection of Jesus on the third day and your sins being washed away, cleansed, you know, with water. Really, for us, we know it's the blood of Christ that that cleanses and washes our sins away, not the baptismal waters. And so, yeah, there's a lot of different ideas and can and and confusion, I believe, about what baptism is, but we're very, very it's clear to us, you know, like we believe that that that this is what the scriptures reveal baptism to be. And so we encourage every believer to follow in baptism. So when I got baptized, I had been saved for several years. I reflected, you know, I was baptized, quote unquote, as a baby, and then I got saved. I went to Liberty University and grew in my faith, matured in my faith, got married to Tammy, and then when we got married, we wanted to become a part of a Baptist church that believes what we believe about baptism. And so, but I didn't want to get baptized because I was already, I would say, mature in my faith. And so I had a conversation with a pastor, and he explained everything that I'm explaining essentially to you, probably better than I'm explaining to you. But I didn't want to do it because I didn't want people to think that I was an immature Christian or that I had just gotten saved. And as I prayed about that, what God revealed to me is that, well, Mark, that's pride. You know, it was. And so I really, you know, prayed about it, and I felt I needed to do it, and I did. And I would, I'm so glad I did. You know, it was a humbling thing to do, but it was it was a blessing, and I and I have no regrets, and I'm thankful that I went forward and took that step of faith by God's grace. And so I am able to share that with so many people who were baptized as babies, or maybe who have grown in their faith and matured in their faith, been believers. Again, what we see in scripture are people coming to Saving Faith and then getting baptized. But I would say, even if you've been saved for many years, get baptized. I think the same thing. I have a similar story.
SPEAKER_01I grew up because of my parents' divorce, part of it. Half Methodist, half a different church. And so, yeah, and the Methodist church, not as a the church I went to as a child, but you just went through the confirmation process. Like everybody who's in student ministry, you go through this confirmation process. So That you could take communion, we could talk about that. So I went through the class because it was just what I was supposed to do. You know, student, you take classes, and at the end of it, you said the Apostles' Creed and you were baptized, you know, like as a graduation kind of thing. Well, I didn't fully understand what a relationship with Christ is about. I had head knowledge, but no heart knowledge. So I was baptized, I think I was 14, but had nothing to do with the Lord. You know, my my walk from there was not a Christian walk. I had no relationship. It was, thank God, several years later, over a decade later, God got a hold of me and I gave my life to Christ. But I struggled with the same thing as you, you know, it was many years later, because in my head I'm like, well, I did that baptism thing, but it was out of order, you know, and so I had the same God humbled me as well. You know, like you need to be obedient to proper baptism. So I think the order matters. We see in the Great Commission, make disciples baptizing them. It doesn't say baptize them and then they become a disciple, but if we are followers of Jesus, then baptism is an appropriate way to indicate. We follow Christ. I am a disciple of Christ. This is how I'm going to dedicate my life. So as always, I like the extremes. You know, there's the one extreme that makes it a salvation issue, and the other that diminishes it and makes it unimportant. It's very important and it's very much an act of obedience, but we don't, again, want to go legalistic route with that.
SPEAKER_02Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah. Another testimony, and I I know I should know the reference of where this located. I think it was the Cornelius or the Philippian jailer, you know, when when he came to saving faith, he was, you know, gonna kill himself. Paul and Silas were in prison, and you know, God, you know, broke their chains and set them free, but they didn't run. And I remember the, I think it was the jailer where he said, Tell me what I must do to be saved. And Paul said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. He didn't say, believe and be baptized, he said, believe. And then we saw, we see, as the testimony continues, him and his whole household were baptized, not to be saved, but because he believed, he was then baptized in obedience to Jesus' command. So, and that's just one example. There's so many uh in through scripture. One thing to clarify, because a lot of people do ask, rebaptism.
Rebaptism Questions And Kids Baptism
SPEAKER_02You know, so people who maybe at one time did have a sincere faith were baptism, but for whatever reason strayed from the Lord, and they didn't, you know, follow Jesus for many years, and they come back, they repent, and they wonder, like, should I be baptized again? And so I have on occasion allowed and permitted those situations. There is no example in scripture of re-baptism. I would say in your case, you weren't baptized. Like literally baptized. I mean, so I would say yours was not a re-baptism. I just got wet the first time. Yeah, you just got wet the first time. So, and yeah, and when people are baptized as babies, again, they call it baptism, but that we would not consider that baptism. Baptism's to be immersed in water, so not sprinkled or you know, touched with water. But also that baby didn't make the choice to be baptized. Like we it's a step of obedience for the one who believes. That's what scripture lays out. And so if you were baptized as a baby and then you get baptized, that's not re-baptism. So I don't know if that makes sense, but that's that's a question we often get.
SPEAKER_01You know, and if you have questions, we do a baptism class the second Sunday of every month, or as we're approaching one of our baptisms, so you can always come and learn more, ask questions in depth. But I do think that's important. Some people think that I've fallen into sin or I've backslidden is a scriptural word. Well, it doesn't mean you need to be re-baptized, it just means you need to recommit and get back on walking the path, following Jesus, focusing on him. So if your first baptism was truly genuine, that was where your faith was, who you were following, and you've just fallen off. You just need to get back on and be walking. And so, yes, I think common confusions, rebaptism, baptism to be saved are are big ones that we struggle with sometimes. And people, unfortunately, there's different beliefs out there. It's interesting studying some church history. Early in the church, you actually had to wait like three years. You know, they wanted to make sure like you really believe this, that we didn't want any rebaptism. So and that's hard because I will say, you know, and even children. And we don't believe that to be clear. We want you, if you truly believe you've come to faith, we want you to be obedient, but it's just interesting.
SPEAKER_02And the example in scripture is the Ethiopian eunuch, right? Like so he he says he's with Philip, the evangelist who came and shared the gospel with him, and he's like, okay, like it all makes sense to me now, I believe. And then he says, like, within the same conversation, well, there's water, what hinders me from getting baptized? And he got he got baptized. And so we don't, it's not that we want to ever, you know, create obstacles for people to come and to be obedient, but we don't want to be flippant about it either. Like we want to see fruit, we want to guard the ordinance, we want to make sure that people understand what they're doing and they're a part of. Another challenge is children. You know, we have a lot of families who come here, and you know, we have an incredible children's ministry that teaches the word of God. And so I do believe, you know, and I've prayed about this, that I'm aware of uh children coming to Saving Faith. I think as early as maybe five, six years old, every child's different, you know, and Jesus says in scriptures, let the little children come unto me, do not hinder them, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And so I don't want to be a stumbling block or someone that keeps, but we really want children to understand. And so I'd say we lean very heavily on the parents, and we want those parents to know and understand that, yeah, like you want to see fruit. Like you want, you know, it's not that we expect children or anyone for that matter to write a treaty or an exposition on baptism and what it means. We want them to believe in Jesus. And Jesus says you will know them by their fruit. So do you see the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their child's life? And so sometimes, you know, parents come and they're like, you know, my child wants to get baptized. And what we realize is really it's not the child that wants to get baptized, it's the parent that wants their child to get baptized because they believe that baptism will afford their child some certain grace. And so that is a challenging thing to navigate, but it's important. And so I would say, again, as a parent, I would charge the parents to to just really, again, teach your children what God's Word says, tell them of the importance of baptism, come to the baptism celebrations that we have so they can see, you know, but also, you know, really do your best to ensure that they understand what they're doing, what they're a part of, and that it's their choice and that it's sincere. Some churches will not baptize anyone until they're 18 years old because of this. And I think that the reason some of those they would call them catechumens in church history, they wouldn't do it until they were uh had been saved for three years or a part of the church is because they didn't want it's confusing. When someone gets baptized and then they leave the church or they get baptized and then they don't follow Jesus, like that causes confusion and it just we don't want that. We want our church family and believers to to bring clarity and say this is what it looks like to follow Jesus. And so that would I think I think that's probably the justification or reasoning behind that three-year period, you know, of waiting.
SPEAKER_01There's also a lot of persecution, so you had people who were kind of spies or trying to illfire. So there was a lot of reasons for that. Absolutely. And yeah, I think just building on what you said that the parents what's much more important for your child is what they believe. Yeah. Not that they have been baptized. And if they have the proper beliefs, then baptism will fall out. That's what we believe is, if you fully understand. So I think who gets baptized and why they get baptized. Believers getting baptized in a step of obedience is what we really want to stress, you know, in baptism.
SPEAKER_02So
Can You Take Communion Unbaptized
SPEAKER_02I think the the the largest thing, and then yeah, I would say, and this is kind of a controversial statement.
SPEAKER_01Oh, controversy on the Monday video.
SPEAKER_02But I I think what I see, you know, sometimes people who are unwilling to get baptized participating in communion, and that's confusing to me. They're both ordinances, and Jesus never made suggestions, he gives commands, and so I really I I just want people to understand like baptism's not an option, you know, and in the right order, you know, be saved, and then baptism. So, yeah, so I think if you're a parent, if your child is ready for baptism, that's when they're ready for communion. I I wouldn't allow them to participate in communion until you felt that they were ready to participate in baptism, you know, and then likewise adult, you know, really we want those who are to participate in communion, those who are willing to submit to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, to his word, to his commands. And so if you're unwilling to submit to baptism for whatever reason, then I would say hold off on participating in communion because I I again they they they go hand in hand. I don't know, does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01Then I think what you mentioned for both of us, which can be a pride issue. You know, do you not want to be baptized because you just don't want to get up in front of the congregation or you're nervous? Or what are your reasons, you know, or like you said, it's a pride thing of, oh, I've been in church for a while. I think that's probably the hardest one, right? You know, I've been in church for several years, you know, people know me. It's gonna be, you know, embarrassing in some way. But really it's not. I think in both our cases, it was actually for me, it was a you know, freeing thing because I kind of knew God really puts that conviction through the Holy Spirit, like you're being disobedient.
Next Steps And Baptism Class Details
SPEAKER_01And so yeah, if you're struggling, if you want to talk about it, our next class will be second week of October. I think that's the 11th or 12th, and then again in November for our next baptism. So if you have not followed, we'd love to have you there if you're listening to this and that's you. Or maybe you know somebody.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and one last thing, uh uh, this came to my mind. I know this video needs to end because it's getting too long. But uh another thing that I see is maybe a spouse will want to wait on their spouse. Like maybe one spouse says, I'm ready to get baptized, but like I want to wait for my wife, or a wife will say, I want to wait for my husband. But that's not what we see in scripture. Yeah, we do see whole households come to saving faith, and you know, like that jailer, the whole house was baptized. But it's a it's a it's it's not a decision that you make as a couple or as a family, it's a decision that you make as an individual to be obedient. And so, really, I would say even that that obedience can be impactful to the spouse you're waiting on. And so don't wait. Don't delay. Delayed obedience is not obedience, right? And so be obedient and and don't wait. Like it's it is a personal relationship, not a corporate relationship, a personal relationship with Jesus and obedience to him, and then also, but it's a corporate practice, a corporate ordinance that God gave to the church.
SPEAKER_01So again, we can talk about all these topics. That's why we offer a full class, you know, on some of these starting point is where we go over some of these beliefs. But we hope today it was helpful. You know, again, maybe you're still new to Lifehouse, get some clarity at some of our beliefs. If you have questions, we'd love to talk to you. Again, if you're interested in baptism, please reach out. And but we hope you're encouraged to gather, to be together, and just follow Christ more faithfully in all that we do. Absolutely. All right. Well, Lifehouse family, thanks for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you next time.
