Has anyone been to a baptism lately

[swathdiver]

On 8/15/2024 at 12:09 PM, TheGloryLand said:

When was the last time in a church service, you heard your preacher ask? 

The gospel has been preached, is there anyone here who accepted Christ as their personal savior, and would like to get baptized?

Sadly, this is becoming very rare…

 

How many services from IFB churches do you watch each day?  

My pastor preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ in nearly every sermon.  If you are not seeing this in your church, consider prayerfully moving to a congregation that does.

[TheGloryLand]

57 minutes ago, swathdiver said:

How many services from IFB churches do you watch each day?  

My pastor preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ in nearly every sermon.  If you are not seeing this in your church, consider prayerfully moving to a congregation that does.

The gospel is being preached, but many are forgetting the most important thing. To ask, if there is any lost soul here who would like to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior today. If this is not being asked? It is just a great Bible study being shared.

[HappyChristian]

7 hours ago, TheGloryLand said:

The gospel is being preached, but many are forgetting the most important thing. To ask, if there is any lost soul here who would like to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior today. If this is not being asked? It is just a great Bible study being shared.

My husband invites folks forward during the invitation if they want to accept Christ. But he doesn't stop there. When we have new folks, he sits with them and talks privately with them about the state of their soul. This is, IMO, much more effective than asking folks to come forward if they want to be saved. Simply because many folks don't want to be singled out. Anyway, it's been almost a year since we had a baptism (there were 2 then), but as Joe said, our church is small. We witness, we invite, we share the Gospel. But if folks don't respond, it is not the fault of the church.

[Pastor Matt]

I wasn't saved at an altar call.... just saying

[TheGloryLand]

8 minutes ago, Pastor Matt said:

I wasn't saved at an altar call.... just saying

That is not a problem, I visited New Testament Baptist Church Ct.  On a Sunday, pastor Stoddard preaches. But Saved during a follow-up visit on a weekday. 

Edited September 12 by TheGloryLand

[HappyChristian]

11 minutes ago, Pastor Matt said:

I wasn't saved at an altar call.... just saying

Me, either. Summer camp for me, with my counselor sitting down with me alone and talking to me.

[swathdiver]

On 9/12/2024 at 7:45 PM, HappyChristian said:

Me, either. Summer camp for me, with my counselor sitting down with me alone and talking to me.

Did you get your grand-children LuAnne?  I just noticed your avatar.

[HappyChristian]

57 minutes ago, swathdiver said:

Did you get your grand-children LuAnne?  I just noticed your avatar.

We have a wonderful grandson named Asher. He's 17 months old now and just a delight. We are looking forward to more as the Lord provides. 

[swathdiver]

21 hours ago, HappyChristian said:

We have a wonderful grandson named Asher. He's 17 months old now and just a delight. We are looking forward to more as the Lord provides. 

Well praise the Lord for answers to prayer!  My "prayer life" is not what it ought to be and my memory is terrible but I still remembered at times your long wait for a grand-child.  I'm very happy for you.  

[TheGloryLand]

On 8/15/2024 at 2:33 PM, TheGloryLand said:

Best report I heard in a long time. Good job going on there.

With winter approaching or already here, I imagine that there will be less baptisms. Definitely churches are no longer baptizing like 25 years ago. I’m not blaming anybody. It’s just an observation. I believe the only churches that are out there baptizing, are the Assembly of God (Works). We Baptist have fallen short in this area.

[BrotherTony]

1 hour ago, TheGloryLand said:

With winter approaching or already here, I imagine that there will be less baptisms. Definitely churches are no longer baptizing like 25 years ago. I’m not blaming anybody. It’s just an observation. I believe the only churches that are out there baptizing, are the Assembly of God (Works). We Baptist have fallen short in this area.

Have we fallen short in baptisms? And why are baptisms being used as a measure for how strong churches are? Many pastors have seen the futility and falseness of dunking people just for the numbers? They've come to the realization that people need to understand what baptism is, and in the true discipling of people first. In the days of Christ people understood the implications of being baptized into this new religion called Christianity. They could be kicked out of the synagogues, lose their livelihoods, and even their lives. That's exactly what Saul of Tarsus was doing before he had his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. 

[Pastor Matt]

We had two on Sunday.