Some churches practice infant baptism while others practice adult baptism (or "believers baptism"). How do we make sense of it all from a biblical perspective?
Talking Points:
- Baptism is for people who meet two conditions, neither of which can apply to infants.
- They have made a personal decision to trust Christ alone for their salvation.
- They have the maturity and ability to understand what baptism means.
- Rather than baptizing infants or children, we encourage Christian parents to dedicate their children. Child dedication is a brief ceremony in which parents commit their child to God, call upon God’s blessing for their child, and publicly commit themselves to raise that child to know and pursue God.
Discussion:
- Initial reactions to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- What is the difference between baptizing and dedicating a child?
- Is it appropriate to baptize older children who are not yet adults? Why or why not?
- How old do you think a person should be before being baptized, and why?
- Have you been baptized? How old were you? What was the significance of that event for you?
- Is there a step you need to take based on today’s topic?
