Lesson video

Hi everyone, and welcome to today's lesson on Christian practises.

My name is Mrs. Day and today we are going to be looking at the practise of baptism.

So the first thing you need to do is make sure that you have all the equipment that you need.

So you need a pen or a pencil or something to write with.

You need some paper and you need a different coloured pen, so that you can mark the work that you are doing.

If you don't have any of those, please pause the video now and go to get what you need.

And then you can press resume when you come back.

So what will we be learning today? We're going to look through different forms of baptism.

So how baptism takes place and the significance of it.

So why is it important? Why do people get baptised? So firstly, let's look at some key definitions.

So what is a religious practise? This is the formal action performed because of a belief.

So an action that is performed because of a belief, for example, the Eucharist.

So that is another word for communion and we will look at that in the next lesson.

Then what is the definition of baptism? So baptism could be defined as a religious practise involving sprinkling water in someone's head or full immersion in water.

So it is a religious practise and it either involves sprinkling water on someone's head or full immersion, which means to go completely under water.

And then finally a sacrament.

We have seen this word before, but what is a sacrament? It is an outward sign of an inward grace.

So it's a physical sign of something that's happening inside.

So let's think why do people get baptised? So we know that Christians get baptised.

We see it in the Bible, we see it in churches today.

But why? Where does this belief come from that Christians should be baptised? Firstly, it's important to notice that Jesus was baptised.

Let me read to you this passage.

"As soon as Jesus was baptised, He came up out of the water.

Then heaven was open to Him and He saw the spirit of God coming down like a dove and lighting on Him.

Then a voice said from heaven, 'this is my own dear Son with whom I am pleased.

'" And this is from Matthew 3:16-17 in the Good News Bible.

And this is the story of Jesus's baptism.

So Jesus went down to the water where John the Baptist was baptising people and John said, oh, I can't baptise you.

It should be the other way around.

But Jesus said, no, I want you to.

And then this happened.

So we see lots of different things going on here.

So when Jesus comes up out of the water, we see heaven open.

We see the Holy Spirit come down on him like a dove.

We hear God's voice speaking to Him.

So the first reason why Christians get baptised because Jesus himself was baptised.

Secondly, Jesus instructed baptism.

So Jesus was baptised but he also told other people that they should be baptised.

Here are some words that He says in Matthew 28 and He says, " go then to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples, baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." So here we have the idea that Jesus wasn't just baptised but He actually told people that they should be baptised.

He says, go and make people my disciples, go and tell them about me and then baptise them.

So this doesn't seem to be an optional extra that Jesus is saying here but this seems to be a core part of the Christian belief.

So you should tell people about their faith but then you should baptise them.

So those are two reasons why Christians get baptised today.

To follow the example of Jesus and because He instructed baptism.

Now we are going to have a go at doing some quick fire questions.

So you can either write down your answer or you can point at it on the screen.

So what is a practise? An action done because of a belief.

When you work to get better.

A place of work or a rite.

Five, four, three, two, and one.

It is an action done because of a belief.

Question number two, what is a sacrament? So is it an action done because of a belief, a religious action, a public declaration of faith or an outward sign of an inward grace.

Five, four, three, two and one.

A sacrament is an outward sign of an inward grace.

So it's an action that you carry out to symbolise something that's happening inside.

Jesus was baptised.

Is that true or false? Five, four, three, two and one.

That is of course true.

Jesus was baptised by his cousin, John the Baptist.

Why should Christians be baptised? Jesus instructed.

It is good to publicly declare faith.

It is a nice family event or it shows commitment to the church.

You might think more than one of those is true but which one do you think is most accurate? Five, four, three, two, and one.

The answer is Jesus instructed it.

So you could have said that it's good to declare faith, and it shows commitment.

But after what we've just looked at, Jesus instructed it is the most relevant answer right now.

So let's then think about how baptism happens.

So we know that Christians get baptised because Jesus was baptised and because he instructed it.

But how does it happen? So as you can see in these two images, there are two main different ways that baptism takes place.

So on the left-hand side image, you see someone in water and it looks like they're in a bit of a swimming pool.

So they're going to be dunked right under the water and come back up again.

And this is called full immersion.

And then in the right-hand side picture, you see a little baby and there is water being sprinkled over his or her forehead.

And that is another type of baptism.

So what you have on the left-hand side is believer's baptism, and on the right-hand side, you have infant baptism.

And both of these are practised within the church today, and there are different reasons for each of them being practised.

So what I would like you to do now is to answer these two questions.

So what is infant baptism and what is adult baptism or believers baptism? And when you've finished you can restart, and we will go over the answers together.

Great, let's have a look at your answers.

So what is infant baptism? Infant baptism is when someone is baptised as a baby and their parents make promises for the baby on their behalf.

And then number two, what is adult baptism? Adult baptism is when an adult is baptised.

This is often done by them being completely dipped under the water or fully immersed.

This is also done after they have made a declaration of faith.

In your different coloured pen you can add any of those points down.

Now we are going to consider how baptism happens in two different denominations of a church.

So firstly, we're going to look at the Roman Catholic church and how they do baptism.

So Roman Catholics believe that baptism is a sacrament and that it's necessary to wash away original sin.

You'll remember that we looked at the creation story and the story of Adam and Eve, where they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

And Christians believe this is where original sin entered the world.

So after they ate this fruit that everyone was born with original sin and we discussed how Christians might say you could see that in little children that their natural inclination is to be greedy, to keep their toys for themselves not to share.

So, this is why Roman Catholics believe that the sacrament is so important because they believe that everyone is born with this original and the baptism will wash this away, which is why they want this to happen to babies.

They also believe that you can only be baptised once.

They practise both infant baptism and adult baptism.

So if you aren't baptised as an infant and you join the Roman Catholic church later in life, they will encourage you to be baptised as an adult.

And in that image, you can see a how infant baptism works and it is just where water is sprinkled over at the baby's head.

So how does this work? So the priest anoints the person with oil and then water is poured over their head three times.

So that could be a baby or it could be an adult.

So if the family attends the church, probably it will happen as a baby, but adults will also have this happen to them if they join later in life.

The pool filled with water for baptism is called a font.

We looked at that in our lesson on the nature of the church and buildings lesson two.

And in that you saw that the font sits at the door of the church, the entrance because people should be baptised as they join the church.

Someone is being baptised they have to reject Satan and profess their faith.

Obviously at that as a baby, the parents will do that on their behalf.

The personal baby will often be dressed in white.

Now I would like you to pause the video and complete this task.

Explain two ways in which Roman Catholics practise the sacrament of baptism.

So you can use these sentence starters to help you.

So you could say one way in which Roman Catholics practise baptism is, and then use those words to help you complete it.

And then you could say another way in which Roman Catholics practise baptism is, and use those words to complete it.

Please press resume when you have finished.

Great, now we will go through these answers together.

One way in which Roman Catholics practise baptism is, that if the family are Roman Catholic they usually practise infant baptism.

Satan is rejected and faith is professed.

Parents will do this on behalf of their baby.

And secondly, another way in which Roman Catholics practise baptism is the person being baptised will often wear white.

They will be anointed by the priest with oil and water will be poured over their heads three times.

So you can add anything extra that you didn't get there.

You can use your different coloured pen to fill in any gaps.

So now that we've had a look at infant baptism it's time to look at believers baptism.

So for some Christians, such as Baptists, they believe that it's important that people choose to be baptised for themselves.

So Baptists are a denomination of Protestant Christian and they believe in believers baptism.

Some Protestants still practise infant baptism and some practise believers baptism.

Why do they practise believers baptism? They believe that baptism is a public commitment to faith.

So they believe that this is someone's opportunity to stand up in front of friends and family and say what they believe in.

And at times that during the baptism, they will give their testimony before it.

So they will talk about how they came to faith in Jesus and what their faith means to them before they are baptised.

And the official term known, for this type of baptism is believers baptism.

How does this happen? So, as I said the person being baptised will often give their testimony, that just means they will give the story of their life.

They'll say how they came to know Jesus, how He has changed their life.

They will confirm their faith and they will reject Satan.

The person will be baptised by full immersion.

And this means that they will simply go under the water and back up, like we saw in the video with Ben.

And this represents dying with Christ to their old life and rising to new life.

So this is symbolic.

Baptists do not believe that anything magical happens when they go under the water, but they believe that this is a really important symbol that represents them dying into their old life and having new life as they come out of the water.

And they believe that that is what happens when they come to know Jesus that they say goodbye to their old life and they get a new life.

So that is the significance of this full immersion going under and up again.

So as you did with the task before, please could you pause the video here and complete this task.

So explain two ways in which believers baptism is practised.

One way in which believers baptism is practised.

and you can use the following words to help you finish that sentence.

And then secondly, another way in which believers baptism is practised is.

And again, use those words to help you finish the sentence.

And when you're finished, you can press resume and we will go through your answers together.

Great, let's look at some of these answers together.

So one way in which believers baptism is practised in Baptist churches is when the person being baptised will tell their testimony of how they became a Christian and will reject evil.

And then secondly, another way in which believers baptism is practised is the person being baptised will be baptised by full immersion.

This means they will go fully under the water which symbolises dying with Christ to their old life.

When they are brought up again, it represents Christ's resurrection and the believer rising to a new life in which they are a follower of Jesus.

There's quite a lot in those answers.

So if you would like to copy any of that down with your different coloured pen, please do that.

And finally, we are going to consider what is the significance of baptism? So why is it so important and why do different types of Christians do it? Let's look firstly, at the Roman Catholic belief.

So as mentioned earlier, Roman Catholics believe that baptism gets rid of original sin.

And if you look at the image you will remember where that is from.

This is the story of the fall when Adam and Eve ate from the fruit of the tree, and that's when Christians believe that original sin entered the world and gave Christians this problem that they have today that they all possess original sin.

This explains why some Catholics might believe that baptism should happen as a child because they believe that children are born with sin.

So they should be baptised as soon as possible to get rid of this original sin.

Secondly, let's think about what the Protestant church believe about baptism.

For Protestants it is simply a declaration of faith.

It's a public way for them to say what they believe in and what they want to live for.

It represents dying to your old life and being born again.

Remember we said, as you go under the water it represents the death of Jesus, and as you rise again, it represents the resurrection.

And this also represents your death of your old life and the beginning of your new life.

But this is also important because an important thing for you to remember with baptism is that many Christians believe it is a necessary sacrament to enter heaven.

So many Christians believe that they have to be baptised in order to go to heaven.

So for some, it's not just an act of remembrance it's not just a symbol, but it is actually necessary for their salvation.

Salvation just means being saved.

And this is an important thing to remember when you discuss baptism.

Great, so what I would love you to do now is to pause the video here and complete the following questions.

So why might some Christians choose infant baptism? And why might some Christians choose adult baptism? Use the ideas that we've just discussed, and when you're finished, you can restart the video.

Let's go through some of these answers together.

So why might some Christians choose infant baptism? Some Christians might choose infant baptism as they want their child to be raised as a Christian and welcomed into the church.

It would also remove original sin.

And number two, why might some Christians choose adult baptism? Some Christians might choose adult baptism as they think it is important that a person takes on the baptismal promise themselves.

These Christians may dedicate their children to God rather than baptise them.

So that means in simpler language that some Christians think it should be their personal decision to be baptised.

And these Christians might still want their child to be presented to God, but they would simply receive a blessing rather than a baptism as a baby.

Now we're going to have a few quick fire questions to test your knowledge.

So which Christians practise believers baptism? Is it Roman Catholics or Baptists? Five, four, three, two and one.

It is of course Baptists.

There's a clue in the name that is where the denomination comes from, is their belief in believers baptism.

Roman Catholics never practise adult baptism.

Is that true or is it false? Five, four, three, two, and one.

That is of course false.

Remember we said, if someone comes to faith later in life they will still see it as important that they are baptised.

In a Roman Catholic baptism, how many times does the priest pour water on the person's head? Is it one, three, seven or two? Five, four, three, two and one.

The answer is three times.

So the priest pours water on the person's head either baby or adult three times.

Some Christians believe baptism is necessary for a person to go to heaven.

Is that true or false? Five, four, three, two, and one.

That is true.

Not all Christians believe this, but some believe that you have to be baptised in order to go to heaven.

Some Christians argue that only adults should be baptised as they can take on the promises of baptism at themselves.

True or false? Five, four, three, two, and one.

That is true.

Some Christians, such Baptists believe that baptism should take place in adults as they can make this decision by themselves.

Thank you so much for joining in with our lesson on baptism today.

And if you would like to share your work with Oak National, please ask a parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and tag @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

Thank you so much for joining me on today's lesson.

It's been great to talk about baptism together and hopefully you feel really confident now on the different forms of baptism that there are and why people get baptised.

Now it would be great if you could have a go at the summary quiz to see what you have learned.