Reception of Families
This form has been prepared for use on those occasions when an entire family is received into membership, when the parent(s) make a profession of faith and there is infant/child baptism.
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ:
Concerning the covenant of grace, the apostle Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost, “The promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:39
). Therefore, when converts such as Lydia (Acts 16:15) and the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:31–34) professed faith in Jesus Christ, their whole households were baptized and added to Christ’s church. Ever since the days of the apostles, Christ has been pleased to add to His church both individuals and families.
We rejoice in the grace of God when those who have received the sign and seal of the covenant are made desirous of professing their faith publicly and of obtaining the privileges of full communion with the people of God. By this public profession of faith, they acknowledge God’s goodness toward them and pledge their lives to Him in grateful devotion.
What God has revealed to us in His Word about holy baptism can be summarized in this way:
First, baptism teaches that we and our children are conceived and born in sin. This means that we are by nature children of wrath and for that reason cannot be members of Christ’s kingdom unless we are born again. Baptism, whether by immersion or sprinkling, teaches that sin has made us so impure that we must undergo a cleansing which only God can accomplish. By this we are admonished to detest ourselves, humble ourselves before God, and turn to Him for our cleansing and salvation.
Second, baptism signifies and seals to us the washing away of our sins through Jesus Christ. For this reason, we are baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
When we are baptized into the name of the Father, God the Father testifies and seals to us that He makes an eternal covenant of grace with us and adopts us as His children and heirs. Therefore, He promises to provide us with everything good and protect us from all evil or turn it to our profit.
When we are baptized into the name of the Son, God the Son seals to us that He washes us in His blood from all our sins. Christ unites us to Himself, so that we share in His death and resurrection. Through this union with Christ, we are freed from our sins and accounted righteous before God.
When we are baptized into the name of the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit assures us by this holy sacrament that He will make His home within us and will sanctify us as members of Christ. He will impart to us what we have in Christ, namely, the washing away of our sins and the daily renewing of our lives. As a result of His work within us, we shall finally be presented without the stain of sin among the assembly of the elect in life eternal.
Third, the covenant of grace contains both promises and obligations. Having considered the promises, we now consider the obligations. Through baptism, God calls us and places us under obligation to live in new obedience to Him. This means that we must cling to this one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We must trust in Him and love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We must renounce the sinful way of life. We must put to death our old nature and show by our lives that we belong to God. If we through weakness should fall into sin, we must not despair of God’s mercy, nor use our weakness as an excuse to keep sinning. Baptism is a seal and totally reliable witness that we have an eternal covenant with God.
Our children should not be excluded from baptism because of their inability to understand its meaning. Just as, without their knowledge, they share in Adam’s condemnation, so are they, without their knowledge, received to grace in Christ.
God’s gracious attitude toward us and our children is revealed in what He said to Abraham, the father of all believers: “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (Gen. 17:7). The apostle Peter also testifies to this with these words: “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:39). Therefore God formerly commanded that children be circumcised as a seal of the covenant and of the righteousness that comes by faith. Christ also recognized that children are members of the covenant people when He embraced them, laid His hands on them, and blessed them (Mark 10:16). Since baptism has replaced circumcision as the sign and seal of the covenant (Col. 2:11–13), our children should be baptized as heirs of God’s kingdom and of His covenant.
And as the children grow up, their parents are responsible for teaching them the meaning of baptism.
In order that we may now witness this profession of faith and administer this holy sacrament of God to His glory, for our comfort, and to the edification of the church, let us call upon His holy name:
Almighty, eternal God, long ago You severely punished an unbelieving and unrepentant world in holy judgment by sending a flood. But in Your great mercy, You saved and protected believing Noah and his family. You also drowned the obstinate Pharaoh and his whole army in the Red Sea, and You brought Your people Israel through the sea on dry ground. In these acts, You revealed the meaning of baptism and the mercies of Your covenant in saving Your people, who of themselves deserved Your condemnation.
We therefore pray that in Your infinite mercy, You will graciously look upon this family. For the sake of Jesus Christ, receive these parents as they testify to their faith in Him. Bring the children into union with Your Son, Jesus Christ, through Your Holy Spirit. May they be buried with Christ into death and be raised with Him to walk in newness of life. We pray that by Your grace this family may follow Christ day by day, may joyfully bear their cross, and may cling to Him in true faith, firm hope, and ardent love.
Comfort them in Your grace, so that, when they leave this life and its constant struggle against the power of sin, they may appear before the judgment seat of Christ, Your Son, without fear. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the one and only God, lives and reigns forever. Amen.
Profession of Faith
Address to the parent(s):
Do you wholeheartedly believe the doctrine contained in the Old and the New Testament, and in the articles of the Christian faith, and taught in this Christian church, to be the true and complete doctrine of salvation, and do you promise by the grace of God to continue steadfastly in this profession?
Do you openly accept God’s covenant promise, which has been signified and sealed to you in your baptism, and do you confess that you despise and humble yourself before God because of your sins, and that you seek your life, not in yourself, but only in Jesus Christ your Savior?
Do you declare that you love the Lord, and that it is your heartfelt desire to serve Him according to His Word, to forsake the world, to put to death your old nature, and to lead a godly life?
Do you promise to submit to the government of the church, and also, if you should become wayward, either in doctrine or in life, to submit to its admonition and discipline?
_________, what is your answer?
Each individual then answers:
I do.
Baptism of Infants and Children
Address to parent(s):
Beloved in Christ the Lord, you have now heard that baptism is an institution of God to seal His covenant to us and our seed. Therefore, it must be used for that end and not out of superstition or mere custom. That it may, then, be clear to all that you are in agreement, you are to answer these questions sincerely:
Do you acknowledge that our children, though conceived and born in sin and therefore subject to all manner of misery, even to condemnation itself, are sanctified in Christ and therefore, as members of His church, ought to be baptized?
Do you promise and intend to instruct this child, as soon as he/she is able to understand, in the doctrine that you have professed, to the utmost of your power?
The parents then answer:
We do (or in case only one of the parents is a confessing member: I do).
Then the minister of Word and sacrament, in baptizing, will say:
__________, I baptize you into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thanksgiving
Almighty God and merciful Father, we thank and praise You that You have forgiven us and our children all our sins through the blood of Your dear Son, Jesus Christ. You received us through Your Holy Spirit as members of Your only begotten Son, and so adopted us as Your children. You sealed and confirmed this to us by holy baptism.
We earnestly pray, through Your beloved Son, that You will always govern this family by Your Holy Spirit. May the child/children be nurtured in the Christian faith and in godliness, and grow and develop in the Lord Jesus Christ. May the parent(s) lead by example and show by word and deed their submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. Grant that they all may see Your fatherly goodness and mercy, which You have shown to them and to us all. May they live in all righteousness under our only Teacher, King, and High Priest, Jesus Christ. Give them the courage to fight against and overcome sin, the devil, and his whole dominion. May they forever praise and magnify You and Your Son, Jesus Christ, together with the Holy Spirit, the one and only true God. Amen.