On 18 April 2023 at Parramatta Baptist Church, Leonard was baptised. This is his story.
Leonard contacted Parramatta Baptist in August 2022. He is in his late-50s and grew up in Los Angeles, describing himself as someone who had been on a spiritual journey his whole life. Even though his mum professed a Christian faith, he never connected with a Christian church. 20 years ago he entered into a relationship with a Buddhist woman and together they shared a desire to expand their knowledge of history, culture, religion and the stories of creation. As part of their exploration, they wanted to learn more about the Christian scriptures and contacted a number of churches near where they were living. Parramatta Baptist responded and so began weekly meetings with them, starting with the Gospels.
What started as an academic exercise for them touched them profoundly. They were moved by the Gospels and began to understand the uniqueness of Jesus. For Leonard, the Gospels made sense of his spiritual experiences and he found that for the first time he was able to piece together his knowledge with his spiritual experiences. There was a profound sense for both of them of the nearness of God, as they sensed the scriptures speaking to them. Over the months that followed they continued to read scripture and found that they increasingly not only understood the Bible texts but also understood how the Bible makes sense of life. For both of them, they have chosen Jesus above all others and acknowledge both who He is and what He did. Leonard was baptised at in Sydney Harbour (Chowder Bay) on April 18th.
People responding to the game changing news of Jesus is at the heart of the Gen1K vision and our ‘why’ as Baptists, which is to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ in word, sign and deed, together. As we head towards National Baptism Week on the 15-22nd October, there are a few things we want to share with you! Visit https://nswactbaptists.org.au/national-baptism-week-2023/ to find out more.
