BAPTISM - When we do it

SCRIPTURE

Acts 22:16 | What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.

Acts 16:13-15 | 13 On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. 14 One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. 15 She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord, she said, come and stay at my home. And she urged us until we agreed.

Acts 16:22-34 | 22 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they did not escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. 25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! 27 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted to him, Stop! Don't kill yourself! We are all here! 29 The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 They replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household. 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33 Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34 He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.

DISCUSSION

1. Through the examples of Lydia and jailer, when should someone be baptized?
2. Is there ever a time a person should wait to be baptized? If so, when? If not, why?
3. How can God use the milestone of baptism in the life of the believer?
4. What responsibility do the people who witness someone being baptized have to that believer?