400 baptized during teaching series about Holy Spirit
More than 400 people were baptized in a single weekend at a large Georgia church recently. Bethlehem Church has an average weekly attendance of 7,000 across its three campuses.
The baptisms came after Lead Pastor Jason Britt spoke about the power of the Holy Spirit in a three-week series.
“This spontaneous baptism was not planned for months in advance; rather, it was a prompting of the Holy Spirit that was placed on Pastor Jason’s heart a few days before,” a church spokesperson told “The Chrisitan Post.” “Seeds had been planted for years, and that weekend was a harvest. What we saw was a culmination of many different points of connection: small groups, lunches and coffees, and meetings with staff members and other believers.”
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Britt had planned to preach a sermon on Acts 2, which describes the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the early church. “I felt prompted, and I read it with fresh eyes,” Britt said. “It says, ‘repent and be baptized,’ and I felt like the Holy Spirit pressed that on me. A Spirit-filled church is full of Spirit-sensitive people, and Spirit-sensitive people obey.”
The church now plans to disciple those who were baptized.
READ: Baptisms in Southern California
“We are offering multiple four-week follow-up groups, which many of those baptized have already started attending, with the goal of helping them understand their new identity in Christ,” the spokesperson said. “We also regularly offer opportunities for people to meet one-on-one with staff members or volunteers who can walk them through this discipleship journey. Finally, many of our existing small groups are writing letters to people who were baptized to encourage them and point them toward next steps.”
The staff member said the church’s “desire is for these individuals to be encouraged and empowered to open up their Bibles and see and hear from God, to get comfortable with prayer, and to start daily disciplines that encourage intimacy with Jesus.”
Britt hopes the moment leads to spiritual renewwal. “Be faithful to what you’re called to,” he said. “God is still in the life-changing business.”
–Alan Goforth
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