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Baptism - April 2009
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Matthew Abbott's Story...
For those that don’t know me, my name is Matthew Abbott. I am 12 and attend Northgate High School. I am in Year 7, which is the first year of High School.I have been brought up in a Christian family and have attended church all of my life. My parents are members here at Burlington, as well as my older brother Johnny. My sister Bethany attends Rushmere Christian Fellowship.
I enjoy playing rugby and playing musical instruments. I can play the violin, drums, dijareedoo and bass guitar.
Although I have always sort of believed in God, I wasn’t a Christian. I don’t know why not; I just didn’t have that sort of personal friendship with Him. I knew all about God and who He was sort of thing, but that was as far as it went.
When I was in Year 5 or 6 at school I started going to the 8-11 event on a Thursday night which was held at the Barrington’s. One week Heather Barrington asked us all a question of whether we had asked God about being a Christian.
I thought I had, but I wasn’t sure. I kept thinking about what she had said for a while.
Then a little while later, while at a Christian camp at Keswick, I sat in a room alone still thinking about what Heather had said and asked my dad to come into the room. He prayed with me and I told God that I wanted to become a Christian.
From that moment on, I realised that I was a Christian and my faith was more real. I started praying a lot more and spent more time reading the Bible.
Then when I went to High School, things became a bit harder for a while. I found it a very hard environment to be a Christian. I was bullied and found life hard at times. But I found strength in God. I was able to find some friends at school who attended a Sizewell Camp with me. Since then I have found it a lot easier at school. Although I still have some problems my faith in God helps me.
I enjoy being a member of Burlington, and I feel very much part of the family here. I enjoy worshipping here and I attend the Emerge group on a Wednesday.
I want to use some of my talents of playing instruments for God, which I have started to do by taking part in the Youth Band here, and I also played at the last Gathering.
I used to think that I saw God through a window with the blinds closed. I knew He was there, but couldn’t really see Him. Over time, the blinds gradually opened and I began to see and understand Him more. Now the blinds are fully opened and I can see Him clearly and want Him to be part of my life.
I know some of you are not Christians, but my advice is to just pray and it might change your life for ever.
I also want to say ‘thank you’ to all the people who helped me in the past, including the Bricknell’s, the French’s and the Barrington’s.
Baptism - January 2009
Jenny Layton's Story...
I was born here in Ipswich, but spent most of my childhood overseas in the U.S. where we had to move around quite a lot! Because my step father was in the Air Force, we also spent some time in Germany. Then in 1993 we moved back here to the U.K.
It wasn’t an easy time for us as a family, though I know mum did the best she could for us.
My family didn’t go the church or practise faith in any way, although when my brother and I were younger we went to Sunday School.
Whilst we were in the States, and then when I was around 13 or 14, I went to a youth club at The Triangle Church which I really did enjoy. I liked being around Christian people. I felt safe and really cared for. As a teenage I had my faults like most at that age.
Then at 18 I met Michael, my husband. Shortly after we were married. Now I have four wonderful children that I adore! Our marriage hasn’t been easy. It’s had some really difficult times, especially three years ago when it reached an all time low. I was almost at breaking point.
However, in the midst of it all Claire and Noel invited me to their old church which was the Orwell Centre. I did like it there. We went for a short while until I had to go back to work. I had to work weekends as I thought it would be better with the children. Then one day, when things hadn’t really got any better and I didn’t know where I was heading, they invited me over to their house with their pastor there, Harold. At that time I prayed the prayer that I wanted to live my life by Jesus and ask forgiveness for not including Him in my life before.
From then on my hunger and interest has grown and grown. Sally Soon encouraged me to go to Tiddlywinks and Toy Library, and eventually I agreed to go! Sally’s always been an inspiration to me, so I listen to her.
Tiddlywinks is where I first met Julie, who after a while invited me to join a group together with Amanda and Charraine which was called Christianity Explored. At this point I had already become a Christian, but I was really keen to find out more about the faith.
However, at the same time I was still working weekends, which meant I’d rarely get to go to church, and I relied on a friend to bring me a CD to listen to so I could still follow what was happening. I took part in a Start course with Siobhan & Naomi. Then I did the Discipleship Course with Linda Pepper, Amanda and Tina.
At this point I didn’t really feel ready to make any commitment to the church. I’ve been patient in my journey so far, just wanting to be 100% sure of myself. I now belong to The Lydia Group on Tuesday mornings with Kathryn and some other amazing ladies. This has helped me continue to grow and to learn more and more about Jesus.
Then in July last year, after a lot of praying and deep consideration, I decided to drop the weekend working.
I knew it would cause a big loss in my income, but I was desperate to be at home with the children, and also wanted to be able to come to church regularly to be more obedient to God.
I now know the direction my life is taking. I’m following Jesus. I feel so protected and loved by Him. My whole outlook on life has been put into perspective. I know whatever the storms and low points, He’s always going to be there!
Getting baptised today has been a huge step for me, not least because of my fear of water, but this has made me determined to show you all the difference Jesus has made in my life, and I want to obey His invitation to be baptised today.
Baptism - December 2008
Stuart Barrington's Story...
Ever since I can remember I’ve been going to church. My first memories of a Christian environment were in Rushmere Christian Fellowship, where my family moved to when I was 5, around the same time as we moved house. I really had no memories of Burlington, although several embarrassing photos prove I was there. I enjoyed church most of the time, but that was just as much due to me having friends there as the teaching that went on.
The first time that I can remember that I properly wanted to know God was during a Spring Harvest weekend when I was around 7 or 8. I remember trying to get to sleep but not being able to because I couldn’t remember the three things I needed to say to God in a prayer to say I wanted to follow him. I could only remember one bit and that was ‘God you’re the boss’. So I was basically saying this in my head over and over to make up for not remembering the rest of them. After this I think I focussed a bit more in church and other visits to spring harvest really helped me up to the age of 11. Going to on other things like CYM Sizewell weekends really helped me as well.
At the age of 13 we made the decision to move back to Burlington. I think this has been a big turning point in my faith as before we moved I had kind of got used to the youth group I was in at RCF, where I had fun and got to see my friends, but I wasn’t really learning anything new about God. I would still have considered myself a Christian and believed in God and everything, I just wasn’t learning much new.
Then we moved back to Burlington and I became more interested in God and church again. I decided to go on the first youth weekend after about 3 weeks at Burlington, which originally I was quite nervous about, but when I got there I had a really good time, and I felt like I fitted in quite well.
Since then I’ve felt really a part of Burlington, and everything’s cool. Since just before this time I started to feel quite close to God, and I began to properly understand about what it means for me that Jesus died for the world’s sins. As I had been brought up in church in some ways it felt like a familiar story, but I did not realise properly what it meant. I could have told you what it meant, as I was kind of a Bible geek, but I didn’t actually feel that it applied personally to me. Now, however, I do understand about it, and about God’s love and mercy to me, even though I’ve done so much stuff against Him. This is why I want to get baptised.
Baptism - November 2008
Moira Rabone's Story...
I would like to say thank you to my family and friends for being here today and to everyone at Burlington for their love and support.
I have always believed in God, having grown up going to Church and Sunday School and joining in with church activities. As a teenager I learnt more about what it meant to be a Christian and live by faith in God. I attended confirmation classes and was confirmed at the age of 16.
I realised at that time that I was a sinner and that God sent his son Jesus, who died for me, so that I could be forgiven and I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. Looking back I know that my confirmation was a very special time in my life.
Since then I have learnt to trust God more and more and I know he is always there for me, even though I let him down so often.
Through all the ups and downs of life I have the assurance that God is in complete control and I can rely on his faithfulness. This I have found to be especially true as I have suffered with ill health since a family holiday last summer in the Algarve. Whilst there I had food poisoning which has now resulted in arthritis in both knee joints. Since that time I have grown greatly in my faith and the Lord has taught me so much about trusting him.
Towards the end of last year I was invited to do the Redeeming Eve course and found it to be really helpful and a great blessing. Before this I was lacking in confidence and this was compounded by illness.
I used to think that I didn't need to be baptised because my confirmation was a special moment for me and I didn't want to take anything away from that, but the Lord had other plans. I know that throughout this journey God has been at work in my life and has been bringing me to this point where I stand here today to be baptised as an act of obedience to the teaching in the bible that says believe and be baptised and to show my commitment to God.
The song that I have chosen for my baptism today is "In Christ alone". For me the first verse says it all; In Christ my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song, this cornerstone, this solid ground firm through the fiercest drought and storm, what heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease, my comforter, my all in all here in the love of Christ I stand.