When you register, you will be contacted by one of our deacons or deaconness to share your salvation experience. During your meeting, you will be able to ask any questions that you may have about baptism and set your baptism date. Children and students (up to 12th grade) will be contacted by the NextGen Department.

It is a spiritually meaningful, symbolic ceremony that publicly shows your desire to obey God and to follow Jesus.

Jesus commanded us to baptize (Matthew 28:19-20), and we are following His example when we do it (Mark 1:9). It is a symbol of how we were spiritually buried with Him and raised to new life when we accepted His salvation.

Even Jesus was baptized. Jesus did not have any sins to wash away. He was setting an example for those who would follow Him. Jesus told us to baptize people in His name. The reason we are baptised is to be obedient to Jesus’ command and example. It is part of turning to God. There are many symbolic illustrations throughout Scripture that relate to baptism.

Some of these are:

BEING BURIED, reflecting the death of our old nature.  Before we came to Christ we had a sinful self. This means that sin in our lives was very powerful. We could not stop being sinners. When Jesus died our sinful self died with Him. The Holy Spirit performs a “spiritual operation” known as circumcision. Colossians 2:11-12 says, “In him you were also circumcised in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him (Jesus) from the dead.” 

As circumcision of the foreskin was a token or sign of the Old Covenant, so water baptism is the token or sign of the New Covenant. The true sign of the new covenant believer is a circumcised heart (Romans 2:28-29). Our old life is really dead. The best thing we can do is to give it a proper burial! Going under the water of baptism is a picture of that burial. It is a symbolic representation of a person being crucified and buried with Christ and then raised up with Him (being born again) to live out our new life in Christ.

Romans 6:4 says, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

BEING WASHED so that we are completely clean. We wash when we are dirty. The dirt is sin and rebellion. When we repent we turn away from sin but we want to get rid of all the dirt that has stuck on us. The blood of Jesus washes away our sin. Baptism also symbolizes that our sins were washed away when we trusted Jesus to forgive our sins.. (See Acts 22:12-16.)

IDENTIFICATION We identify ourselves with Christ.  This is why we invite our friends and family to witness our being baptized in water. We make a stand publicly of our identification with Jesus’ burial and resurrection to new life.

Baptism is an act that people can see. It is an outward sign of an inward happening..

Almost all of the biblical examples of baptism show people doing it in public (Acts 2:41), because we are not to be ashamed of Jesus when we have become Christians. We should want to share our joyous decision with family, friends, and our church.

As we read the New Testament, we see people being taken down into water and brought back up (Matthew 3:16, Acts 8:38-39). The Greek word ‘baptizo’ means to immerse. Immersion is a picture of being buried and raised to new life in salvation (Romans 6:4).

Since baptism is the first step of obedience after salvation, the first time may have been a well-meant, but only religious activity. We would invite you to be baptized again as a new Christian.

We believe it is important to practice the pattern found in the New Testament. So, we would invite you to be baptized by immersion.

In the New Testament, baptism is seen as a first-step, one-time ceremony. We would encourage you to not confuse yourself or others by being baptized more than once.

Although Scripture shows Jesus welcoming and blessing children, it does not show Him baptizing infants, nor are there any passages that show or command this practice. Since baptism is a step of obedience after salvation, and since (due to mental development) infants cannot make that spiritual choice, we do not baptize them. We do, however, dedicate infants to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:27-28). This is a special commitment ceremony where the parents and the church pledge together to spiritually nurture the infant as he or she grows, and we pray for their eventual salvation.

In the New Testament, new converts to Christianity are those who then proceeded to be baptized. If a child has understood and accepted Christ for salvation, then there is no reason that they should not be baptized. We ask children and students (up to 12th grade) to be interviews by NextGen leadership, confirm their salvation story and make sure they understand the purpose of baptism.

You will arrive 20 minutes before the service for check-in and a brief orientation. Please wear dark shorts a t-shirt will be provided. Baptism is normally held at the beginning of the service. You will be asked to step into the baptism tub, and then you will be dipped into the water and quickly raised back up, symbolizing Jesus’ death and resurrection.