WHAT IS THE MEANING OF BAPTISM?

It illus­trates Christ´s bur­ial and resurrection.

“Christ died for our sins… He was buried… and He rose again.“
–I Corinthi­ans 15:3–4

“For when you were bap­tized, you were buried with Christ, and in bap­tism you were also raised with Christ.” –Colos­sians 2:12

It illus­trates my new life as a Christian.

“When some­one becomes a Chris­t­ian he becomes a brand new per­son inside. The old life has passed away and a new life has begun!” –2 Corinthi­ans 5:17

“By our bap­tism then, we were buried with Him and shared His death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead… so also we may live a new life!” –Romans 6:4

Bap­tism doesn´t make you a believer — it shows that you already believe. Bap­tism does not “save” you, only your faith in Christ does that. Bap­tism is like a wed­ding ring — it´s the out­ward sym­bol of the com­mit­ment you make in your heart.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith… it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.“
–Eph­esians 2:8–9

WHY BE BAPTIZED BY IMMERSION?

Because Jesus was bap­tized that way.

“As soon as Jesus was bap­tized, He went up out of the water.“
–Matthew 3:16

Every bap­tism in the Bible was by immersion.

(Exam­ple) “…then both Philip and the man went down into the water and
Philip bap­tized him. When they came up out of the water…” –Acts 8:38–39

The word Bap­tize means “To dip under water”.
The Greek word bap­tize means “to immerse or dip under water”.
It best sym­bol­ized a bur­ial and resurrection!

The founders of denom­i­na­tions agree:

Mar­tin Luther… “I would have those who are to be bap­tized to be entirely immersed, as the work imports and the mys­tery signifies.”

John Calvin… “The word ´bap­tize´ sig­ni­fies to immerse. It is cer­tain that immer­sion was the prac­tice of the ancient church.”

John Wes­ley… “Buried with Him, alludes to bap­tiz­ing by immer­sion accord­ing to the cus­tom of the first church.”

WHO SHOULD BE BAPTIZED?

Every per­son who has believed in Christ.

“Those who believe and accepted His mes­sage were bap­tized…” –Acts 2:41

“Simon him­self believed and was bap­tized…” –Acts 8:13

“But when they believed Philip as he preached the Good News… and the name of Jesus Christ, they were bap­tized, both men and women.”  –Acts 8:12

At FBC, we wait until our chil­dren are old enough to believe and under­stand the true mean­ing of bap­tism before we bap­tize them.

Some churches prac­tice a “bap­tism of con­fir­ma­tion” for chil­dren. This cer­e­mony is intended to be a covenant between the par­ents and God on the behalf of the child. The par­ents promise to raise their child in the faith until the child is old enough to make his own per­sonal pro­fes­sion of Christ. This cus­tom began about 300 years after the Bible was completed.

This is dif­fer­ent from the bap­tism talked about in the Bible which was only for those old enough to believe. The pur­pose is to pub­licly con­fess your per­sonal com­mit­ment to Christ.

WHEN SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED?

As soon as you have believed.

“Those who believe…were baptized…that day!” –Acts 2:41

“Then Philip began with the scrip­ture and told him the Good News about Jesus. As they trav­eled along the road, they came to some water, and the man said, ´Look, here is water! Why shouldn´t I be bap­tized right now?´Philip said, ´If you believe with all your heart, you may.´ The man answered, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.´ So they went down into the water and Philip bap­tized him.” –Acts 8:35–38

There is no rea­son to delay. As soon as you have decided to receive Christ into your life, you can and should be bap­tized. If you wait until you are “per­fect”, you´ll never feel “good enough”!

CAN MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS BE BAPTIZED TOGETHER?

Yes! If each per­son under­stands fully the mean­ing of bap­tism, and each one has per­son­ally placed his/her trust in Christ for sal­va­tion, we encour­age fam­i­lies to be bap­tized at the same time. It is a won­der­ful expres­sion of commitment.

How­ever, it is impor­tant to remem­ber that bap­tism is a per­sonal state­ment of faith, not a fam­ily or group tra­di­tion. It is usu­ally not wise to delay your bap­tism while wait­ing on oth­ers to join you. This puts an undue pres­sure on them, and delays your obedience.

WHAT SHOULD I WEAR WHEN I AM BAPTIZED?

Women should wear shorts and a top or a swim­suit. Men may wear shorts, t-shirts or a swim­suit. Bring a change of clothes, a towel, and a plas­tic bag for your wet clothes.

WILL I HAVE TO SAY ANYTHING?

At the begin­ning of the ser­vice, Pas­tor Greg will briefly explain the mean­ing of bap­tism. You will wait in the stair­way for your turn to enter the water to be bap­tized. The Pas­tor will intro­duce you, briefly lower you just under the water, then you will leave the water to stand in front of Pas­tor Wave, who will be wait­ing for you. While explain­ing the mean­ing of each action, he will put a white robe on you, anoint your fore­head with oil, and ask you to take a taper can­dle to light a can­dle on a can­dle­stick. He will instruct you on what to do with each step. Then, you will go back to the chang­ing room to dry off and change into dry clothes. Later, you will receive your bap­tism cer­tifi­cate. We encour­age you to invite all your rel­a­tives and friends to attend your baptism.

Click Here to sign up for Baptism.