BAPTISM AND MEMBERSHIP
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the next step is baptism, which is an opportunity to publicly declare to others that you are now a follower of Christ. In the scripture Jesus commanded His followers to be baptized, therefore, we believe that believer’s baptism through immersion is an important step of obedience for every person who has accepted Christ as his/her Savior and Lord.
When an individual is saved and baptized, he becomes a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). Because he is united to Christ and the other members of the body in this way, he is therefore qualified to become a member of a local expression of that body.
To become a member of a church is to formally commit oneself to an identifiable, local body of believers who have joined together for specific, divinely ordained purposes.
BIBLICAL BAPTISM
Baptism is the believer’s
symbolic death and resurrection with Jesus Christ, an outward
reflection of an inward renewal. It is carried out once in the
Christian’s life as the first step in obedience after turning
their lives over to Christ. It's the outward symbol of the
commitment you make in your heart. "For by grace you have been
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Ephesians 2:8,9
(NKJV). Therefore, Baptism doesn't make you a believer but it
shows that you already believe. Baptism does not "save" you,
only your faith in Jesus Christ through faith does that.
The Christian
baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of
obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified,
buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the
burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness
of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the
final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is
prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the
Lord's Supper.
Want to take the next step
towards Baptism and/or Membership?
Please talk with
your small group leader or our pastor about your desire to be
baptized or become a member, so we might be able guide you
through the process and pray. If you are a born-again Christian,
we ask you to then...
•
Respond during the Time of
Commitment at the end of the Sunday worship service so that the
Church knows you are interested in either baptism and/or
membership, and can pray for you
• Submit a written salvation
testimony, nothing elaborate is needed here, just a simple story
about who you were before Christ and what led you to commit your
life to Him
• Take the appropriate baptism or membership class
• Meet with the pastor for candidate interview and wait for
church governing body to review
• Upon the Church’s
confirmation of your readiness, proceed with scheduling the
baptism and/or sign the membership covenant as soon as it is
possible