One of the markers of our decision to trust in Jesus as our Saviour and Lord is BAPTISM. In the early days of Christianity, baptism was one of the first steps as a disciple of Jesus.
Interested in being baptized? Contact us (click here) to begin the process!
Here are some FAQ’s and biblical references we would encourage you to process:
Why do we baptize people?
(1) To follow Jesus’ example (Mark 1:9);
(2) To obey Jesus’ command (Matthew 28:19-20); and,
(3) because this publicly shows who you are based on what Jesus has done for you (Acts 18:8, 1 John 2:3).
What does baptism mean?
It illustrates Jesus’ death and resurrection and that we are incorporated into Jesus and his church (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 / 1 Corinthians 10:17, Colossians 2:12). Our trust in Jesus’ work illustrates the death of our old life, and the start of our new life (Romans 6:4). Apart from Jesus we were in need of rescue (Ephesians 2:1-3), but now have been made new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
You are dead to sin, your old self was crucified with Christ (Romans 6:2, 6).
You have a new nature, a new identity, now as a saint, a child of God, sharing in the victory of Jesus. The Holy Spirit lives inside of you and lives his life through you - He empowers you to live as a child of God. See Galatians 2:20, 1 John 3:1, see also Romans 8.
Who do we baptize?
Every person who has repented of their sin, believed in Jesus and given their life to him. See Acts 2:41 / Acts 8:12-13, Colossians 2:12
You don’t need to have your life all figured out. This step is not about perfection in your lifestyle or comprehensive biblical knowledge, it is about responding in humility based on the grace and perfect life Jesus lived for you.
Someone from our team will take a few minutes to hear your story of your relationship with Jesus, discuss baptism, and make a baptism plan with you!
What if I was baptized as a baby?
Although we honour the decisions parents and/or guardians have made to demonstrate their hope for your life, we believe making this decision on your own is important.
Our team has developed a resource that further explains our understanding of “infant baptism” that we encourage you to explore: "Who is baptism for" (click here)
When can we baptize people?
As soon as you have believed. See Acts 2:41 / Acts 8:35-38.
We take baptism requests as they come in and try to make this happen as soon as possible.
How do we baptize people?
We fully immerse your whole body (see Matthew 3:16 / Acts 8:38-39). The word for baptism in the New Testament means “to dip under / immerse.” You can check out the videos from some of our recent baptism celebrations below!
One of our team members will be present to talk you through the baptism event it and ask you 2 questions when you are in the water:
1) Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, that he came to earth, lived a perfect and sinless life, died on a cross for your sins, and rose from the dead on the third day so that you by faith could be declared righteous and forgiven in him?
2) Have you received Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, desiring to follow him from this day forward?
We will then dunk you under the water as you identify with the death of Jesus representing the death of your old life, and then we will bring you back up as you identify with the resurrection of Jesus representing that you’ve been raised to new life.
If you can wholeheartedly say “yes” to these questions, we want to baptize you!
Three important things we like to remind people of:
1 - Baptism doesn’t save us, Jesus does.
2 - Baptism is an outward sign of an inward commitment.
3 - Don’t confuse being nervous with being ashamed. Nervous is normal.
After baptism: While baptism is an individual expression, it also represents incorporation into Jesus’ body: the Church. As a next step we strongly encourage you to explore membership in the local church.
For each of the 168 hours in our week, we want to position ourselves for transformation so that we grow and multiply.
Our team is developing ministry culture, teaching, assessments, and resources around some of the primary discipleship tools that you can use personally and in community to know and follow Jesus better.
Once baptized, we invite you to invest in this process at a more intentional level with us!
Here are some video highlights from some of our recent baptism celebrations:
