There are three main reasons why every believer should be baptized:
ONE: Because you want to follow Jesus’s example. Jesus himself was baptized. While he never sinned, he humbled himself in obedience to identify with us and give us an example to follow (Mark 1:9).
TWO: Because Jesus commanded it (Matthew 28:19-20).
THREE: Because it shows you are a believer. Baptism is a public confession of your faith in and commitment to Jesus (Acts 2:38).
ONE: It’s a symbol of Christ’s burial and resurrection. Our submersion under the water during baptism identifies us with Jesus’s death on the cross and His burial in the tomb, and our emerging from the surface identifies us with His resurrection from the dead.
TWO: It’s a symbol of your new life as a Christian. Through baptism, we bury our “old life”, and we rise to walk in a “new life.” Therefore, baptism is the outward symbol of the internal commitment we make in our hearts to follow Jesus and live for Him for the rest of our lives.
THREE: It connects us to the “body of Christ”, the other followers of Jesus in the earth. In baptism, there is a sense of joining a family, becoming a part of the community of believers, not just participating in an individual act of our own spiritual journey (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).
The requirement is simple. Ask Jesus to forgive your sins and tell Him that you want Him to be part of your life as your discission maker!
Absolutely! It is never too late to make this life-changing decision. Jesus teaches that those who have a personal relationship with Him should be baptized. Baptism shows your family, friends, people in the church and others that you have become a follower of His. In other words, it shows that you want to live differently and for Him.
We typically baptize individuals on stage in the Sanctuary during our Sunday morning services. However, occasionally we will hold baptisms outside, such as in a stream.
If you were previously baptized as an infant or at any time before you had a personal relationship with Jesus, we encourage you to be baptized again. The reason is that baptism is a public expression of your faith in Him.
Because we view baptism as a public declaration of following Jesus, we want to ensure that children fully understand the decision they are making. At New Life, we require that children be in second grade or older to be baptized.