Why Baptism is Important
Baptism is one of the most important steps that anyone who follows Christ can take. It's a symbol of what Christ did for us that shows the world that we are NOT ASHAMED! We celebrate together by baptizing those who have recently come to know the Lord and others who need to take that step of faith. Experience the power of those four words: I AM NOT ASHAMED.
Why should I get baptized?
We believe there are lots of good reasons! Here are just a few.
- Jesus was baptized! (Matthew 3:13-17)
- Jesus told us that we should be baptized as part of his Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).
- It's your opportunity to tell the world that you are not ashamed to follow Him!
When should I get baptized?
After you have made a decision to follow Jesus, one of your first steps should be baptism. To be clear, baptism does NOT get you into heaven, and not being baptized doesn't keep you from going to Heaven. It's a one-time symbolic act of obedience and a bold declaration of your devotion to Christ.
What's baptism look like?
We believe in baptism by immersion because it's the way it was done in the Bible. At Cross City Church, you would stand in the water, representing your old life before you decided to follow Christ. Someone on our team would ask you "What is your profession of faith?" You would respond "My name is ______________, Jesus is my Lord, and I am NOT ASHAMED." Then, we would carefully lower you under the water, representing how that old self is now dead and gone. Then, we would immediately raise you up out of the water, which represents your new life in Christ! It's a fantastic experience.
Do I need to be baptized to become a member?
Because it's something that God tells us to do after choosing to follow Him, we put it on the list of requirements. We believe that baptism is an important step in experiencing real life. Even though the water we use for baptism is ordinary, the spiritual significance of baptism is not. It's a big deal when you tell the world that you're not ashamed to follow Christ, and so we ask every believer to take that step.*
What if I was baptized before I trusted Jesus?
Many of us were baptized by immersion before we came to know Jesus and before we truly could understand what it meant. If you feel like you were baptized before you had made a decision to follow Jesus, we want to encourage you to contact us and talk about being baptized for the first time
What about "sprinkling"?
For some of us, we were baptized as an infant by what we call "sprinkling." This is a well-meaning gesture of parents and
*We would never exclude someone from membership based on a physical inability to be immersed in water.
Buried with Christ...