|
When a person
first considers baptism, many questions may come to mind. Where did the idea of baptism
come from? What is it's significance? Is it really necessary?
Once a person makes a
decision to follow Christ, the Bible says we are to make our personal decision
public. Baptism is a simple and symbolic ceremony that shows the world that we have
crossed over the line from being a seeker to being a believer.
A believer is someone who
realizes that their sin separates them from God. They know they will never be good enough
to reach God through their good works or religious activities. They depend on Jesus
Christ's death on the cross to pay for their sins and understand that he's the only one
that can bridge the gap between them and God.
If you are a new believer,
the next step on your spiritual journey may be to consider baptism. Just as a
bride and groom show that they love one another through a marriage ceremony, a new
believer should also want to show the world through baptism of their new union with
Christ. Baptism is a great time to celebrate with family and friends what has happened in
your spiritual life.
If you have additional
questions or would like to be part of our next baptism,
email Pastor Rick or call the church
office at 360-659-7335. (There is a
required baptism participant class, that is usually held the Wednesday evening before
a baptism service.) |
|
STATEMENT ON BAPTISM:
Allen Creek Community Church believes Scriptural teaching on Baptism may be summarized as
follows:
1. Baptism
is an act of obedience to the command of Christ, fulfilled by individuals who have
received His forgiveness and submitted themselves to His leadership.
2. Baptism
symbolizes a heart washing by God’s forgiveness and also an identification with
Christ in His death and resurrection as the individual dies to an old way of life and
lives a new life in Him.
3. Baptism
provides an opportunity for believers to make a formal profession of their faith before
the church and the world
4. Baptism
is a biblical rite of initiation into the body of Christ, and it may therefore be
considered a prerequisite for joining the membership of the church. |
ABOUT BELIEVER'S BAPTISM
While recognizing the right for other churches to practice infant Baptism, Allen Creek
teaches that only professing believers qualify for Baptism.
The pattern in scripture is that baptism follows personal acceptance of the
Christian message (Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12 etc.). Some come to AC3 having been baptized as
infants who have made a public statement of their faith in Christ and they feel their
infant baptism is totally adequate. We are not contentious about those situations and
allow those believers into membership. However, we hold believers baptism to be
significant enough that we strongly encourage re-baptism for anyone baptized before their
conversion to Christ. We also require that
our elders who set an example for the church, need to have been baptized with water
following their personal commitment to Christ.
ABOUT INFANT BAPTISM
In the Bible, we find parents bringing their children to Jesus. He held them
and prayed for them and told us to welcome them. But
He did not baptize them, and He did not tell anyone else to baptize them. However, Allen Creek Community Church encourages
Christian parents to present their children for the ceremony of dedication, whereby God's
blessing is formally invoked upon the children, and the parents publicly commit themselves
to raise the children in accordance with the teachings of Scripture. If you were baptized as a child, it was the intent
of your parents that you would one day be a follower of Christ. Your Baptism as an adult
can be viewed as the fulfillment of your parents' wishes.
It in no way repudiates the Baptism you received as a child.
Because the symbolism of Baptism requires a more adult
level of cognitive and developmental readiness, the Elders of Allen Creek eagerly suggest
that children be at least 12 years old to be baptized.
Proverbs 20:25 issues a significant caution against the danger of making a
vow before adequate knowledge, forethought and reflection have been given. In an effort to prevent young people from making a
premature commitment that they may not fully understand, this minimum age is strongly
encouraged.
ABOUT THE MODE OF BAPTISM
Allen Creek Community Church believes that the faith of the participant determines the
value of the baptism rite (1 Peter 3:21) not the amount of water used or the way it’s
applied. However, the physical rite is
commanded by Christ because of the value to the participant as it illustrates and seals
their dying to self and rising new in Christ, washed clean of sin. Therefore, full immersion in water is our normal
practice because it most fully represents the symbolism baptism conveys (Rom 6:1-11) and
was most likely the mode used by the New Testament church (Mk 1:10; Acts 8:39). If physical circumstances make this mode
impractical, the mode of sprinkling is offered.
ABOUT WHO MAY PERFORM BAPTISM
In Scripture we notice that Jesus has authorized his disciples do the baptizing (John
4:2). Jesus did not baptize because his focus
was on a more primary work: the internal baptism by the Holy Spirit at conversion. So from Jesus, the authority to perform this rite
is delegated to leaders in his church. These
disciples sometimes “order” the baptism of others (Acts 10:48) and it’s not
specified WHO has done the baptizing (16:15, 16:33).
This seems to indicate that all baptisms were done under the care and
authority of senior church leaders, but not necessarily BY them. In most cases an extended entourage of evangelists
or church planters may have assisted.
In light of this, we discern these broad principles:
1.
all baptisms must take place under the care and
authority of the senior church leaders, or their delegates or representatives.
2.
the people who baptize have been recognized by church
leadership as true followers of Christ themselves.
Therefore, at AC3 for someone to perform baptism they
must be a recognized church leader (staff member/elder/small group leader) OR recognized
by church leadership as genuine converts and participating members in good standing (not
involved in ongoing patterns of willful disobedience) who have themselves been baptized as
believers. |
