Next Baptism

• Everyone who believes in Jesus should be baptized. If you have placed your faith in Jesus, you qualify.
• What about infants and children? At River of Life, we believe that those being baptized should be old enough to have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Therefore, we dedicate infants and children to the Lord and baptize those who are old enough to understand the profession of faith they are making through baptism. If you have a child (age 12 or younger) interested in being baptized, please contact Michaela Langlais our Director of Family Ministry for more information.

Identification

• Through water baptism we proclaim our identification with Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection.
  • Romans 6:1-7; Colossians 2:12
• We proclaim our identification with the body of Christ, the Church, having been placed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit at salvation.
  • 1 Corinthians 12:12-13
• In water baptism we also publicly proclaim our identification with the local Church, a confession that we have identified with the body of Christ.
  • Acts 2:41

Declaration

• Baptism is not a part of our salvation, but a major step in discipleship. Salvation is experienced totally by grace through faith. It is a free gift of God to all who will believe in Christ & receive Him.
  • Ephesians 2:8-9; John 1:12; John 3:16
• Baptism is one specific way in which we are to confess Christ with others, identifying ourselves with the local body of believers.

• Baptism obeys the command of Christ. After placing our faith in Him baptism is the next step on our faith journey to follow Christ.
  • Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16
• Baptism shows others you have placed your faith in Jesus. It is a public profession of faith. Through baptism we identify with Christ as we put to death our old sinful nature and are raised to new life in Christ.
  • But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Acts 8:12

• No. Even though baptism is an act of obedience to Jesus, it is not a saving act. The only saving act is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our responsibility is to believe in Jesus’ gracious gift on the cross.
  • “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
  • “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:5-7

We recognize that your infant baptism was special and significant to your parents and family but we believe it is important to take this step as a believer. Getting re-baptized as an adult, is both an act of obedience and a declaration of your personal faith in Jesus.

We believe in submersion. The Greek word baptize means “to plunge, dip, immerse” something into the water. The New Testament supports baptism by immersion.

• “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Mark 1:9-11
• “As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?’ [37] [a] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.” Acts 8:36-39

Please let us know if you are not physically able to be baptized by immersion.

What’s My Next Step?

Baptism services are held several times a year. If you’d like to be baptized, register online and a staff member will contact you.