Contact Pastor Karen (click here or call 404-388-0518) if you are interested in getting baptized!
Baptism is one of the two primary sacraments of the Christian Church through the ages (the other is Communion). Sacraments are visible signs of God’s invisible grace in which we participate with all of our senses as embodied persons. Baptism is a visible sign of God’s invisible grace, a marker in a person’s journey of faith as a lifelong disciple of Jesus. Baptism is the sacrament of initiation into life in Christ, a public expression of an individual’s decision to follow Jesus.
Matthew 28:19-20 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
In baptism we are obeying the command of Jesus and following the act of Jesus, who freely submitted himself to baptism. As we descend into the water, we identify with Christ’s passion and death, a visible proclamation that we have died to our old, self-centered way of life. Under the water, we identify with Jesus’ burial. In identification with Jesus who rose from the dead, we are raised out of the water to new life in Christ.
Romans 6:4 – “Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
In baptism, the power that sin had in our old way of life is broken, changing us from the inside out. Baptism is an outward expression of an inward reality, by the power of the Holy Spirit. In John 3:3, Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” The water of baptism signifies this being born from above and is an outward demonstration of what has happened to our hearts and minds. Through being baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we receive a complete washing and cleansing from the guilt and grip of sin on our lives, which gives us a fresh start in life and a new ethical orientation.
In baptism we make a public confession of the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives, as we are united with Jesus and with all of the people of God in every time and place, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are welcomed and incorporated as members of a new family and citizens of a new society, the body of Christ.
Galatians 3:27-28 – “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
If you are interested in Baptism at Liberty Vineyard Church, please contact Pastor Karen – (404) 388-0518.