In the Bible, our LORD calls us to worship Him with all of our lives (Romans 12:1). Even though this takes place for individual Christians throughout each week, one of the key ways we worship God is to gather corporately each week to direct our attention towards God as a family and ascribe to Him the worth and glory He is due. Music is one of our primary corporate expressions to express our love for God and consider His truths (Colossians 3:16).
What is baptism?
Baptism is a basic command of the Lord Jesus for all His followers. He said to baptize them “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19
). Christians are to be baptized soon after they embrace Jesus as their Savior and Lord. New Christians are to be willing to take this step of public identification in response to the command of the One they confess as Lord and Savior.
). Christians are to be baptized soon after they embrace Jesus as their Savior and Lord. New Christians are to be willing to take this step of public identification in response to the command of the One they confess as Lord and Savior.What does baptism look like at West Hills?
At West Hills, we practice public baptism. A member of the church leadership will baptize the candidate by immersing them in water. We immerse people because it is a powerful symbol of two important realities. The first reality that immersion symbolizes is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The second symbol that immersion portrays is newness of life. Through Jesus, the Christian has been not only given eternal life, but a new life to live for Him. Thus, their “old self” is dead and they are now spiritually alive to love and follow Jesus.
Have you been baptized?
If you are a Christian and have never followed the Lord in obedience to His command of baptism, this is a great opportunity to follow Him and to be an encouragement to our congregation by sharing a brief testimony of the work of Jesus in your life.