Baptism is an important Next Step in your faith journey. Jesus commanded that believers be baptized and we take that commandment seriously.
WHY BE BAPTIZED?
Baptism is an important step of obedience that shows others you have personally trusted Jesus for salvation. By being baptized you are following Jesus’ example and obeying His command.
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” —Matthew 3:16–17
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go 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 I have commanded you.’” —Matthew 28:18–20
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF BAPTISM?
Water baptism is a public declaration of three very important things:
You are a follower of Jesus Christ.
“Those who accepted his message were baptized.” —Acts 2:41
You begin a changed life in Christ.
“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” —Romans 6:4
You join a new family.
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” —Galatians 3:26–27
HOW DOES BAPTISM AT NORTHIRON WORK?
We have quarterly baptism opportunities during our services at each of our campuses. We try to make baptism as easy as possible for you. All you have to do is show up. To make this possible we ask you pre-register for your baptism so we can prepare and have an appropriate size t-shirt, shorts, and a towel for you!
Because of the meaning of the word baptize—“to immerse, douse, or saturate”—and the practice of baptisms recorded in the bible (Matthew 3:16 & Acts 8:38-39) we baptize by immersion. When Christians are baptized, they are submerged under water to identify with the death and burial of Jesus, and raised out of the water to identify with His resurrection. Don’t worry, the water’s heated!
I HAVE ALREADY BEEN BAPTIZED. SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED AGAIN?
Your baptism proclaims you have become a follower of Jesus, changed your life, and joined a new family. If your previous baptism didn’t reflect these changes and you’ve recently re-dedicated your life to Christ, then you should be baptized again.
CAN MY CHILD BE BAPTIZED?
We will baptize anyone over age 7 who understands what baptism symbolizes and wants to make that public declaration to follow Jesus. We encourage parents to partner with our NORTHIRON Kids ministries to guide your children through these decisions of faith.
CAN MY INFANT BE BAPTIZED?
Throughout the New Testament, the Bible teaches baptism is a public declaration of our decision to follow Jesus Christ, allowing us to receive the promise of a new life. In the Bible we see Jesus’ parents dedicated him to the Lord (Luke 2:22–40), but he was later baptized as an adult (Matthew 3:16–17).
We understand some churches practice “baptism of confirmation” for children. This ceremony is intended to be a commitment between the parents and God on the behalf of the child. The parents promise to raise their child in the faith until the child is old enough to make his or her own personal confession of Christ. This custom began about 300 years after the Bible was completed and is different from the biblical examples of new believers being baptized to publicly profess their faith in Jesus.
At NORTHIRON we provide opportunities for child dedication and believer’s baptism. To schedule a child dedication, visit our child dedication page.