Each member of the congregation has been baptized (immersed in water) to obey commands of Scripture.
Following His resurrection from the grave, Jesus said,
Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God's good news to one and all. Whoever believes and is baptized is saved; whoever refuses to believe is damned.Mark 16:15-16-- THE MESSAGE When the church began a few days later, as recorded in the Book of Acts, Peter, as the Lord's spokesman, included personal repentance.
Peter said, "Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven."Acts 2:38-- THE MESSAGE
Paul reminds his friends at Rome about their resurrection day in Romans 6:1 and following:
So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land!That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection ofJesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country. THE MESSAGE
For a 13 panel study showing that baptism is required and why, click here. Because some folks have never seen a baptism, we have included these photos. Here Dave Kubow speaks to those assembled before Mary Ann is immersed:
She is then immersed momentarily:
She leaves to dress and the next person, Lauren, comes.
This is how each member identifies with the burial and resurrection of Jesus even though 20 centuries have past.
