Baptism at ICC
At ICC, we take great joy in practicing the beautiful ancient ritual of water baptism. The reason is simple: Jesus commanded it! After His death, burial and resurrection, Jesus walked with His closest friends for forty days giving them His final instructions before returning to Heaven. His parting words have been preserved for us in both Matthew and Mark:

“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 28:19-20a).

“Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16).

Those friends did just as He directed. For example, the very first time they preached the good news (gospel) about Jesus, they were asked: “what shall we do?” Their response? “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38a). In fact, that day 3,000 people were baptized! Each time Jesus’ followers presented the good news about Jesus, people were urged to be baptized (see Acts 8:12,13,16; 36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15, 33; 18:24-26; 19:3-6; 22:15-17).

What is baptism?
It is the act of immersing a person in water and lifting them up out of the water as a symbolic representation of his or her dying to sin, being buried, and being raised back to life. This is exactly how the Bible describes it: “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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 6:3-4).

Baptism is a powerful, symbolic act that serves to mark the new beginning that one receives when he or she becomes a Christian. If you are a believer in Jesus, and yet haven’t been baptized, we wish to encourage you to take this important step of obedience. Contact the church office via phone or email immediately and we will schedule a brief, informative preparation study and arrange for your baptism. Church Office: 425.392.5848, churchoffice@iccweb.org