BAPTISM
Are you considering if baptism is your next step? Here are some thoughts on what baptism means for us at ICF:
We believe in a God who loves you unconditionally and wants you to flourish. He desires a trusting relationship with you. To achieve this, it’s important to get to know Jesus as the Son of God and make a conscious decision to live life with Him.
This decision to follow Jesus can have different implications depending on how many “keys of your life house” you symbolically surrender to Jesus, how much you let Jesus into your life, grant Him a say in your everyday life, and implement God’s ideas in your life.
Baptism is now a visible sign of your decision to surrender “all keys” to Jesus. With it, you express that you want to follow Jesus with all that you are, leave behind your old life, and begin a new life with Him.
The Bible says: “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life…” (Colossians 2:12).
When you align your life completely with God’s ideas, it will impact you and your environment: You will discover more and more what God has in store for you in various areas of life and in your different life phases, how He carries you through or challenges you to trust Him and take a step of faith. Thus, nothing will stand in the way of your adventure with God.
This is important for you and every person without exception, which is why it also states in the Bible: “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
If you have questions about baptism, you can get valuable answers in the Bible with the help of this Bible reading plan.
Basically, you don’t need any special knowledge or a long lead time for baptism – in biblical times, it was often the first step of faith for people after they had invited Jesus into their lives. Nevertheless, we urge you to prepare well for your baptism.
We recommend that you attend Get Free as an ideal basis for preparation. It’s all about you and your relationship with Jesus and how you can live with God’s power in all areas of life. Your Get Free companion can also be your baptism companion. This could be your Small Group or Team Group leader, for example, or you can think with them about who would be a good alternative companion for you.
In addition to participating in Get Free, you are welcome to watch our podcast “What baptism means for your life as a Christian” here, in which frequently asked questions about baptism are answered.
If you are not yet part of a group, we recommend signing up for Explore to experience God together with others.
It is important to us that every person decides to live with Jesus of their own free will and in full awareness.
For this reason, we do not baptise babies and children. But we are happy to bless them.