WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!

Are you considering baptism as your next step? Here are a few thoughts on what baptism means to us here at ICF:

We believe in a God who loves you unconditionally and wants you to grow. He wants a close relationship with you. That’s why it’s important to know Jesus as the Son of God and to make the conscious decision to live with him.

This decision for Jesus can look different depending on how many areas of your life you hand over to Jesus — in other words, how much you allow Jesus to be the center of your life and how far you put God’s ideas into practice in your life.

Baptism is the visible sign of your decision to hand over every area of your life to Jesus. It is your declaration that you want to walk with Jesus with everything you are, leaving your old life behind to begin a new one.

The Bible says: “Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12

If you fully align your life with God’s thinking, it will affect everything around you. You’ll discover more and more of what He has in store for you across the different areas of your life — how he leads you or challenges you to trust him and take a step of faith. With your decision to be baptized, you’re ready to go deeper into the adventure with God.

It matters to God that you take this step. It’s also vital for you and for every person, which is why the Bible says: “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one 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

PREPARATION

Basically, no special prerequisite or long preparation time is needed for your baptism — in biblical times it was often the very first step of faith people took after inviting Jesus into their lives. Even so, we recommend you prepare well for your baptism.

As an ideal foundation for preparation, we recommend joining a round of EXPLORE. It focuses on you and your relationship with Jesus, and on how you can get to know God’s power in every area of life. Your EXPLORE group leader can also be your baptism partner. Other possible candidates are your group or team leader, or you can talk it over with them about who else might be a good partner for you.

If you’re not part of a group yet, we recommend signing up for a small group!

BAPTISM DAY

We’re setting the baptism dates and thinking through the best way to make it a truly special day. On this day you’ll be able to celebrate your baptism in the presence of your friends, family, small group, or team.

BAPTISM SIGN-UP

This sign-up is for you if you want to be baptized. We keep this list so we can organize a big day at a beautiful location. Sign up the baptism group below with your details. Keep an eye on Sundays and ICF’s WhatsApp for more information on dates.