Interested in being baptized?
We’d love to hear more about you and talk through this next step together. Email us and we’ll reach out soon!
What is baptism?
Baptism is a visual sign and a seal of God’s promise with us, to strengthen our faith and increase our joy.
Baptism is one of two sacraments commanded by Jesus Christ and practiced at Buck Creek, the other sacrament being the Lord’s Supper or Communion. A sacrament is a visible, holy sign and seal that Jesus gave to the church to help us understand the truth of the gospel and to place these promises upon our hearts.
Why Water?
The use of water in baptism shows that the blood of Christ has cleansed us of sin by the work of the Holy Spirit. Baptism does not wash away sin, grant salvation or guarantee salvation; we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, through believing that Jesus is our Lord and His death and resurrection saves us of our sins. Baptism is God’s sign to us of the guaranteed gift of salvation God offers us to us by faith.
Baptizing Believers
Because Jesus commands baptism (Matthew 28:19-20), any individual who has not been previously baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is baptized when they join Buck Creek. Therefore, you will see baptism of adults and youth in our services as well.
Baptizing Babies
Buck Creek baptizes the children of Christians because it finds biblical basis for this practice. We see throughout the Bible that God’s covenant (promise of blessing) with believers includes a promise for their children. The Apostle Peter’s words at Pentecost in Acts 2:38-39 that the promise of God is for “you and for your children” recalls the language God uses in giving the sign of circumcision to Abraham and his descendants (see Genesis 17), a sign that was placed upon infant males before they verbally expressed faith. We see households, which likely included children, being baptized when people come to faith in the New Testament (Acts 16:15, 33; 18:8; 1 Corinthians 1:16). The Apostle Paul says that Christians are also heirs of the promise that God made to Abraham in Galatians 3:7, 17, 29, and connects baptism and circumcision in Colossians 2:11-12, calling baptism “the circumcision of Christ,” showing that baptism replaces circumcision as the sign and seal that is placed upon believers and their children (both male and female) to set them apart.
Baptism is thus not our sign to God or an outward symbol of an inward change, but God’s sign to us that He will be our God forever and that our sins are wiped away. Just like circumcision did not guarantee faith in the Old Testament, the sign of baptism does not guarantee that a child will come to faith, but this sign brings them into the covenant community known as the church, with Scripture showing children to be part of the church community (Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15; 1 Corinthians 7:14; Ephesians 6:1).
While we encourage and teach child baptism, we do not require all members to adopt this belief, believing that it is important to be guided by one’s one conscience. Therefore, if a family believes that baptism should happen after their child professes faith, we will baptize them upon their profession of faith and rejoice on this occasion.
Let's go!
If you'd like to be baptized or to have your child baptized you must first meet with our elders. You can schedule that here.
Baptism FAQs
- Private Baptisms: Private baptisms are not practiced at Buck Creek unless a specific case has been approved.
- Method of baptism: We practice sprinkling, pouring and immersion since the amount of water used does not validate the baptism, and we see biblical symbolism in all three methods.
- Infant Dedications: Because Buck Creek believes in infant baptism, we do not have infant dedications during the services.
- Rebaptism: Buck Creek does not rebaptize those who have already had a valid baptism, believing that part of the symbolism of baptism is its one-time nature – we cannot be born twice. Whether or not we took God’s covenant sign seriously doesn’t change that God did take it seriously if they were baptized with water in the name of our triune God.