Living Hope has made baptism a strategic and key event in the life of the church. Though baptism does not make a person a “believer,” it does show an outward reminder of the fact.

We ask all new members to be baptized as a believer or commit to being baptized at the next available opportunity at the church. We also ask all of our leaders, pastors, and deacons to attend the baptism services.

Baptism services are held two or three times during the year and normally occur as an extension of either the 9:30 or the 11:30AM Sunday worship service. Members who become baptized give their testimonies, making the event extremely personal and meaningful for those being baptized as well as those witnessing it.

If you are interested in getting baptized, we ask that you understand the following requirements:

1. Fill out the baptism application completely and submit it to Pastor Chris Chi (chris.chi@livinghopecc.org).

2. Attend the Baptism Class. The classes are normally offered one week prior to the actual baptism from 9:30-10:30AM. Look in the Sunday bulletin or on our website for dates and location.

3. Interview with any of the pastors prior to the baptism date.

4. On the day of the baptism:

• Meet with Pastor Chris 30 minutes prior to the service in the living room.
• Baptism will occur as an extension of either the 9:30 or the 11:30 am service.

To sign up to participate in the next baptism, click: LHCC Baptism Sign Up

2019 Baptism Schedule

Why Baptism?

(excerpt from Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Church,” pp. 120-121)

Baptism: Identifying with God’s Family

Healthy families have family pride; members are not ashamed to be recognized as a part of the family. Sadly, I have met many believers who have never publicly identified themselves with their spiritual family as Jesus commanded – by being baptized.

Baptism is not an optional ritual, to be delayed or postponed. It signifies your inclusion in God’s family. It publicly announces to the world, “I am not ashamed to be a part of God’s family.” Have you been baptized? Jesus commanded this beautiful act for all in his family. He told us to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

For years I wondered why Jesus’ Great Commission gives the same prominence to baptism as it does to the great tasks of evangelism and edification. Why is baptism so important? Then I realized it is because it symbolizes God’s second purpose for you life: participating in the fellowship of God’s eternal family.

Baptism is pregnant with meaning. Your baptism declares your faith, shares Christ’s burial and resurrection, symbolizes your death to your old life, and announces your new life in Christ. It is also a celebration of your inclusion in God’s family.

Your baptism is a physical picture of a spiritual truth. It represents what happened the moment God brought you into his family: “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ’s body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit.”

Baptism doesn’t make you a member of God’s family; only faith in Christ does that. Baptism shows you are part of God’s family. Like a wedding ring, it is a visible reminder of an inward commitment made in your heart. It is an act of initiation, not something you put off until you are spiritually mature. The only biblical condition is that you believe.

In the New Testament, people were baptized as soon as they believed. At Pentecost, 3,000 were baptized the same day they accepted Christ. Elsewhere, an Ethiopian leader was baptized on the spot when he was converted, and Paul and Silas baptized a Philippian jailer and his family at midnight. There are no delayed baptisms in the New Testament. If you haven’t been baptized as an expression of your faith in Christ, do so as soon as possible, as Jesus commanded.