FAQ
We have baptism Sundays twice through the year. If you would like to be baptized at another time we can also baptize you individually. Please email scott@fplive.org for more details!
As an act of obedience, Jesus Himself was baptized by John the Baptizer. (You can read about it in Matthew 3.) And later the apostle Peter instructed many people to be baptized. (You can read about it in Acts 2.) In fact, baptism is such an important step in our spiritual development that Jesus prepared His disciples by telling them to baptize people as a part of their ministry. (You can read about it in Matthew 28.)
In Romans 6:3-4 the apostle Paul tells us that baptism provides for us a metaphor of our relationship with Jesus. Going under the water is a reference to our choice to “die to ourselves”. Our “burial” under the water is imagery of the burial of Jesus Christ and when we are brought out of the water that reminds us of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All this imagery speaks of our union with Jesus. We are identifying ourselves as “Christians”, which originally meant people who are “in Christ”. Also, by being baptized you’re telling all the people present you are a follower of Jesus Christ. For this reason we encourage people to invite their friends and family to our baptisms, including people who don’t follow Jesus Christ.
At Forest Park Church we believe baptism is an important step in obedience to Jesus Christ. We believe it is a way to let others know that we are finding our identity in Christ as followers of Jesus. We are not baptized in order to be saved; we are baptized as an outward sign we have been saved. We don’t baptize people to be saved.