Cross
Overview:
In our Baptist tradition, there are two ordinances (ritual observances) that Jesus commanded his follower to do: Baptism (Matt. 28:19) and the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 23-27).

Lord’s Supper:
Jesus said, As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me. The Lord’s Supper is a reminder to all believers of Jesus’ supreme sacrifice for our sins. We have a strictly symbolic view of the Lord’s Supper. The bread is only an image of the body of Christ, and the juice is only an image of his blood. The symbolism also carries over to the eating of the supper as well. By taking in the bread and juice, we show our desire to have Christ change us from the inside. Just as the body is transformed by the food we eat, and just as a computer is made useful by the information that it receives, so also we show our desire and need for our spirits to be transformed as we take the person of Christ into us through the image of the Lord’s Supper. Therefore, we are compelled to live sacrificially in remembrance of Christ. We practice an open Lord’s Supper and invite any Christian that confesses a personal faith in Christ and has experienced believer’s baptism to join us.

Baptism:
We practice believer’s baptism. We only baptize those individuals who have made a conscious decision to follow Christ as their Lord and Savior. Baptism does not save a Christian from sin, nor does it wash sin away. Faith initiates salvation. Baptism is an expression of obedience and belief that comes with a new faith. As obedience, baptism shows we are willing to take the next step in our faith by physically displaying the spiritual change that has already occurred in our hearts, namely the washing away of our sin by the blood of Christ. As an expression of belief, baptism is the believer’s way of preaching the Gospel: Christ dead, buried, and resurrected for our sins. Thus, the immersion of the believer is a symbol of our crucifixion with Christ and our resurrection into a new life in Him.