The Church and it's ordinances

The worship of God and ministry towards Him has many other aspects or levels in it besides the Sunday Morning singing. One of the greatest acts of worship that the church can preform is being involved in the activities and observing the ordinances set down by God.

Ordinances

The ordinances in the life of the church are activities that give us pictures, remembrances, and opportunities to worship God.  There are two ordinances that ought to be practiced by New Testament churches: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These ordinances are not a means of receiving special grace but are activities that remind and celebrate what God the Father provided for us through His Son, Jesus.

· Baptism is a public testimony of a person’s faith in Christ. (Acts 2:38; 41) It has no power to save. It is to be performed after one has made profession of salvation (Romans 6:1-10, 1 Cor. 12:12-13). I believe and follow the practice of many New Testament occasions; a professing believer should be baptized right away after conversion. There is no biblical evidence that supports baptizing infants. The examples of baptism that we have in the New Testament are always after profession of salvation. (Acts 2:41; 8:12-13; 10:47)

~The primary meaning of the word baptizo is “to immerse.” In the apostles’ time, the method of baptism practiced on proselytes to Judaism was total immersion. Paul also gives us a picture that baptism is a symbolic act that reminds and connects us to the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord (Rom.6:1-4 Col.2:12). Based on these facts, I believe the best mode of baptism is immersion.

· The Lord’s Supper or as I like to call it a family worship meal, is performed as a memorial to Christ’s death. (I Corinthians 11:23-26) It is to be done regularly by believers as a testimony of what Christ did on the cross for us. It is also is an act of worship and thanksgiving to Christ for His act on the cross for us and a time of fellowship with one another remembering what Jesus did for His church family. The Lord’s Supper reminds us of Jesus power, calls and compels us to repent of our sins as we examine ourselves, shows the unity of the faith family through the meal, and lastly anticipates our complete fellowship meal in the supper of the lamb when Jesus returns.