Dave & Cindy Strege
We never completely grasped the concept of being Born Again until we were, well, Born Again.
Cindy and I came to La Habra Christian Church because it was doing the things a church is supposed to be doing: Emphasizing small groups, doing service projects, supporting missions and reaching out to nonbelievers.
So we were eager to join. Upon taking the Membership 101 Class, we hit a road block and it was called baptism. To join, we needed to be baptized.
At first, we weren't buying it. "We were baptized as infants," we said. "We've already been baptized, why do it again?"
With an open mind, Cindy and I went home and started reading what the Membership 101 booklet said about baptism. We also read the Bible.
The back of my Bible described the same things that Pastor Sherman had talked about in the membership class. I also happened to be re-reading "A Purpose Driven Life" around this time and wouldn't you know, the chapter I was about to read was one on baptism (a God thing, we decided).
Every baptism you read about in the Bible is by full immersion and it was someone who had just come to Christ. "Believe and be baptized," Jesus says.
We could not find one reference in the Bible about a baby being baptized; it was a man-made institution not one ordained by God, as Pastor Sherman had told us.
Even Jesus was an adult when he was baptized. What better example did we need?
Well, the more we read, the more it made no sense for a baby to be baptized because a baby is incapable of making a personal commitment to Christ.
As the Membership 101 booklet says, "Baptism doesn't make you a believer, it demonstrates that you already believe. Baptism is the place where you sign the covenant with God."
Cindy and I quickly came to the same conclusion: We needed to get baptized.
That very next Sunday, we were baptized together.
Upon rising out of the water, I felt something I had never felt before: The feeling that the Holy Spirit was within me. It all made sense. This was a spiritual rebirth. This was the act of Cindy and I being Born Again.
What an awesome gift! Praise God!
"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
Matthew 28:18-20
At La Habra Christian Church, we baptize those who have made a decision to believe in Christ's death as a payment for their sin. Are you ready to make a commitment to Christ and begin a new life in our Risen Lord? If so, please contact Pastor Sherman. Why wait?
Questions about Baptism
Videos showing Baptisms at LHCC
Testimonies