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Heaven is a perfect place. We're imperfect. There's not a chance in a zillion you're ever going to get to go there on your own good works. You'll never be good enough. So God came to earth in the form of Jesus Christ -- that's why we celebrate Christmas and Easter. He died on the cross to pay for my sins and He says, "If you'll accept Me, you can come into heaven on My ticket. Not only that, you can begin to experience real life here on earth right now."

What does God want me to do?

• Admit. I admit that God has not been first place in my life and I ask Him to forgive my sins. "If we confess our sins He's faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from every wrong."
• Believe. I believe that Jesus Christ died to pay for my sins and that He rose on Easter and is alive today. "If you confess that Jesus is your Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
• Accept. Accept God's free gift of salvation. Don't try to earn it. "It is by grace you are saved through faith and it is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works so no one could boast." You don't get there on your own effort. You get there just by accepting God's free gift. Our relationship to Christ is not restored by anything we do, but on the basis on what Jesus Christ already did for us on Calvary.
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  Invite. Invite Jesus Christ to come into my life and be the director or Lord of my life. No longer am I calling the shots in my life. Jesus Christ is the manager of my life. He's the CEO. He's the President, the boss-man. He's the director of my life. "To all who receive Him, He gives the right to become the children of God. All we need to do is to trust Him to save us. All those who believe this are reborn. Not a physical rebirth but from the will of God." You must believe and receive.

Why should I be baptized?

• To follow the example set by Christ. Mark 1:9 "At that time Jesus came from Nazareth and was baptized by John in the river." Why was Jesus baptized? In order to save Him? No, He didn't need to be saved. He was perfect. Baptism doesn't save you. It is a symbol of obedience and it's an example that we are to do what He has done.
• Because Christ commands it. Christ commands that every Christian be baptized. "Jesus said, `Go then to all people and (1) make them My disciples, (2) baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and (3) teach them to obey everything I have commanded you." These are the three things the church is commanded to do: Make disciples -- help people come to know Christ; Baptize them; Help them grow up.
• It demonstrates that I'm really a believer. The Bible says, "Many of the people who heard Him believed and were baptized." Baptism doesn't make you a Christian. It just shows that you are a Christian. It's just an outward symbol of an inward commitment. It is your commitment to Christ that saves you.

What is the meaning of baptism?

• It illustrates Christ's burial and resurrection. "Christ died for our sins. He was buried and He rose again." the Bible says "For when you were baptized you were buried with Christ and in baptism you were also raised with Christ." At OHCC we baptize the way they did in the Bible -- putting people all the way under the water. It is a symbol of a burial and resurrection.
• Baptism illustrates my new life as a Christian. 2 Corinthians 5:17 "When anyone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. The old life has passed away and a new life has begun." In the Bible, there was no such thing as a person claiming to be a Christian and not be baptized. It was automatic. You were baptized as soon as you gave your life to Christ.
  
  "By our baptism then, we were buried with Him and shared His death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead so we also may live a new life." It doesn't make you a Christian, it shows you already believe.

Who should be baptized?

Every person who has believed in Christ. "Those who believed and accepted His message were baptized." Acts 8:13, "Simon himself believed and was baptized." Acts 8:12, "But when they believed Philip as he preached the Good News and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women."

At OHCC, we wait until our children are old enough to believe and understand the true meaning of baptism before we baptize them. There is only one qualification in the Bible to be baptized. You've got to believe in Christ. Obviously you've got to be old enough to understand what that's all about. The purpose is to publicly confess your personal commitment to Christ.

When should you be baptized?

As soon as you become a believer. Or as soon as you realize its importance. Maybe you've been a believer for a while but you didn't realize how important it was. Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." In Acts it says those who believed were baptized that day.

That's only one of the two symbols of salvation. The other is the Lord's Supper. It's interesting that Jesus never asked His disciples to remember His birth, but He did instruct them to remember His death and resurrection. He gave the church two visible symbols called ordinances. We do not call Baptism and the Lord's Supper, sacraments. We don't call them that because the word sacrament means it saves you. We don't believe baptism saves you and we don't believe the Lord's Supper saves you. The Bible says they are symbols of your salvation, not things that make you saved. So technically they are not sacraments. We call them ordinances because they were ordained by God for Christians to remember Jesus' death. The Lord's Supper is an object lesson that represents a great spiritual truth.

What is the Lord's Supper?

• It is a simple act. The Bible says that the very first communion, the Lord Jesus, on the night that He was betrayed, took bread and broke it. The Lord's Supper is a very simple act. He took bread and He took wine and He gave it to the people.
• It is a reminder. "And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, `This is My body which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'" The whole purpose of the Lord's Supper is for us to remember what Jesus did on the cross.
• It is a symbol. "In the same way, He took the cup, saying, `This cup is the new covenant in My blood; drink it to remember Me.'" When Jesus said, This bread is My body and this cup is My blood, He didn't mean that literally. When He said this, He hadn't even gone to the cross yet. He hadn't died yet. Obviously, He's talking about a symbol, not His actual blood. He hadn't even gone to the cross yet.
• It's a statement of faith. "For whenever you eat the bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes back." When you take of the Lord's Supper, you're preaching a sermon. There's a forward look and a backward look. We look forward to the fact that Jesus is coming back and He says do this until He comes back. And we look back at the cross. Jesus didn't stay dead. He's coming back again.