Wherever you are on your faith journey –just starting or a few years in,
Gateway is a place for you to take your next step, all while keeping your eyes on Jesus.
Salvation & Baptism
We believe that God created the world and everything in it, including you, and He wants to begin a personal, one-on-one relationship with you today. Baptism is going public about your faith. It’s the next step after salvation.
Give in Ministry
We demonstrate our love for others and our love for God by serving in our communities and in our local church. The local church is the hope of the world. Discover how your gifts and talents equip you to serve.
Membership
Membership is getting off the sidelines and getting involved. We offer membership classes where you’ll learn the vision and values of Gateway. You’ll learn about Gateway’s mission, beliefs, core values, and how you can be a part of what the Lord is doing here.
Go on Mission
Leave your comfort zone. You were created for this! Mission is a lifestyle that extends beyond our community to the world. Just as the Father sent the Son, we are sent. Lean more about Gateway on mission.
Grow in Groups
Real spiritual growth happens best when we team together with others in small groups and and serve on mission together. Refuse to live life alone, because life is greatest when it’s enjoyed with others. See more about how we do life together.
Care & Recovery
Find freedom and grow spiritually. Gateway’s Care Groups offer support for people in similar circumstances. Participants are seeking to share experiences with others. Get connected.
More information about Salvation and Baptism
SALVATION
We believe that God created the world and everything in it, including you, and He wants to begin a personal, one-on-one relationship with you today.
THERE IS AN INCREDIBLE, EPIC STORY THAT IS TOLD IN THIS INCREDIBLE BOOK THAT WE CALL THE BIBLE.
It begins with God creating the world. He created all the things in it, and finished by creating man and woman in His own image. Adam and Eve had a special relationship with God and with one another that was incredible and perfect.
That is, until sin entered the picture, and man decided to trust his own inclinations and go his own way. At the moment of their sin, a collapse occurred in creation and man began to hide from God. The beautiful relationship that they had once had was gone. God’s response was to curse Adam and Eve along with along with all of creation. So, Adam and Eve and ultimately the rest of humanity suffer utter brokenness before God and one another. Even in Genesis, we see glimmers of hope pointing to the redemption that was coming and really what the whole Bible is pointing toward!
IN FACT, GOD HAD NOT ABANDONED HIS CREATION.
He goes to great lengths to call out a people to Himself. In fact, God would use this people to bless all nations, and ultimately from this nation would come His very own Son who would live out his life teaching, doing miracles, loving sinners, and moving toward the cross where He would take the punishment for sin on Himself. The final enemy, death, would be defeated as Jesus rose from the grave on the third day after His death! The news of His resurrection spread like wildfire and Jesus told His followers to go and make disciples of all the nations and after the coming of the Holy Spirit, they would do just that!
Today, we look back at these incredible truths as we await Jesus promise to return for His people to be fulfilled. When this happens, evil will finally be judged and believers will live forever in an eternity that we cannot even begin to imagine! Relationship with God has been restored and all things will be made new even better than the Garden of Eden!
When the Bible explains how to be a follower of Christ, it really uses two words: repentance and faith. Faith is simply believing that your only way to heaven is Jesus and His sacrifice. It is placing all of your hope in Him and making Him the Boss of your life. Repentance means that you turn around the direction of your life. We become willing to turn away from our selfish, sinful direction and walk the other way toward Jesus. When we come to Him in repentance and faith, He places His Spirit in us and we are never the same! He changes us from the inside out. We have a new direction, and we have Jesus to walk with us!
WHAT’S NEXT?
If you’ve made the decision to follow Jesus, or if you still have questions, we’d love to talk with you about it. Stop by Gateway this Sunday, call us at 901.837.8087, or send us a message. We want to help you take your next steps and learn how to follow Jesus.
BAPTISM
Baptism is going public about your faith in Jesus and communicating to the world your heart-felt commitment to following Him. It’s the next step after salvation.
QUESTIONS ABOUT BAPTISM?
People often have questions regarding baptism: Why should I be baptized? What if I’ve already been baptized—do I have to do it again? Does it matter if someone is sprinkled or dunked? Take a few minutes to read the answers to these 6 common questions about baptism.
WHAT IS BAPTISM?
Baptism is an outward expression of an inward change. It’s a public declaration of how Jesus changed your life. Being baptized shows others that you’ve decided to follow Jesus, and allows them to celebrate this decision with you (Acts 16:31-34).
Baptism doesn’t save a person; it’s a symbol and celebration of salvation (1 Peter 3:21). The power that brought Jesus back to life is the same power Jesus uses to change our lives – and that’s worth getting excited about!
WHY SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED?
Jesus instructs us to be baptized and set the example by being baptized (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 1:9).
Obedience to Jesus shows we believe and follow Him. (1 John 2:3). Because Jesus went public about His love for us, we can go public about our love for Him. Being baptized shows that we turn away from a life of sin toward Jesus, the only one who can change us (Acts 2:38-41).
WHEN’S THE BEST TIME TO BE BAPTIZED?
For everyone who decides to follow Jesus, baptism is the next step. Anyone who commits his or her life to following Jesus is ready to be baptized (Acts 8:12).
DO YOU BAPTIZE CHILDREN?
As parents, we can help point our children to Jesus, but they are the ones to decide if they will commit their lives to Him (Romans 10:9).
Any instance of baptism follows a person’s decision to trust Jesus for his or her salvation and commitment to follow Him (Acts 10:47-48). At Gateway, we wait until children are old enough to express their own decision to follow Jesus and understand the meaning of baptism.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IMMERSING, SPRINKLING AND OTHER WAYS OF BAPTIZING?
Baptisms in the Bible were by immersion. The original word for baptism most often referred to being immersed or submerged in water. Jesus was baptized by being immersed in the water and rising out of it (Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10).
Submersion in the water symbolizes the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Being submersed underwater represents our death to sin and old way of life, and being raised out of the water is a picture of how Jesus raised us and gave us a fresh start in life (Romans 6:3-5).
DO I NEED TO BE BAPTIZED AGAIN?
If you haven’t been baptized by immersion since you decided to follow Jesus, we want to help you take your next step of being baptized. Once you’ve taken that step, there’s no need to be baptized again.
God never asks us to take a next step that isn’t good for us. He always gives us more than we deserve or can imagine, including the joy we receive from listening to Him and doing what He says.
“6 Common Questions About Baptism” by John Weirick – NewSpring.cc
GO PUBLIC WITH YOUR FAITH