Worship
Sacraments
Sacraments are special signs of God’s grace, presence, and love, that we celebrate with a liturgy (a kind of program) and ceremony that reminds the gathered people of what God says about the special sign.
In the Christian Reformed Church, we have two sacraments, the Lord's Supper and Baptism.
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord's Supper, often called Communion or the Eucharist, is a celebration to remember Jesus' death for our sake. Jesus old us to celebrate his death and resurrection (coming back to life) when he had the "Last Supper" with the disciples. (Matthew 26:17–29; Mark 14:12–25; Luke 22:7–38; I Corinthians 11:23–25).
At San Jose CRC, we typically celebrate the Lord's Supper on the first Sunday of the month. We celebrate communion with our sister church, Friendship Agape Church, which shares our facility and is also part of the CRCNA denomination. All baptized believers--including children--who believe in Jesus Christ are welcome to the Lord’s Supper.
Baptism
The sacrament of baptism reminds us that “as surely as water washes away dirt from the body, so certainly [Christ’s] blood and his Spirit wash away . . . all [our] sins” (Heidelberg Catechism, Q. and A. 69). And because “infants as well as adults are in God’s covenant and are his people,” they, “no less than adults, are promised the forgiveness of sin” and thus “by baptism . . . should be received into the Christian church. . . . This was done in the Old Testament by circumcision, which was replaced in the New Testament by baptism” (Heidelberg Catechism, Q. and A. 74).
The usual method of baptism is by the sprinkling of water on the forehead of the person to be baptized, but other methods (such as immersion) may also be used.