Baptism of Water (Jn 1:33; Act 10:47; Mar 1:8; Act 8:36-38; Act 19:1-6) 

Christian baptism is the sacrament of initiation into life in Christ. It marks the beginning of the journey of faith and discipleship that lasts throughout one’s life. In baptism a person is immersed in water, or water is poured or sprinkled upon him or her, in the triune name of God (D. Migliore 2014). We believe baptism of water as church tradition has handed to us is symbolic (1 Co 10:2 ). Christian Baptism is the immersion of the believer in water in the name of the Father, who is the Son and Holy Spirit. Baptism is ritualistic and public according to church tradition which we hold unto.

• Being immersed in the water symbolizes your being cleansed from sin (1 Pet 3:21)

• Being lowered into the water is a symbol of the burial of Christ. You are burying your old self (Col 2:12)

• Being raised from the water is a symbol of the resurrected Christ. You have a new life in Him (Col 2:12)

• Baptism is a symbol of the Holy Spirit coming upon you as a new believer (1 Cor 12:13)

• Baptism is a public symbol of you becoming a part of God's church (1 Cor 12:13).

In CCC, we believe those who are dipped by complete emersion feel cared for, feel welcome into the family of God, feel purged and initiated into their new life-long journey of faith in the Lord Jesus. We are also sufficiently aware that without salvation which is truly and only by faith in Jesus, baptism is a merely redundant ritual. We know it contributes little, if anything at all, to true salvation.We however believe it is important to have a consistent church tradition for the sake of those who are new to the faith to feel ceremonially initiated into the church. Where it is impossible to immerse completely, the Church Council can refer to instances in Ecclesiastic History and decide what method to use.

Church Meetings:

It is very important to meet regularly as fellowships on days and times agreed upon by the Councils of our various churches here in the CCC (Act 2:42-47, Heb 10: 24-25). We believe these are some important benefits of faithfully taking part in church meetings:

• We are instructed it is good work to meet regularly in the last days (Heb 10: 24-25)

•We are told the Lord is present in our corporate meetings (Mat 18:20)

•We study the word of Christ richly when we gather (Col 3:16)

• We are equipped/trained by the elders for the work of ministry when we meet (Eph 4:11)

•We see the steadfast and devoted ones in times of fellowship (Act 2:42)

•We build our faith when we meet to hear the word (Rom 10:17 )

•We receive care when we meet (Act 20:28)

•We give offerings, worship and pray when we meet (Isa 56:7, Mat 21:13 & Exo 34:20, 1Co 16:1)

•We by this put God first in all our dealings (Mat 6:33).

We

are dedicated to providing a space for heartfelt worship and connection with God.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Mat 3:11, Acts 1:4–5, Act 11:16, Joh 1:33):

We believe that true Christian baptism which makes us believers is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost). This expression mainly found in the Gospels and Acts refer to our salvation. This is the same as baptism into the body of our Lord or the new birth (1Co 12:13).le

Speaking in tongues (Mark 16:17-18, Acts 19:1-6):

We believe so much that whoever is born of the Spirit is baptized into the Spirit but not all people who are baptized into the Spirit operate in this gift of tongues until they are shown in the Scriptures, prayed for or imparted by the laying on of hands. We believe as well that people can receive the gift of tongues the same day they were saved. Some others may choose never to speak in tongues in our midst once they do not have the understanding we have generally. We believe in liberty in operation of spiritual gifts. We believe as well in maximal use of our gifts, the way it benefits us individually and our community of faith. The manifestation of the power of the Holy Ghost in the church makes the supernatural natural and ministry in our view expedited.

The importance of speaking in tongues:

• Speaking in tongues is an initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4)

• He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself (1 Cor. 14:4)

• Speaking in tongues stimulates faith (Jude 1:20)

• We speak in tongues to magnify God (Acts 10:46)

• Speaking in tongues tames the tongue (James 3:1–12)

• Tongues interpreted are used to edify and strengthen the church (1 Cor 14:4&12)

• Tongues help us to pray without ceasing (1 Th 5:17)

• Speaking in tongues is a spiritual weapon (Eph 6:18).

6. Evangelism:

This means communicating the gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit in such a way that men and women have valid opportunity to receive the life of God by proclaiming their faith in the Lordship of Jesus and to become responsible and addicted members of the local church.

•We all attach great importance to evangelism (Rom 10:13-15: Mar 16:15-16)

•We are all qualified to evangelize (Act 1:8, Acts 4:18-19)

•We evangelize wholeheartedly anticipating our eternal rewards (Dan 12:3: 1 Cor 9:16-18, 25)

•We give relentlessly to support evangelistic and missionary activities through our ministry opportunities (2 Co 9:8, Phil 1:5, Deu 8:18).

Ministry Opportunities:

In the CCC, there are many auxiliary ministry organizations that are designed to make our mission speedily executed. Their works do not focus on church services or meetings. They have to do with matters interconnecting the church to the outside world, making the mission of CCC to be more easily accomplished. 

study sessions offer deeper insights into the Scriptures and promote spiritual growth.

The Lord’s Supper: 

The sacrament called the Lord’s Supper has many other names — Holy Communion, Eucharist, Divine Liturgy, the Breaking of Bread. The Lord's Supper (Communion) is a symbolic act by which, according to church tradition, believers remember the death of Jesus and anticipate His return. The bread and wine symbolize the body and blood of Jesus respectively (Mat 26:26-30, 1 Cor 11:26)

There have been many interpretations of the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. These four out of the many have been especially influential. The first is the traditional Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. According to this view, the “substance” of the elements of bread and wine is transformed by the power of God into the substance of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The “accidents” or outward form, of the elements — those qualities that can be seen, tasted, and felt — remain the same. This view presupposes Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophical concepts and distinctions that are no longer familiar to most people.

In more recent Catholic theology, new interpretations of the doctrine of transubstantiation have been proposed. According to one suggestion, there is a transignification (a change of meaning) of bread and wine, while according to another there is a transfinalization of the elements (a change of end or purpose). The point of these interpretations is that what something is cannot be separated from its context and use. Changes in context and use entail changes in meaning and identity, as when a piece of paper becomes in another context a letter bearing a message. Although it has not been recognized in official Catholic teaching, it has the potential of overcoming some of the disagreement among the churches about the “changing of the elements” .

Another view of the presence of Christ in the sacrament is the Lutheran doctrine of “sacramental unity”. This is sometimes called consubstantiation, although Luther himself did not use this term. While Luther rejected the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation as a binding theory, his own doctrine of the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper is emphatically objective and realistic in Migliore’s view. Christ is present “in, with, and under” the elements of bread and wine, as fire permeates and envelops a glowing ember. The Lutheran doctrine stresses that Christ is present not just “spiritually” but bodily. And he is present even to those who eat unworthily and to their judgment. The idea of a merely “spiritual” presence of Christ was anathema to Luther. “No God like that for me!” he declared.

According to Luther, a strong emphasis on the bodily presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper entailed the ubiquity of his body. If God’s power is present and active in all places, so too the body of Christ can be present in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in all the churches of Christendom at the same time. This doctrine of ubiquity proved to be a contentious point between Lutheran and Reformed theologians, the Lutherans insisting on the unity of the divine and human natures of Christ and hence the participation of his exalted humanity in the omnipresence of God, the Reformed wanting to protect the true humanity of the risen Christ and hence his retention of all the defining properties of a true human nature according to .

A third view of the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper is found in the central strand of the Calvinist or Reformed tradition. This interpretation agrees with Catholics and Lutherans in affirming the real presence of Christ, but emphasizes that Christ is present by the uniting power of the Holy Spirit and is received by faith. On the one hand, he resists interpretations of the Lord’s Supper like transubstantiation and consubstantiation that in his judgment mechanically affix Christ to the elements; on the other hand, he rejects views that deny that Christ is really and efficaciously present in the Supper.

For Calvin, in our faithful eating of the bread and drinking of the wine, Christ joins us to himself by the grace and power of his Spirit. Christ is present in the entire Eucharistic action rather than in the elements viewed in isolation from the use God makes of them. Thus when Calvin says that Christ is present not corporeally but “spiritually,” he means that Christ is really present to faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. He does not mean that Christ is present only figuratively, or as a mere idea or memory, or only in his divine nature divorced from his humanity. “The sacraments,” Calvin says, “profit not a whit without the power of the Holy Spirit”

Still another interpretation is known as the memorialist doctrine. The celebration of the Lord’s Supper is essentially a memorial or reminder of what Christ did for human salvation in his passion, death, and resurrection. The language of lively or vivid “memory” replaces the language of “real presence” in this interpretation of the Lord’s Supper. What are traditionally called “sacraments” are, from the memorialist perspective, more appropriately named “ordinances.” Christ has instituted these ordinances and has commanded his followers to express their loyalty to him by continuing to practice them. The ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are, therefore, essentially acts of commitment and obedience. They are means by which Christians tell the story of Christ and his saving work and their own participation in and identification with him. Christians recall the drama of salvation and declare their commitment, loyalty, and obedience to Christ by these symbolic acts of baptism and Lord’s Supper.

We in the CCC are however aware that whoever has eternal life has eaten His flesh and drunk His blood already by faith (Jn 6:54). We also have the mind of Christ and carry Him in our consciousness (1 Co 2:16). With this insight notwithstanding, we see Jesus attending feasts and ceremonies in the Gospels (Paul made use of some ceremonial days and the Law to advance the course of the Gospel (Act 17:2, Act 18:4, Act 21:24-26, Act 20:16, Act 28:23).

We see some anecdotal validity in this practice of the sacrament here in the CCC. We see the sick healed, the weak strengthened, the care-needy receiving strength by participating in what has become generally perceived as the Lord’s Supper. We administer this sacrament as we deem needful.