The most important decision anyone will ever make is the decision to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 

John 1:12 says "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his Name, He gave the right to become children of God."
  
Here is a brief summary of man's condition and God's solution, including the biblical procedure for man's response to God's grace:

The Great Dilemma
A)  Man was separated from God through sin (Isaiah 59:1-2, Romans 5:12)

B)  Sin brought death -- physically and ultimately spiritually 
(Romans 5:12, 6:23;  Revelation 21:8)

C)  Everyone has this problem of sin, so without God's intervention, none has any hope. Paul declares that "the whole world is a prisoner of sin" (Galatians 5:22, see also Romans 3:23)

The Gospel (Good News)!!!
A)  God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sin, and to break the power of the sinful nature's control so that mankind could be reconciled to God. (John 3:16; Romans 5:9-11)

B)  Because of His unmerited grace and favor, God has initiated a "divine exchange" for those who give their lives to Him. -- Jesus gives believers His righteousness and takes upon Himself their sin and the curses associated with it. (2 Corinthians 5:21) A wonderful summary of this truth is found in Romans 5:1-2,6-11. Because of  this exchange, believers can enjoy fellowship with God and stand "perfect" before Him, the guilt of sin having been removed (Hebrews 10:14).

C)  There is therefore now "no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans  8:1).  All who have been reconciled to God through relationship with Jesus Christ will not be damned, but live and reign with Him throughout all eternity. (Romans 5:16-17;  Revelation 20:6;  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

How are people to respond to this good news of God's grace?
A)  Faith - When a person begins to seek the Lord with a pure heart, God grants faith to believe in Him. This faith releases His grace unto salvation. 
(Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 10:10)

B)  Repentance - A true, God-given faith will lead the new convert to give his/her life to Jesus and recognize that Jesus is not only Savior, but Lord and Master as well. God accepts people where they are, but transforms them,  making believers in Him new creatures, changing old habits of sin, (2 Corinthians 5:16-17,  Acts 2:36-39; 3:19-20) and conforming them into the likeness of Jesus Christ 
(Romans 8:29).

C)  Confession - One must confess with his/her mouth faith in Jesus as God's Son and declare Him to be Lord and Master (Romans 10:9-10;  Philippians 2:11).  This is often done in the context of a "sinner's prayer" prior to water baptism.

D)  Water Baptism - Water baptism is a physical picture of a spiritual event.
 In this holy act, a person identifies figuratively with the death , burial, and resurrection of Christ, as well as declaring himself dead to the "old man" of sin, and alive to God through Jesus Christ. (Romans 6:1-14, Colossians 2:9-12)

Related Issues:

Savior, but not Lord
There are many people who have been taught that Jesus can be one's personal Savior without really being Lord of their lives.  This teaching has no basis in scripture and is dangerous.  It leads people to believe they are "o.k." when in fact they are not.  The scriptures teach that on judgment day there will be people who call Jesus "Lord" and expect to be saved but will be rejected by Him because He never knew them. (read carefully Matthew 7:18-23) Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." (Luke 9:23) To follow Jesus, converts must be willing to let Him take control of their lives.  It is only in the "losing" of our lives (i.e. releasing control to Him) that we find real life in Him.

This does not imply that people must be perfect and sinless to be saved.  It does imply, however, that there must be an earnest desire to cooperate with God, allowing Him to control our lives by the power of His Spirit (Romans 8:9-11).

Sinner's Prayer
A "sinner's prayer" is a prayer offered to God by one who is desiring to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord.  Although we do not find a formula for sinner's prayers in the New Testament, we certainly find scriptures that encourage us to use this approach.

"...the tax collector stood at a distance.  He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said,'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' (Luke 18:13)

"And everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved." 
(Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13)

A sinner's prayer is part of one's confession of Christ.  It is also usually the time when repentance is realized and faith is confessed (Romans 10:9-10).  It is therefore often through this prayer that spiritual life if conceived in the heart and the new convert passes from death to life. The scriptures teach that when saving faith is released in the heart, salvation is guaranteed -- forgiveness and justification have been extended by Christ and received by the new believer. (Acts 10:43; 13:39)

This place of prayer can be compared to human conception.  Spiritual life has been released inside the new Christian.  This sinner's prayer should be soon followed by water baptism which biblically is compared to the actual birth event itself (John 3:3-5). Water baptism is not the point where spiritual life comes into existence, but it is the place where that new life formally emerges into the community of faith as a disciple of Jesus Christ and part of His body, the church. 

Water Baptism 
According to Romans 6, water baptism embodies the new believer's identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, as well his/her death to the "old self".  In other words, in baptism one declares his trust in the sacrifice of Jesus, as well as his commitment to let go of the life controlled by sin and selfish desires, and allow the Spirit of Jesus to come in and be Master and Lord of his life.

Because of what baptism signifies, it is important that all believers be obedient to Christ in water baptism soon after they commit their lives to Him.  Some have so separated baptism from the moment one receives Christ that the beauty and significance of the act has been lost.  Many have thought that baptism merely adds one formally to the church.  We know that baptism does officially add new believers to the family of God (1 Corinthians 12:13), but we must remember that the primary message of water baptism is the message of salvation.  That is why Peter said "...baptism now saves you...not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.  It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ... " (1 Peter 3:21)  This is not to say water baptism is the point of salvation, but that it embodies or typifies salvation.  The critical transformation, even in this passage, is the inner transformation of the heart.   The act of water baptism is a physical picture and type of the inner work of salvation.  For this reason, at Harvest Christian Fellowship we will always speak of water baptism as the climatic point of formal entry into the Kingdom of God and the fellowship of the church.  Water baptism is necessary for all who have believed in their hearts and confessed with their mouths.  Jesus says, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved."
(Mark 16:16)

Logistics of Water Baptism:

Baptismal Service
We will have periodic baptismal assemblies where all baptismal candidates are blessed by the church and baptized publicly.  We encourage baptismal candidates to prepare for this holy occasion and to use it as an opportunity to invite friends and family that may not know the Lord to one of our assemblies.

Who shall baptize
The Bible does not give us specific instruction in regard to who is authorized to baptize.  We do see in the New Testament however, that baptisms were generally done by church leaders.  For water baptisms at Harvest, we will always have one of our leaders in the water assisting with the baptism.  If a parent or friend wants to be involved with the leader in baptizing their loved one, they are invited to join the leader in the water and to do the baptism together.
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Mode of baptism
The word translated baptism or baptize in the New Testament means "to immerse" in the original Greek.  Immersion is essential to maintain the analogy that water baptism pictures death, burial, and resurrection.  All baptisms at Harvest Christian Fellowship will be by immersion, and we encourage any who have not been immersed to prayerfully consider following the Lord in this manner.

Baptismal formulas
There are two main baptismal formulas given to us in the New Testament.  The first is given by Jesus in the great commission:  "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..."  (Matthew 28:19)
  
The second is given by Peter in his sermon at Pentecost:  "Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins (or it could be translated "because of, or with a view towards the forgiveness of your sins")  and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."  (Acts 2:38)

Much division has occurred in the body of Christ because of differing opinions regarding which baptismal formula should be used. Church history reveals that in some circles both formulas plus many other scriptures relating to baptism were read over the baptismal candidates prior to their immersion.  Elsewhere, in the early history of the church, candidates were actually immersed three times in the water -- one for each one of God's manifestations as represented by the Trinity.

My viewpoint is that it does not really matter to God what formula is spoken over the baptismal candidate.  What is important is what is in his/her heart, and what is his/her understanding of what is happening in this holy event.  My common practice is to talk with the candidate about what baptism signifies, and to discuss their commitment to Christ. 

Then I pray prophetically over the brother or sister in the water and baptize them "into Jesus Christ, in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." 

Interestingly enough this so called Trinitarian baptismal formula actually preserves the concept of the oneness of God, for the Greek word for "Name" in this passage (Matthew 28:20) is in the singular form, signifying that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all facets of the one God.  The phrase "for the forgiveness of sins" does not imply that water baptism is the point of salvation, but that salvation is the point or message of water baptism -- in other words that forgiveness of sins is what is typified and communicated through this act of obedience to Jesus Christ.

Baptizing Children
Since water baptism is not just a formal way of joining the church, but is also the place where believers die to self and sin and declare Jesus Christ as the Lord of their lives, it is important that we do not put pressure on children at an early age to take this important step. Most of our children will be ready to ask Jesus to come into their hearts at a very early age -- often before they fully understand sin, righteousness, and the Lordship of Jesus. 

I would therefore recommend that while you may lead your children in prayers  asking Jesus to come and reveal Himself in and through their lives, that you wait to baptize these children until they feel the need based on the conviction of the Holy Spirit working in their hearts.  Water baptism should not be something that we decide for the children, but something that they decide for themselves as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Re-baptism
Some have wondered if they need to be re-baptized after a time of backsliding in their lives.  My viewpoint is that if they know they have walked for a long time away from the Lord, water baptism could symbolize for them the same new beginning that it does for new converts.  In cases like these, God can powerfully use water baptism as a place for deliverance and a fresh start.

On the other hand, there are those who struggle with guilt, condemnation, and  unworthiness.  They find themselves constantly questioning the validity of their own faith as well as their initial water baptism experience.  Most brothers or sisters in this situation do not need to be baptized again, just to receive ministry from someone in the body, and a deeper revelation from God regarding His mercy, grace, and power. (John 13:6-10)