What We Beleive
As a fully-cooperating Southern Baptist Church, we adhere to the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith & Message (2000). Below are a few of the core beliefs of our church. To view the complete Baptist Faith & Message (2000), please download the PDF format.
I. The Scriptures - The Bible is the Word of God
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21.
II. God - There is only one living and true God
God is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
Genesis 1; Deut. 6:4; Matthew 28:19-20; John 1:1-18; Acts 1:8
III. Salvation - Salvation is by Grace Alone
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. Man is sinful and does not have the ability to save himself, least of all by good works. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
John 3:16; 14:6; Romans 10:9; Ephesians 2:8-9
IV. Baptism - Immersion for the Believer
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.
Matthew 3:13-17; 28:19-20; Romans 6:3-5
V. The Church
The church is made up of born-again, baptized believers (Acts 2:41) who are organized to carry out the work of God - observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Christ is the head of each congregation. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
Colossians 1:18; Acts 13; Ephesians 5:23; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Acts 6:1-7
