Our Message of Eternal Salvation in Jesus Christ
Our most important belief as Christians is that Jesus wants to be our personal Savior. Before we list our beliefs for you, please take a moment to read what the Bible says about how you can become a Christian and be a Follower of Jesus:
The Bible says… “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life…” (I John 5:13). God wants us to know that we can go to heaven, but we must do it God’s way. First of all, we are all sinners. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) Because of our sin we are all under the penalty for sin. “The wages of sin (or payment for sin) is death…” (Romans 6:23) This penalty means eternal separation from God in an eternal Hell. However, God does not want anyone to go to Hell, so He sent His only Son, Jesus, to die and pay the penalty for our sins. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) God’s love is so great that He made a way for our sins to be forgiven. He offers His forgiveness and salvation freely. ” …but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) God offers Heaven as a gift, purchased with His blood when He willingly died on the cross in your place. But, like all gifts, it is not yours until you receive it. Here is how you can receive Christ. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) You must believe in your heart and ask the Lord to save you. “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13) This word “believe” is translated from a Greek word in the original writing of the Bible, and that Greek word means more than our English word “believe.” In the Bible “believing in Jesus” means not only that you believe that He was the Son of God, that He died for your sins, and that He arose from the dead; it also means that you have decided to completely trust Him with your life and to completely rely upon Him. It means that with God’s help you have decided to turn away from sinful living and make Jesus the Lord (that is, the boss) of your life. If you have that kind of belief and ask God to forgive you and save you, then the Bible promises that you will be saved.
Basic Advice for a New Believer: If you have just asked God to save you for the first time, then it is important for you to begin to study the Bible and pray every day so you can understand how God wants you to live, and so that you can begin to receive the blessings He has planned for you. It is also very important for you to start getting together with other Christians, so that you can all encourage each other to grow closer to God. When you are looking for a group of Christians (usually found in a church) to spend time with, you can ask them if they agree with the statements on this page. If they do not accept these basic Biblical beliefs they are not completely following Jesus Christ, and you should look until you find a group of Christians that accepts these beliefs. Christians are found in many different denominations of churches, so the name of the group is not important. We do not claim that our church knows all the truth about God or that we are the only true church, but these statements have been the basic truths of Christian churches for thousands of years. Of course, we welcome you to become a part of our church and seek to know God better with us. Now we pray that God will lead you to grow in your faith. May He lead you in all of your decisions and actions. God bless you. We love you and look forward to seeing you in Heaven after this life is over!
What We Believe
Many books have been filled with excellent teaching on what Christians believe. On this website we will not attempt to explain everything that Christians believe, since it takes a lifetime of following Jesus to grow in faith and in the knowledge of God. The following is a list of some of the most important things that our church believes:
We believe that:
- The Bible is the perfect Word of God. The Bible was verbally inspired by God, equally in all parts and without error in its original words, and the Bible has been preserved by the Holy Spirit in most generally accepted translations of the original writings. The Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and life and in all issues related to the church.
- There is only one God, the God of the Bible, and He is eternally existent as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He created mankind and the world from nothing by the power of His words.
- Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is divine (fully God), was incarnated (became fully man), pre-existed through all of eternity, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect and sinless life, performed incredible miracles, died a substitutionary death for sinners, was bodily resurrected from the grave, ascended into Heaven, and will come again to judge all the world and to gather all believers into eternal life with God.
- The Holy Spirit is one with God, was present in Creation, restrains the evil one, convicts the world of sin, bears witness to the good news of Jesus Christ, is active in the new birth of believers, and seals, indwells, guides, teaches, and helps believers, while working to make them holy.
- The devil (or Satan) is a living being. He is the deceived god of this age, the author of evil, who was defeated by Jesus on the Cross and will be eternally judged in the Lake of Fire when Jesus Christ comes again.
- God created a perfect world which was cursed by the fall of man. The “fall of man” refers to mankind’s original sin when they were deceived by Satan and disobeyed God’s commands. Consequently, humans are born with a depraved, fallen nature and are willful sinners. Man’s only hope is to be regenerated (born again, saved) on the basis of grace alone. Salvation is only possible as the Holy Spirit brings a person to turn from sin and to place his faith in the finished work of Christ alone. The believer should give public evidence of his faith by being baptized and by living a new holy life. At the second coming of Jesus Christ every person who has ever lived will be resurrected, with believers resurrected to eternal life and unbelievers resurrected to eternal damnation. This “Second Coming” of Jesus is sometime in the future but no one knows when it will occur.
- God established marriage and the home as a living illustration of the union of Jesus Christ and His church, with primary responsibility for training of children. God established civil government for the benefit and preservation of good order in human society. The government is to be honored, prayed for and obeyed except when contradicting Biblical commands. God established the local church as an independent body of baptized believers in Jesus Christ, living a life of righteous works, separated from worldly pleasures and lifestyles, witnessing of His saving grace, served by pastors and deacons with Biblical qualifications, observing the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word.
We repeat that this is not an exhaustive list of everything that our church believes, but it is a brief statement of our basic beliefs. Please come and seek God with us in Bible study as we all grow closer to God through Jesus Christ.
Our Motto: “Every Member A Minister”
Mission Statement
First Baptist is a family of brothers and sisters in Christ, walking together on the road of Christian discipleship. Guided and empowered by the Spirit, we strive to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Flowing from our love for God and people, we are committed to making disciples of all nations and giving witness to the kingdom of God in our own community and around the world.
Core Values
Our core values define the particular ways we seek to embody and fulfill our God-given mission. These values name the ways God has shaped us in the past. They describe the specific characteristics we believe the Lord has formed in us. These values guide us as we love God, love people, make disciples, and give witness to the kingdom in our particular context and with our specific gifts and resources.
We value our history and lasting relationships with God, each other, and our neighbors. We encourage each member in his or her own personal walk with God. We celebrate the small groups where close connections develop, even as we nurture the larger bond we share as congregation. We value relationships with people of different ages, races, and backgrounds – believing that a variety of perspectives enrich our corporate life and helps us discern the Spirit’s guidance. We intentionally develop relationships with people outside our church and invite them to follow Jesus with us.
We value service within our fellowship. Since the spiritual gifts, the personal presence, and the financial contributions of every member are needed if we are to be the people God desires us to be, we encourage each other to find our place of service within the church and to give ourselves fully to our work.
We value missions beyond the walls of our church buildings. Believing that God has called us to make disciples of all nations, we offer our financial resources to support missionaries around the world who proclaim the love of Christ. Recognizing that we have so much and that so many are in need, we give our time and financial resources to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and care for the sick. We are committed to serving as volunteer missionaries among the poor and un-churched in our own community and through mission trips – both domestic and international.
We value worship as the corporate expression of our love for God. God is the focus of worship. We worship to please the Lord, and in the process our lives are refocused, reoriented, and reshaped. From worship we are sent into the world as Christ’s ambassadors.
We value discipleship/prayer/spiritual growth. The Bible is central to all we do which means Bible study is at the core of our congregational life. Prayer is also central to our life together. We pray for each other and our church, for our neighbors, and for a world in need. As we study the Bible, pray, and give ourselves to relationships, service, missions, and worship – we grow spiritually as individuals and as a congregation.