Beliefs
What We Believe:
God
We believe in one God existing eternally in 3 persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is the creator of all that is (Gen 1:1) when he created the entire universe out of nothing. He is eternal which means he has always existed, before anything was created (Ps 90:2). God has always been, is today, and always will exist as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is the starting point of all of our doctrine and practice. Humans are created for God’s good purposes and for his glory, having been created as his image bearers so that his glory would be seen throughout all the earth (Gen 1:26-27). We believe that God is the source of all things (Rom 11:36).
The Trinity
We believe God exists eternally as a community of persons: 3 persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one God (2 Cor 13:14). According to the Scriptures, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are coequal and coeternal. God has always been and will always be Father, Son and Spirit. We believe God the Father sent Jesus Christ his only son by the power of the Holy Spirit to seek and to save sinful humanity (Lk 19:10). Following Christ’s crucifixion and before he ascended to heaven he commanded his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19-20). The Spirit was given at Pentecost (Acts 2:4) but was present at creation (Gen 1:2) and is present throughout the Scriptures. The Spirit is the helper who indwells the follower of Christ (Jn 14:16-17) and the seal given to those who believe in Christ (Eph 1:13), helping those who follow Jesus to truly live as “new creations” (2 Cor 5:17).
Baptism
As Southern Baptists, we believe in believers baptism as the entrance into the church. Our Lord Jesus preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Lk 3:3), and we believe all who believe in Christ are commanded to repent of their sins and be baptized (Acts 2:38). For this reason we restrict the waters of baptism to those who can give a credible profession of faith, understanding baptism as one’s declaration to the world that they belong to Jesus. We believe baptism to be the seal and symbol that a follower of Christ is born again and has repented of their sins and turned to Christ.
Sin
Sin is what separates us from a holy God. The apostle Paul says in Romans 14:23, “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve rebelled against God by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree. Their sinful decision banished them from the Garden because they had disobeyed God’s command. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” The sin that began with Adam and Eve affects us all still today. Romas 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Because of our sinful condition, we are not right. We are separated from God, being “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1) and “by nature children of wrath” (Eph 2:3). Because of our sinful condition, we need a Savior, and we believe this Savior to be Jesus Christ.
The Church
The church is the body of Christ. It is comprised of born-again followers of Jesus Christ. We believe the church is called to meet regularly (Heb 10:25) on the Lord’s Day, the day that Jesus rose from the grave, the first day of the week. The gathering of the church is depending upon two things: Word and sacrament. The church is where God’s Word is rightly preached and the two sacraments, baptism (for believers) and the Lord’s Supper are rightly administered. We gather as the body of Christ in order to worship the Lord through singing his praises, hearing from his Word, and communing with other believers. While we meet as a church in our church building, we believe the church is a people.
Salvation
God created Adam and Eve without sin but in the Garden of Eden they rebelled against him and ate from the tree he had commanded them not to. After the fall of humankind in Genesis 2, sin entered the world because of man’s disobedience. All people are born into sin (1 Kings 8:46) and are dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1-2). Apart from the saving intervention of Jesus Christ, none would be saved, because sin affects everyone (Rom 3:23). We believe salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom 10:9). All who repent of their sins and believe in the Gospel receive salvation (Jn 3:16). We believe in the resurrection of the dead, that just as Jesus died and rose again, so those who follow him will be resurrected at the Second Coming (1 Cor 15:21-22). All who place saving faith in Jesus Christ will be saved (Jn 17:3).
Jesus Christ
We believe Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. Jesus is the Word who was in the beginning with God, yet was God (Jn 1:1) and took on human flesh and dwelt among sinful humanity (Jn 1:14). He was born of the virgin Mary and lived a completely sinless life while on earth (Heb 4:15). He died on the cross for sinners and redeemed those who were under the law so that they might receive adoption as sons (Gal 4:4-5). Jesus is our new covenant mediator, the one who inaugurates the new covenant with his own blood (Jer 31:31-34, Lk 22:20). Through the blood of Christ his people are redeemed and their trespasses are forgiven (Eph 1:7).
Jesus Christ is the substitutionary sacrifice for sin (Rom 3:24-25) so that all who place faith in Jesus receive salvation (Rom 10:9). Jesus is the eternal purpose of God through whom we have boldness and access back to God (Eph 3:12). He is the head of church (Col 1:18) and by him, through him and for him all things were created (Col 1:15-16). Jesus not only atoned for sinners in his death upon the cross but he provided an example of what Godly living looks like. He lived a sinless life and provided this example for us to live by so that we would imitate him and walk in holiness (Eph 4:1).
Church Membership
The Greek work for “church” in the New Testament is “assembly,” meaning a church is not the building but the people. When the people gather, the “church” gathers, and the Scriptures give us reason to believe in church membership. Membership in our church is reserved for those who have (1) committed their lives to Jesus Christ to be their Savior and Lord (Eph 2:8-9), (2) specifically requested membership, (3) been Biblically baptized by immersion (Acts 2:41), (4), been approved for membership, (5) maintained qualifications of active members.
We believe in church membership because it is how the world knows who represents Jesus. Jesus is the head of the church, and his people are his body. It is God’s design from the Scriptures that his people be committed to a body. Church membership does not save someone, but a church member is someone who is recognized by others as a Christian and part of the universal body of Christ. It is a way of tangibly knowing who is a part of the flock.