We Believe

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

---We Believe

 

The Bible and Salvation

  • This church receives the Bible and its teachings as the all-sufficient basis of doctrine and practice.
  • We believe in the triune God, who is eternally one God in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17 and John 14:15-17).
  • We believe that salvation and eternal life is available to all who trust Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8).
  • We proclaim the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).
  • We believe that God is sovereign over all and this sovereignty is expressed and realized through Jesus Christ (Psalm 135:6 and Psalm 103:19).
 

Biblical Authority

  • We believe the Bible is the sufficient and final rule of faith and practice, and it is an open book for each believer to read and interpret responsibly for him/herself.  (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
  • We believe that the Bible is God’s revealed message to all and has final authority for us in all matters of Christian faith and practice.
  • In particular it reveals to us the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as the One whom we are to love, serve and obey.
 

Priesthood of the Believer

  • We believe in religious liberty and that freedom in matters of religion is an inherent right of the human soul.
  • Religious freedom means the unrestrained right of the individual to approach God.
  • Baptists have no priests, save the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ.
 

Biblical Marriage

We believe, according to the Scriptures, that God’s design for marriage is between one man and one woman.

 

Autonomy of the Local Church

We believe in independent self-rule of the church.

 

Religious Liberty

We believe there should be a separation between the church and the state, and that there should be no levy of taxes instituted to support or aid in a particular faith or form of worship, nor should there be any action taken by government that might accord a special status, privilege or priority to any religious organization.
 

Church Composition

We believe this church is composed of believers in Christ who have made a public profession of their faith in Christ, been baptized by immersion, gather as a believer’s church, share in the Lord’s Supper and live their faith as visible saints.
 

Learn more

  • For a video about what we believe, click HERE.
  • For a video giving insight into what a disciple truly is, click HERE.
  • We are affiliated with American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky. For our denominational statement of faith, please click HERE.
 
 

---Practices

 
Join us in doing what Jesus told us to do.
 
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances of the church and not a means of salvation. They are symbols of great truths taught in the Scriptures.
 

The Bible

As stated above, we believe the Bible to be the inerrant, infallible, and inspired Word of God. As such, all teachings are from the Bible, including sermons and classes. We encourage all members to own a good translation of the Bible and to not only read it, but to study, memorize, and think upon it daily. By focusing our minds on the Word of God, the Holy Spirit of God will transform us more and more into the image of Jesus Christ, the Lord and our Savior.
 
Our love and loyalty to the Word of God is not a work of salvation, but a response to our salvation, as we see the words of Jesus Christ as the words of life.  There is no other book ever written or to be written which will hold an equal place of authority in our lives. We see the Bible as God’s love letter to His people, and His people, saved by His grace, respond to the Bible accordingly by the work of the Holy Spirit, who is our primary teacher and counselor in all matters of faith and lifestyle.
 

Baptism

Scriptural baptism is the immersion of the believer in water symbolizing the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. Grace is given where medical conditions do not allow immersion.
 

Communion

The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the church and is observed in commemoration of the suffering and death of Christ and the expectation of His return.
 

Prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit

Jesus Christ modeled a life of prayer. In fact, His ministry has been rightly described as a prayer ministry, as we see Him praying so much in the Gospels. Jesus prayed before major decisions and after significant accomplishments, he taught others to pray and went off to pray by Himself. For Jesus it was not a before or after thing or a private or community thing, it was an all-the-time reality of being in fellowship with God and doing God’s will.
 
We, too, are commanded to pray without ceasing. This is only possible for us by following Jesus’ example, praying as Jesus taught His disciples to pray, and by walking in the Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus is the second person of the Trinity and coequal and coexistent with the Father, so is the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of the Trinity.
 
Jesus promised that He would not leave us as orphans upon His departure, and the way He kept that promise after His atoning death on the Cross was His victorious resurrection from the grave and triumphant ascension to the right hand of the Father in Heaven, where He is in His physically resurrected body interceding (praying) for us today. As followers (disciples) of Jesus Christ, we are saved by God’s grace, and not by works so that no one should boast, at the moment of our faith conversion through the confession of our sins and repentance from self-lordship into Christ’s lordship.
 
It is at this moment of salvation that we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, which means the Holy Spirit indwells us and seals us for the Day of Redemption, granting us eternal security through our participation in the Trinitarian Fellowship of being “in Christ.” This is what the Bible references as being “saved”, being “born again”, and being “baptized in the Holy Spirit”—it is the work of God’s grace through faith to bring a person from being “dead in their sin and transgressions” to being “alive in Christ”.
 
We are commanded to walk in the Spirit, to be filled with the Spirit, to show the maturity of a Christian by demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control), and to do the work of a Christian by utilizing the gifts of the Holy Spirit. (for more about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, click HERE)  We believe a person is a redeemed (adopted) child of God when they are under the lordship of Jesus Christ, and leadership of the Holy Spirit will bring glory to God by exalting Jesus Christ. This is why we call God, “Our Father”, as Jesus Christ modeled and instructed His disciples. The Holy Spirit manifests His presence in a person to glorify God alone and never a person.
 
We are God’s workmanship, and all that we do should be for His glory and not our own, for His coming Kingdom and not our temporary kingdoms.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

---Next Steps

 
In order to discover more (especially if you are considering joining this group of believers), plan to attend one of our upcoming NEXT STEP CLASSES.  If you can’t wait and want to explore now (which is great!), click HERE for our online Next Steps Class (formerly Welcome Class).  Ask in the office during the week or ask at the Welcome Desk on your way into the Worship Center on Sunday.