Values and Beliefs

Making Disciples who love Christ and love others.
(Derived from the "Great Commandment" and the "Great Commission"
Every disciple making a disciple

Biblical Authority

God’s Word is our final authority for faith and practice, so we learn it and live it together (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Christ-Exalting Worship

The Lord is worthy, so we worship Him in spirit and truth, both privately and publicly (Jer. 9:23-24; Jn. 4:23-24).

Fervent Prayer

God is the giver of all things, so we humble ourselves before God, asking His guidance and provision (Acts 2:42; 4:31).

Authentic Community

God created us to need each other, so we fellowship, serve, encourage, and care for one another with sacrificial love (Acts 4:32, 1st Jn. 3;11; Heb. 10:23-25).

Disciple-Making

God cares deeply for lost people in our community, so we make disciples by sharing the Gospel, teaching God’s Word, and baptizing followers of Jesus (Matt. 28:18-20).

Global Partnerships

God cares deeply for lost people in all the nations, so we make disciples and help plant churches in all the nations (Acts 1:8; 13:2-3).
To the glory of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Statement of Faith

Our Statement of Faith and other policy and doctrinal statements do not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, the sole and final source of all that we believe. For purposes of Grace Baptist Church’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, our Elder Board speaks for the church on questions of Biblical interpretation and application and provides detailed position statements on contemporary and theological issues.

  1. We believe in the Bible, accepting fully the sixty-six books of the Old and the New Testaments as the very Word of God. Scripture is verbally inspired in all parts, wholly without error in the original writings, and our sufficient and final authority in faith and life (Psalm 19:7-9; Matt. 5:17-18; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
  2. We believe in one Triune God eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:26; Matt. 28:19; John 1:1).
  3. We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man (John 1:1,14). He died for our sins and on the third day arose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:1-4) and was glorified in the same body in which he suffered and died (John 20:27-28). He is now our High Priest in Heaven, appearing before the presence of God the Father as our advocate and intercessor (Heb. 4:15; 1 John 2:1).
  4. We believe in the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Triune God, who convicts of sin, regenerates, indwells, enlightens, empowers, baptizes, guides, teaches, and sanctifies all who become children of God through Christ (Matt. 28:19; John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:14).
  5. We believe that people were created in the image of God, both male and female (Gen. 1:26-28) and that these two distinct, immutable, and complementary genders were part of God’s good and perfect plan for creation. Further, God designed marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24) to reflect the relationship of redeemed people to the Lord (Eph. 5:30-33). Both the man and the woman sinned and thereby incurred upon the human race both physical death and spiritual death, which is separation from God (Gen. 3:1-24; Rom. 5:12). We believe each person is born with a sinful nature and, in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, become sinners in thought and deed (Rom. 3:23).
  6. We believe in salvation by grace through faith. Salvation is provided solely by the grace of God, not by any type of human effort or good works (John 3:16; Eph. 2:8-9). At conversion, the believer is justified (Rom. 3:21-28), adopted into God’s family (John 1:12), and held securely in His hands (John 10:28-30) – progressively being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29; Eph. 4:11-16).
  7. We recognize the existence and personality of Satan as the powerful supernatural enemy of God, and his evil influence in the world (Job 1:6; Jude 9; Rev. 20).
  8. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust; with everlasting blessedness in Heaven for the saved, and everlasting punishment in Hell for the lost (1 Cor. 15:12-28; Rev. 20:11-15; 1 John 3:2).
  9. We believe in the “blessed hope” – the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:14-18; Titus 2:11-13), and in the personal, visible return of our Lord Jesus Christ to earth to establish His Kingdom (Matt. 24:30; Acts 1:10-11; Rev. 19:11-16).
  10. We believe that baptism is the immersion of the believer in water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19-20), picturing our redemption and union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:1-11). All members of a local New Testament Church are to be baptized believers (Acts 2:42; 8:12).
  11. We believe that the Lord’s Supper (Communion) is a memorial service to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. The elements are symbols; neither literally the body and blood of Christ, nor containing His blood and flesh. Believers are to observe this memorial regularly, with careful self-examination (Matt. 26:26-29; 1 Cor. 11: 20-34).
  12. We believe that the Church consists of all those who have received new life in Christ (John 3:3) during this dispensation of grace, and are members of the Body of Christ whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Acts 2:41; Rev. 3:5).
  13. We believe that a local New Testament Church is a group of baptized believers bound together for the will of Christ, which includes fellowship, worship, mutual edification, and the winning of souls (Acts 2:41-47). We believe that a local New Testament Church is a self-governing body subject only to Jesus Christ and His Word (Acts 4:18-20; Eph. 1:22-23).
  14. We believe the Scriptures teach that Christians should set their minds on things above, not on things on the earth (Col. 3:1-4).

Church Covenant

Since we have committed ourselves to Jesus Christ and have experienced the acceptance, forgiveness and redemption of God our Father, with God’s help and through the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit we covenant that:

  1. We will work together in brotherly love (Psa. 133:1).
  2. We will show loving care for one another and encourage, counsel, and admonish one another (Rom. 12:10,16; 15:14).
  3. We will assemble faithfully for worship and fellowship, and will pray earnestly for others as well as for ourselves (Heb. 10:24-25).
  4. We will endeavor to bring up those under our care “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4; 2 Tim. 3:15).
  5. We will seek, by Christian example and personal effort, to win others to Christ and to encourage their growth toward Christian maturity (2 Cor. 5:20; Acts 1:8).
  6. We will share one another’s joys and endeavor to bear one another’s burdens and sorrows (Gal. 6:2; Rom. 12:15).
  7. We will oppose all conduct which compromises our Christian faith and will uphold Biblical standards of holiness, integrity, and sexual purity (Eph. 4:20-32; Phil. 2:14-16; 1 Thess. 4:1-8, 1 Cor. 6:9-10).
  8. We will prove the reality of our conversion by living godly, fruitful lives (2 Cor. 5:17; Titus 2:10-12).
  9. We will maintain a faithful ministry of worship, witness, education, fellowship, and service (Heb. 10:24-25).
  10. We will be faithful stewards of our resources and abilities in sharing the gospel with people of all nations (2 Cor. 9:6-15).
  11. As a result of this covenant relationship, we will seek earnestly to live to the glory of God, who brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9-10).