What drives the ministry of First Baptist Church?

1. We are Bible-Centered.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2Ti 3.16–17).

“We believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creed, and opinion will be tried.”*

2. We are God-Centered.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1Co 10.31).

“We believe that God is the infinite, holy, and perfect spirit being in whom all things have their source, support, and end.”*

3. We are Doctrine-Centered.

“The church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1Ti 3.15).

“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4.11–12).

4. We are Congregation-Oriented.

“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Eph 4.16).

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (He 10.24–25).

“We believe in the one true church, the body and bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, into which all believers of the present age are placed; and that the members of this spiritual body should assemble themselves together in local churches.”*

5. We are Gospel-Oriented.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (Ro 1.16–17).

“We agree . . . to be zealous in our efforts to make disciples.”*

These specific principles control and drive our theology, philosophy, and methodology:

Theological Distinctives

1. We are Baptistic in our views church government.

• Biblical Authority
• Autonomy of the Local Church
• Priesthood of the Believer
• Two Ordinances
• Individual Soul Liberty
• Saved Church Membership
• Two Officers/Congregational Rule
• Separation of Church and State

2. We are Theocentric in our views of salvation.

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves” (Eph 1.4–6).

“We believe that salvation is entirely the work of God. Before the foundation of the world was laid, God planned the sacrificial death of Christ and chose those whom He would place into His salvation family. God’s Spirit employs biblical truth to convict His chosen ones of sin, righteousness, and judgement; to draw them to Himself; to grant them spiritual life; and to grant them repentance and faith. Every aspect of God’s gift of salvation flows from His eternal plan and good pleasure. While man is fully responsible to seek God and repent and believe, he cannot do so unless God grants him the grace to do so based upon His choice to do so.”*

3. We are Dispensational in our views of biblical interpretation.

“For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2Pe 1.21).

Because God used men in the writing of the Bible, the normal rules of interpreting human communication should be used when interpreting it. Additionally, because God revealed His truth progressively through history, we must take the progress of revelation into account when interpreting the Scriptures.

This method leads us to believe in a clear distinction between Israel and the Church and in the literal, future, earthly reign of Christ on earth in His Kingdom.

Philosophical Distinctives

1. We are conservative in our approach to worship and ministry.

Since we strive to make the Bible the governing influence in the ordering of our worship and ministry practices, and since we desire to connect with our forefathers regarding our approach to worship and ministry, we guard against being controlled by the newest fads or gimmicks, and consider the truth of God to be inherently relevant to modern culture without a need to “contextualize.”

2. We are expositional in our approach to preaching and teaching the Bible.

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb 4.12).

Because we believe that the Word of God is that which will change hearts and lives, we strive to unfold and explain its truths during our preaching and teaching times. Since the Bible was written in a certain historical period, in specific languages, to specific people, the pastors and teachers seek to interpret and explain its truth from the unique historical and grammatical situation in which it was written. Our normal preaching practice is to preach through books of the Bible, but even when we take time to preach or teach about a particular topic, we approach the Scripture’s teaching expositionally.

3. We are militant in our defense of the truth.

“If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him” (2Jn 9–11).

Since the church is the pillar and ground of the truth, we believe that it is our responsibility to militantly defend that truth and withhold formal cooperation with any who teach doctrinal error.

4. We are disciplined in our pursuit of holiness.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Ro 12.2).

Since the Bible is profitable for teaching, rebuke, correction, and instruction in righteousness, and since the Bible commands us to be holy as God is holy, we strive to make appropriate applications of Bible principles to our lives in an effort to be disciplined in our pursuit of progressive holiness.

5. We are proactive in our proclamation of the gospel.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mtt 28.19).

We strongly encourage relational evangelism, that is, striving to establish relationships with neighbors, coworkers, and friends with the primary goal of proclaiming to them the gospel of Jesus Christ. We provide church-sponsored services and activities for the purpose of evangelism on an occasional basis, but we believe that each individual church member is primarily responsible to proclaim the gospel to their acquaintances.

Since we believe that our only responsibility is to proclaim the truths of the gospel and trust in God for the results, we guard against manipulation, “watering down” the truth, or capitulating to pop culture in attempt to make the gospel “relevant.”

Methodological Distinctives

1. Our Membership

• Potential members must be saved, baptized by immersion, in agreement with our bylaws, church covenant, and doctrinal statement, and living an orderly life in order to qualify for membership.
• Members are responsible to be faithful to as many preaching, teaching, and fellowship opportunities as possible.
• Members are responsible to be actively involved in church ministries according to their God-given gifts.
• Members are responsible to support the ministry of the church financially.
• Members are responsible to edify and admonish one another, striving to preserve the unity of the Body.
• Members submit themselves to the benefits of church discipline when it is warranted. Church discipline helps preserve the purity of the church and is intended to drive a disobedient believer to repentance and back into fellowship with the Lord.
• Our church covenant reflects our desire to apply the Scriptures to our lives as we actively pursue holiness.

2. Our Worship Services

• Our Sunday morning worship services are specifically planned to help believers respond biblically with singing, prayers, in praise and consecration to biblical truth about God as it is read, affirmed, and preached.
• Our Sunday morning worship services are intended to focus believers’ attention on God and His truth, calling for appropriate biblical responses.
• Our Sunday morning worship services are reverent.
• We chose music for our Sunday morning worship services only if it accomplishes our primary goals.

3. Our Evangelism

• We provide occasional church meetings designed to present the gospel to unbelievers.
• We seek to arm our members with tools and motivation to help them establish redemptive relationships with the goal of presenting the gospel to unbelievers.
• We actively support local and world church planting endeavors.

4. Our Discipleship

• We provide opportunity for one-on-one and group teaching and discipleship in areas of systematic theology, church history, and practical Christian living.
• We seek for a proper balance between age-appropriate classes and cross-generational teaching times. We believe that segregating every ministry of the church would harm the unique unity-amongst-diversity that God intended fo His church.
• Our goal is to see godly men and women in the church grow to the place where they can be involved in teaching children and other adults.

5. Our Fellowship

• We provide opportunity for church-wide fellowship and encouragement.
• We seek for a proper balance between age-appropriate fellowship activities and cross-generational, church-wide fellowships. We strive to encourage family-oriented activities whenever possible.

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* Direct quotation from the Doctrinal Statement and Constitution of First Baptist Church.