About First Baptist

Our mission, goals, and beliefs

Our Mission

Believe in Jesus

Live each day with active faith. Receiving God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is the foundation of our faith. We hold firmly to the truth found in the infallible Word of God, which guides and sustains us in every aspect of life. Through this truth, we can know with certainty that our salvation is secure in Christ, offering hope and assurance for eternity.

Belong to Family

Pursue & embrace healthy relationships. Committing to growing in relationship with others, contributing to the fulfillment of God’s vision for First Baptist, and celebrating the privileges of being a part of a local church are key aspects of being actively engaged in the church community.

Become a Disciple

Live & love like Jesus. Growing in faith means continually trusting and obeying God, even in the face of challenges. It involves embracing the journey of being transformed into the image of Christ, allowing His character to shape our lives. This transformation leads to living a grace-filled life, empowered by the Holy Spirit to reflect God’s love and truth to the world.

Build His Kingdom

Be generous in sharing and serving. We are committed to sharing the Gospel personally and collectively, reaching others with Christ’s life-changing message. We believe in giving sacrificially to support God’s work and expand His kingdom. Our goal is to live a consistent testimony that reflects our faith and honors the Lord.

Beliefs

We believe the Bible to be the revealed Word of God, fully and verbally inspired of God. We believe the Scriptures to be the inerrant, infallible Word of God, as found within the sixty-six books from Genesis to Revelation. We believe God not only inspired every word, but also has preserved them through the ages. We believe the King James Version is the preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people. 
(Psalm 12:6-7; II Timothy 3:15-17; I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:19-21)

We believe in one God, who is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable. We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance, yet manifests Himself to man in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; I Timothy 1:17; James 1:17; I John 4:4)

We believe Jesus Christ to be the one and only Savior of mankind. We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born, that He was God incarnate, and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem men, and to rule over God’s kingdom. We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His Deity but merely veiled them. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for man’s sin. This sacrifice was a just payment to God for the forgiveness of sin. It was activated by His death through the shedding of His blood on the Cross and was accepted by God upon His resurrection. We believe He ascended into Heaven after His resurrection to be seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the time of receiving His church at the Rapture, and returning seven years later to earth to rule and reign as King for 1,000 years. (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 43:11; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 1:3, 14, 18, 29; Romans 3:19-25; Romans 5:6-15; Philippians 2:5-11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 2:5; I Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:10-15; Hebrews 7:26, 9:24-28; I Peter 1:19, 2:2; I John 1:3; Revelation 20:1-6)

We believe the Holy Spirit of God is a person who has personality and all the attributes of Deity. We believe the Holy Spirit has always been involved in the affairs of mankind. However, we believe He has a special ministry which began at Pentecost and will continue until the Rapture. This ministry includes convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit was also sent to regenerate, sanctify, seal, and fill all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. (John 3:5-6; John 14:16; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:15; I Corinthians 3:16; I Corinthians 6:19-20; I Corinthians 12:13)

We believe all men were born with an inherited sin nature received from our common ancestor, Adam. We believe that because of his nature, man is a sinner by choice, and he is totally incapable of reforming himself or ceasing from his sin by his own power. We believe the only hope of deliverance for man is a total change of mind concerning his sinful condition and inability to change it, and believing in and accepting Jesus Christ as his Saviour. We believe that only through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross can a man be delivered from his sin. We believe that all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Saviour are already condemned to an eternity in the Lake of Fire. (Genesis 5:1-5; Acts 4:19; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:6-12; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; Revelation 20:11-14)

We believe the church began with the calling out of the twelve apostles by Jesus Christ and was empowered on the day of Pentecost. We believe the local church is God’s institution to carry out His work today. We believe the local church is composed of members who have been saved and baptized according to the command of Christ, and have voluntarily united together for the purposes of worship, fellowship, service, and the Lord’s Table. We believe all true believers will be taken up at the Rapture, just prior to the Tribulation. (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:15; Acts 2:41-43; Acts 11:15; Acts 20:28; I Corinthians 15: 51-58; Ephesians 1:12-14; Ephesians 5:25-30; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 3:4-15)
 
We believe in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures in their grammatical and historical context. We believe in the pre-tribulation Rapture of the church saints, followed by the seven-year Tribulation. We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ to the earth and His literal rule of one thousand years. Following this one thousand years is the Great White Throne judgment and then the new Heaven and new earth.
(I Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Thessalonians 5:1-9; Revelation 19-22)

Mission for 2025

Our 2025 theme, “Identity in Christ,” is inspired by 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” This theme emphasizes the transformative power of finding our true identity in Christ. In a world searching for meaning, we are reminded that our value and purpose are rooted in Him. By embracing who we are in Christ, we can live confidently, reflecting His love and grace. As new creations, we are called to leave behind the old and walk in the newness of life, impacting others with the hope and truth of the Gospel.