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We exist to Glorify God by reproducing Christ-followers who Love God whole heartedly, Live Out His Word, and Light Up His World with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our core values are the constant, Biblical, core beliefs that unite the people who are committed to First Baptist Church and motivate us to do what we do in ministry. In stating these values, we are not saying that we have perfectly achieved any of these, but that we are committed to continue to develop in all of them. We have other commitments besides these values, but these are the primary ones that stand out in our thinking and cause us to want to make First Baptist our church home.
Everything we do as a ministry is intended to direct attention to God, not to us. We exercise dependence on our Lord for all things and strive to both please Him and accomplish His will in all matters of life to His glory.
Ps. 29:1-2; Prov. 3:5-6; Rom. 11:36; 15:5-6; 16:27; 1 Cor. 10:31; Gal. 1:5; Eph. 1:13-14; 3:20-21; Phil. 1:10-11; 4:20; 1 Tim. 1:17; 2 Tim. 4:18; Heb. 13:20-21; Jude 24-25; Rev. 1:5-6; 5:13; 7:11-12; 19:1
We believe that God created us to love and worship Him and that everything we do should be an expression of the same. We do not view worship of God as a Sunday morning event only, but as a 24/7 lifestyle with the weekly, corporate service representing a culmination and celebration of time we have each spent worshipping God all week. We aim to give God our life, our best, our all, believing this to be the logical response to who He is and what He has done. We value songs in our services that are rich with the Word of God, that voice both reverent worship and enthusiastic praise, that serve to instruct, while also rendering to God the thanks and worship that are His due.
Gen. 4:2-4; Ps. 95; 100; 150; Mk. 12:30-31; Jn. 4:24; Rom. 12:1; Col. 3:16-17; Eph. 5:18-20; Heb. 12:28-29; 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9
Desiring to understand what God has revealed and obey Him, the preaching and teaching of God’s Word is central to everything we do. We strive to carry out our ministry of the Word in such a way that the authorial intent, meaning, and application of the Biblical text is presented clearly and accurately. In our ministry of the Word, we strive to show the relevancy of Scripture and demonstrate the sufficiency of God’s Word for every matter of life. We treat God’s Word, not our personal preferences, as our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
Josh. 1:7, 8; Ps. 1:1-3; 19:7-11; 119; Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 2:10-16; 1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16-17; 4:1-5; Tit. 1:9; Heb. 4:12; 5:11-14; Jms. 1:21-25; 1 Pet. 1:23-2:3; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; Rev. 1:3
We believe God accomplishes His purposes in the world and the church in answer to and through the believing prayers of His people. We regard prayer as a key factor for cultivating our relationship with God—our reverence for, submission to, and dependence on Him. We also realize prayer to be the avenue through which we look to God for needed spiritual provision and protection for ourselves and others. We believe we should pray all the time about everything, making it a top priority in all we do.
Mt. 6:9-13; Lk. 11:1-13; Acts 2:42; Eph. 1:15-23; 3:14-19; 6:18-20; Phil. 4:6-7; Col. 1:9-12; 4:2-4; 1 Thess. 5:17; Jms. 5:13-18
We believe church ministry should be focused not only on gaining new converts to Christianity, but on developing disciples that are faithful, fruitful, mature followers of Jesus Christ who obey Him as a way of life. We believe discipleship is a costly commitment but worth all that is given to it. We are not only concerned that people we disciple become faithful followers of Christ themselves, but that they in turn will reproduce, making others into disciples.
Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 8:31-9:1; Lk. 9:23-26; 57-62; 14:25-35; 2 Tim. 2:2
We believe gifted leaders are given to the church not to do all the ministry themselves, but to equip believers for service, so that the body might be built up and brought to spiritual maturity. We believe every believer ought to be involved in ministry, using his or her gifts to serve Christ’s body. Our leaders work to help others discover how God has uniquely designed them for service and assist them in finding the ministries in which they will be able to serve Him most effectively.
Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:7:16; Col. 1:28-29; 1 Pet. 4:10-11
All believers have been chosen by God to serve as His ambassadors to lead people to faith in Christ. We recognize and believe the most effective means of bringing people to Christ are not church activities, but our sharing Christ with friends and family in our natural network of relationships. We believe the first step in our reaching out is to pray for God to give us the strength, boldness, and opportunity to share Christ in our relationship networks. Believing God will answer our prayers, we prepare ourselves to share the gospel faithfully when He does so. In pursuit of being effective witnesses, we learn and grow in our understanding of the gospel and how to present it to others as clearly and accurately as possible.
Matt. 4:19; 9:35-38; 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 4:23-31; Rom. 10:14-15; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Col. 4:3-4; 1 Pet. 3:15
Since God loved the world enough to send His Son to die for the sins of all people, we believe we should demonstrate concern for the salvation and discipleship of people of every nation—both friend and enemy nations of our country. Since God does not want any to perish and since Jesus demonstrated constant concern for the lost, we believe we should share the same desire and concern. Jesus commanded that we are to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth, so we commit ourselves to that scope of ministry. We regard it to be our tremendous privilege and responsibility to participate in global outreach of the gospel by praying, sending financial support, and by considering where God wants us to serve Him.
Some will go to foreign countries to serve, some will go on short term trips to serve, some will serve right here, but all should consider prayerfully where God wants to use them to His glory to fulfill His worldwide purpose.
Mt. 9:36-38; 28:18-20; Lk.19:10; 24:46-48; Acts 1:8; 13:1-3; Rom. 10:14-15; 15:19-21; 2 Pet. 3:9
The numerous “one another” exhortations of Scripture make it clear that God does not want for us to “go it alone,” but to share our life with our church family. It is His will that we love one another well, that we commit ourselves to the mutual and generous sharing of ourselves, our gifts, our time, and our finances to minister to one another. It is also clear that God intends for us to keep one another accountable and to encourage each other in our walk with and work for Christ.
Mt. 18:15-20; Lk. 17:3; Jn. 13:34-35; 2 Cor. 1:4; Gal. 5:13; 6:1-2: 1 Thess. 4:18; Heb. 10:24-25; Jms. 5:16; 1 John 3:14-18; 4:7-11
Understanding that God would have all His people lead a life characterized by personal holiness and faithfulness, we strive to select only leaders who will model this kind of walk. When godly leaders lead, godly people will follow. We do not expect our leaders to be perfect, but we do require they have the godly character and above reproach reputation that will serve to help and not hinder God’s work. We also highly value servant leadership, team player leadership, and pure motivations in our leaders.
Mk. 10:45; Acts 6:1-4; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Tit. 1:5-9; 1 Pet. 5:1-5
