What to Expect
Entering a new church can feel awkward, intimidating, or even scary whether you're a lifelong attendee, a casual visitor, or stepping inside for the first time. You may not know anyone and might be unsure about what to expect during the service, wondering, "What will people think of how I look?"
There's no need to worry. At Grace Baptist Church, you'll find our people welcoming and caring, regardless of your appearance, race, culture, or knowledge of God and the Bible. We are just thrilled that you're considering coming to our church. It is our privilege to meet you.
Our top priority is to assist and encourage you in your relationship with Jesus Christ and journey through life. So, come as you are and leave transformed by the truths of God's Word.
Four Essential for Every Child of God
PRIORITIZE THE LOCAL CHURCH
The local church is not a building, but a body of people who have trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior, been baptized by immersion in water, and have committed themselves to glorify Jesus Christ and to serve one another in love. The Bible also calls the church a family, whose God is their father and whose sisters and brothers are believers in Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ expects every believer to be intimately "plugged into" a local, Bible believing church.
PARTICIPATE IN SPIRITUAL GROWTH
When sinners trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, they become new creations. It begins a journey in which God progressively works in their lives to develop Christlike behavior. This process is called spiritual growth into maturity. God intends for spiritual growth to occur personally and corporately. When a believer is vitally connected to a local, Bible-believing church, he or she receives teaching from God's Word as well as encouragement, correction, support, and accountability from the believers in the church.
PURSUE MINISTRY
When God saves sinners, He transforms them by His grace to progressively become Christlike in their attitudes, words, and actions so that they can minister that same transforming grace to fellow believers. Ephesians 4:11, 12 states that the church is to be equipped with the truths of God's Word so that they can minister to others. Ministry is not optional, it is God's expectation.
PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL
In addition to ministry within the body of Christ, the church, God's desires for the church to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ--that Jesus Christ died for sins, was buried, and rose again, and that faith in Jesus Christ as one's Savior is the only way to have one's sins forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life.
Our Beliefs
The following paragraphs are brief statements about Grace Baptist Church's key doctrinal position. A full doctrinal statement of the church's beliefs is available upon request.
THE BIBLE. We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture in the original manuscripts, composed of the thirty-nine Old Testament and twenty-seven New Testament books. Through God's providence, the Bible has been kept pure and remains the Word of God. the Bible is inerrant, infallible, and sufficient for one's faith and issues of life. It is the standard by which all human creeds and conduct are measured. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21)
BIBLE TRANSLATIONS. We believe that inspiration and preservation applies solely to the original autographs, not to Bible translations. Bible translations which faithfully reflect the words of Scripture carry the weight of inspiration and can be called the Word of God. We do not adhere to the King James Only Movement.
GOD. We believe there is only one true living God who also harmoniously exists in three distinct persons--God the Father, God the Son (Christ), and God the Holy Spirit--who are coequal, coeternal, and perfect. (Deuteronomy 6:4, 5; Matthew. 3:16; 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 10:30; 14:10; 15:26; 17:5; Ephesians 1:3-4, 6-7, 13-14)
JESUS CHRIST. We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He is also fully human, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a human mother, Mary, who was a virgin. He lived a sinless life on earth, died on the cross shedding His blood as the substitutionary atonement for sin, rose bodily from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of God the Father as the believer's advocate and High Priest. He presently is the head of the church, the body of Christ, and will one day return also as King. (John 1:1; Luke 1:26-38; 1 Peter 2:21-24; 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4; Hebrews 4:14)
SALVATION. We believe salvation is a work of God not dependent upon any work of man. it is a free gift to all who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. The sinner who trusts in Jesus Christ as Savior is given the gift of eternal life and is once and for all righteous in one's standing before God. The believer is freed from the enslavement to sin and is to pursue personal holiness. One day, when Jesus raptures the church, the believer will be perfect, free from sin's effects. (Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 3:16; Philippians 1:6; Romans 8:29-39; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 1 Timothy 6:3-5)
END TIMES. We believe in the personal, imminent, pre-tribulational coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His church, called the rapture. Following the rapture is a seven year tribulation period, God's wrath poured out on the sinful human race. After the tribulation, Jesus Christ will return to earth, with His saints, as King to establish His Millennial Kingdom. (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-18; Revelation 19:11-16)