FBCH adheres doctrinally to the Baptist Faith & Message (1963) including the 1998 Amendment (Article XVIII The Family). Below is a brief outline of some of our core beliefs. For questions about specific doctrines or positions, please contact the Pastor.
We believe the Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to mankind. God, the ultimate Author, inspired men to record these words. We believe the Bible is true and trustworthy, without error in its matter. No other book or work of man is comparable. The Scriptures reveal to us the Nature and Character of God, His purpose and expectations for us, and the principles by which He will judge us. The truths of the Bible are the supreme standard by which all human conduct, beliefs, and religious opinions should be tested. All Scripture is a testimony to Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate focus of the Bible.
We believe in God. There is only One living and True God. He has revealed Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
We believe in God the Father. God the Father reigns over all His Creation with providential care. The flow of human history is ultimately directed according to the purposes of His Grace. God is a true Father to all those who become His children through Jesus Christ.
We believe in God the Son. Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He existed with God from eternity but took on human form in the Incarnation. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin named Mary. He lived a life of perfect obedience to God. By His substitutionary Death on the Cross, He made a way for human beings to be redeemed from sin.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, an equal part of the Godhead with the Father and Son. He convicts people of sin and points them to their need of Jesus Christ. He enlightens and empowers believers to know God, understand the Scriptures, worship God, pursue holiness, and serve in ministry.
We believe that God created Man in His Image, but mankind is fallen and in need of redemption. God created humans as male and female, the crowning work of His creation. God gave man the ability to choose, and man chose to sin. By this choice, the entire human race was polluted with sin. Therefore, the relationship between God and Man is fundamentally broken, but it can be restored by the work of Jesus Christ. Because humans are created in God’s Image, each person possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love, regardless of race, ethnicity, ability, or any other consideration.
We believe that Salvation comes by God’s Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ alone. Salvation involves the redemption of the whole person and is offered freely to all to trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It was by His Blood alone that eternal redemption was bought. In the broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. Those whom God has saved through Jesus Christ are kept by His Power and can never fall away from the state of grace.
We believe that a New Testament Church is a local body of baptized believers and serves as the Hands and Feet of Christ on earth. A local Church of baptized believers is bound together in the fellowship of the Gospel by the ties of love. A local Church is the Christ-ordained avenue for the use of the gifts and abilities given by the Holy Spirit, for the edification of the believers. A local Church operates under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and is governed by the Scriptures. Each member is responsible and accountable to Christ and should work in cooperation with the leaders. The scriptural officers of a local Church are Pastors and Deacons. The local Church carries out the work of Christ in taking the Gospel to the world, admonishing people to be saved, teaching and modeling the Scriptures, and edifying and caring for the believers.
We believe Baptism is an act of obedience, symbolizing the believer’s faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior. Water baptism by immersion is a symbol of the immersion into the Holy Spirit of the person at the time of belief. It is a public profession of the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Jesus Christ.
We believe the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience by which members memorialize the Sacrificial Death of Jesus Christ and anticipate His Return. Along with Baptism, it is one of the two ordinances for the local Church specifically mandated by Jesus.
We believe that every believer shares in the responsibility of following Jesus’ command to make disciples. We each have a personal mandate to seek to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness supported by a redeemed life, and by any other means that is in harmony with the Scriptures. We also join in supporting and praying for mission work around the world.
We believe that each believer should constantly seek spiritual growth and greater obedience to God. As disciples, we have committed ourselves to the discipline of following the teaching and example of Jesus Christ. We should seek to be discipled by more experienced believers, and to disciples those less experienced than us. This is to be accomplished through personal mentoring relationships, as well as organized educational efforts. As disciples, we are to give freely and cheerfully of our time, talents, and resources to the service of Christ.
We believe that Man is eternal and will spend eternity in one of two places. God has prepared Heaven for those who will trust in Christ, and the Lake of Fire for those who reject His offer of redemption. The Bible teaches that God does not desire anyone to suffer such a fate and has extended His mercy through the ages. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ shall not perish but shall have everlasting life.
We believe that Jesus will someday Return. At His Return, the dead in Christ shall rise, the living believers will be called up to meet Him in the air. In the fullness of time, the judgments of both the righteous and unrighteous will take place, and all people shall be consigned to their eternal place.
We believe that followers of Jesus are obligated to make the will of Christ supreme in our lives. As such, in the Spirit of Christ, we should oppose racism, cruelty, every form of greed, selfishness and vice, all forms of sexual immorality, and all other sin. We should work to protect and care for the vulnerable in our society. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and defend and promote the sanctity of all human life, from conception to natural death.
We believe that Church and state should be separate. The state must give protection and full freedom to every Church in pursuit of its spiritual ends. A free Church in a free state is the Christian ideal. Regardless of the political system or climate, we will continually pursue the life to which Jesus Christ has called us.
We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational building block of human society. A family is composed of persons related to each other by blood, marriage, or adoption. God created marriage as the uniting of one man and one woman in a covenant commitment for a lifetime. Husbands and wives are to relate to each other with the sacrificial love modeled by Christ and described in the Scriptures. Children are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to raise their children according to the love of God and the truths of the Scriptures.
