What We Believe

Statement of Faith

The Holy Bible is the inspired work of God and is the basis for our statement of faith.  We band ourselves together as a body of baptized believers in Jesus Christ personally committed to sharing the good news of salvation to lost mankind.  The ordinances of the Church are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

The statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs.  The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe.  For purposes of Mountain Creek Baptist Church’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, our Leadership Team, including the pastor is the final interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application.

ARTICLES OF FAITH 

THE SCRIPTURES

The Bible speaks with authority because it is the Word of God.  It is the final rule for faith and practice because it is the inspired and trustworthy witness to the mighty acts of God in self-revelation and redemption, all brought to fulfillment in the life, teachings and saving works of Jesus Christ.  It reveals the mind of Christ and teaches the meaning of His Lordship.  In its unique and unified disclosure of the will of God for mankind, the Bible is the final authority in pointing persons to Christ and in guiding them in all matters of Christian faith and moral duty.  The responsibility must be accepted to study the Bible with an open and reverent mind, to seek the meaning of its message through research and prayer, and to bring one’s life under the discipline of its instruction.

The Bible as the inspired revelation of God’s will and way, made full and complete in the life and teachings of Christ, is our authoritative rule of faith and practice.

There is one and only one living and true God.  He is intelligent, spiritual and a personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe.  God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections.  To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience.  The eternal God reveals Himself us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

GOD THE FATHER

God, as Father, reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purpose of His grace.  He is all powerful, all loving, and all wise.  God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.  He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

GOD THE SON

Christ is the eternal Son of God.  In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.  Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin.  He honored the divine law by His personal obedience and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.  He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion.  He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, partaking of the nature of God and of man, and in whose person is effected the reconciliation between God and man.  He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.  He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God.  He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth.  He exalts Christ, He convicts of sin or righteousness and of judgment.  He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration.  He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His Church.  He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption.  His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to bring the believer unto the fullness of the stature of Christ.  He enlightens and empowers the believer and the Church in worship, evangelism and service.

MAN

Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation.  In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by His Creator with the freedom of choice.  By his free, choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race.  Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence; whereby his posterity inherited a nature and an environment inclined toward sin, and as soon as they are capable of moral action become transgressors and are under condemnation.  Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.  The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every man possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

 SALVATION

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord & Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer.  In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.

Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus.   It is the change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through the conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.  Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God.  Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior.  Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ.  Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.

Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual perfection through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him.  Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life.

Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.

GOD’S PURPOSE OF GRACE

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners.  It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end.  It is a glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable.  It excludes boasting and promotes humility.

All true believers endure to the end.  Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall preserve to the end.  Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the cause of Christ, and temporal judgment on themselves, yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.  It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead.  Being a Church ordinance, it is prerequisite of Church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.

The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the Church, through partaking of the bread and fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

THE KINGDOM

The Kingdom of God includes His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as king.  Particularly the kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by trustful, childlike commitment to Jesus Christ.  Christians ought to pray and to labor that the kingdom may come and God’s will be done on earth.  The full consummation of the kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.

THE LORD’S DAY

The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day.  It is a Christian institution for regular observance.  It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employment, work of necessity, and mercy only being excepted.

LAST THINGS

The Scripture clearly and emphatically teaches the second coming of Christ;  that at a time unknown to men and angels He will return personally.  Furthermore, the Bible teaches that God in His own time will raise all men from the dead.  There will be a bodily resurrection of the just who dwell with Christ throughout eternity; and a bodily resurrection of the unjust who will be consigned to everlasting punishment in hell.

MARRIAGE

Because God has ordained marriage and defined it as the covenant relationship between a man, a woman, and Himself, Mountain Creek Baptist Church will only recognize marriages between a biological man and a biological woman.  Further, the pastors/ministers/staff of Mountain Creek Baptist Church shall only participate in weddings and solemnize marriages between one man and one woman.  Finally, the facilities and property of Mountain Creek Baptist Church shall only host weddings and/or ceremonies between one man and one woman.

SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE

We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image.  Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death.  We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. (Ps . 139)

CHURCH COVENANT

Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.

We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this Church, in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote His prosperity and spirituality; to sustain it’s worship, ordinance, discipline, and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of it’s ministry, the expense of the Church, and the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel to all nations.

We also engage to maintain family devotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to abstain from the excessive use of strong drinks 

as a beverage; and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Lord and Savior.

We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.

We moreover engage that when we remove from this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other Church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s work.