WHAT WE BELIEVE
THE BIBLE The Bible was written by men inspired by God and is the written record of God’s revelation of Himself to humanity. It is the one perfect source of truth about the one true God. God is its author. It is completely trustworthy in all its content and is our only source of authority concerning matters of faith and its practice. It is intended to conform and guide our lives individually and corporately in all our daily decisions and relationships. (Exodus 24:4, Deuteronomy 4:1-2, Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:2-3, Matthew 5:17-18, Acts 17:11, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:19-21) GOD There is only one living and true God. He is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. He is without beginning and without end. He has always been God without ever needing to change. He is eternal God who is one divine being existing in and revealed as three Persons. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This trinity or tri-unity consists of distinct personal attributes yet without division of nature, essence, or being. (Isaiah 43:10-11, Daniel 2:19-22, Genesis 1:26, Matthew 28:19, Mark 1:9-12, John 10:30, John 14:6-9, John 14:15-20, 1 Timothy 6:15-16) God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes 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. (Genesis 1:1, Exodus 3:14, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 1 Chronicles 29:10-11, Psalm 19:1-3, Romans 8:14-17) God the Son. Jesus Christ has always and will always exist as the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He perfectly did and revealed the will of God in the flesh without sin. By His substitutionary death on the cross, He made provision for the complete redemption of men from sin. He was raised bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and now is exalted at the right hand of the Father. He will return visibly in great power and glory a second time to judge the world and bring to completion His bride, the church.(Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-23, John 1:1-18, Romans 1:3-4, Galatians 4:4-5, Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 1:13-22, Hebrews 1:1-3, Revelation 1:5-7) God the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired men to write the Bible. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ and convicts us of sin, righteousness and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals believers to the day of redemption and His presence in the Christian is the assurance that every believer will be brought to the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer to worship Christ, encourage fellow believers, engage the lost, and perform acts of service. (Genesis 1:2, Psalm 139:7, Isaiah 61:1-3, Matthew 1:18, Matthew 12:28-32, Mark 1:10, Acts 1:8, Acts 13:2, Romans 8:9-11, Romans 8:4-16, Romans 8:26-27, 1 Corinthians 2:10-14, Ephesians 1:13-14, Ephesians 4:30, 1 Thessalonians 5:19, 1 Timothy 1:14, 2 Timothy 3:16, 1 John 4:13) MAN Man and woman were created by the special acts of God and are the crowning works of His creation. We were created in His image which means we possess unique qualities in the spiritual and moral realm that enable us to respond personally to God unlike the rest of creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by His Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice, man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan, man rebelled against the command of God, and fell from his original innocence; whereby his posterity inherits a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. As soon as they are capable of moral action, men and women become transgressors and come under condemnation. Only the grace of God alone, without any human works, can bring man and woman into God’s Holy fellowship and enable them to fulfill His creative purpose. (Genesis 1:26-30, Psalm 1, Jeremiah 17:5-10, Acts 17:26-31, Romans 1:19-32, 3:10-18&23, 5:6,12&19, 7:14-25, 8:14-18, Ephesians 2:1-22, Colossians 1:21-22, 3:9-11) SALVATION Salvation (spiritual rebirth) involves the redemption of the whole person and is offered to all who receive Jesus Christ as Lord, by grace, through faith alone. His substitutionary death on the cross and shedding of blood for our sins secures our completed salvation. It is accomplished without any effort on our part. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the receiving of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord. Our works and service are a response out of gratitude for what Jesus has done. The believer has confidence in what God has done for him and is secure for all eternity. Matthew 1:21, 4:17, 16:21-26, 27:22-28, Luke 1:68-69, John 1:11-14,29, 3:3-21, 10:28-30, 15:1-16, Acts 2:21, 4:12, 15:11, 16:30-31, Romans 1:16-18, 3:23-25, 5:8-10, 6:1-23, 8:1-18,28-39, 10:9-10, Galatians 2:20, 5:22-25, Ephesians 2:8-22, Philippians 2:12-13, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, 1 John 5:11-13) THE CHURCH A New Testament church is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. (Matthew 16:15-19, 18:15-20, Acts 2:1-47, 20:17-32, Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 3:1-17, 5:1-13, Ephesians 1:1-23, 2:19-21, 3:14-21, 4:1-32, Revelation 2,3) BAPTISM AND COMMUNION Baptism and Communion are the two ordinances we affirm as special practices instituted by Christ for the local church. Baptism is by immersion and follows an individual’s commitment to Christ as Savior. The taking of bread and juice (Communion/Lord’s Supper) celebrates Christ’s substitutionary death for our sin and his promised return. Both Baptism and Communion are symbolic acts that picture and remind us of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A new believer will gladly follow Jesus in open baptism and communion to proclaim his identity with Jesus Christ and fellow believers. (Matthew 26:17-30, 28:16-20, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 22:7-22, Acts 2:41-42, 8:35-39, 16:30-33, 20:7, Romans 6:3-5, 1 Corinthians 11:23-32) LAST THINGS God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord. (Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Romans 14:10;; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13) THE FAMILY God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents. (Genesis 1:26-28, 2:15-25, 3:1-20, Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Joshua 24:15, 1 Samuel 1:26-28, Psalms 51:5, 78:1-8, 127, 128, 139:13-16, Proverbs 1:8, 5:15-20, 29:15,17, 31:10-31, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9, Malachi 2:14-16, Matthew 5:31-32, 18:2-5, 19:3-9, Mark 10:6-12, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 7:1-16, Ephesians 5:21-33, 6:1-4, Colossians 3:18-21, 1 Timothy 5:8, 14, 2 Timothy 1:3-5) Significant portions of Our Beliefs come from "The Baptist Faith and Message," 2000. For further information regarding what Southern Baptists generally agree upon concerning matters of faith please visit: www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp. Southern Baptist Churches and Sexual Abuse In light of recent information regarding documented cases of sexual abuse among Southern Baptist pastors and leaders, we want to express our deepest convictions that there is no type of sexual abuse and misconduct of women, children, or men that is acceptable. As one denominational leader states, “All rape and sexual exploitation is evil and unjust. Sexual abuse is not only sin but also a crime. All of it should be prosecuted in the civil arena, and all of it will be brought before the tribunal of the Judgment Seat of Christ. But nothing is worse than the use of the name of Jesus to prey on the vulnerable, or to use the name of Jesus to cover up such crimes.” (See full article by clicking here) We have been called by God to show honor and respect to all women, children, and men. Therefore we stand with all who say ‘no’ to any type of abuse of women, children, or men under any circumstance and we grieve with those who have been abused. Furthermore, we support our denominational leaders’ efforts to create a Sexual Abuse Presidential Study Group assigned with investigating all options and reviewing what other denominations and groups have done to keep track of abuses, while hearing from law enforcement, psychological and psychiatric experts, survivors, and many others. Locally, we have for several years mandated that all adults working with children at Mountain View Baptist pass a background check before working with minors as well as attend an orientation class called Reducing the Risk. This class outlines important guidelines for protecting our children from sexual abuse and emphasizes our commitment to report abuse and to fully cooperate with civil authorities in response to any allegation of abuse. In summary, we affirm that:
The Pastors of Mountain View Baptist Do You Know Jesus?
DO YOU KNOW JESUS
Who is the Jesus you know? Is He God? Has He always been God? Can He justify you as holy to God the Father by your faith alone? If not, the Bible can answer these questions beyond any doubt. WHY WE NEED JESUS Our first parents were created by God in His image to commune with God. After they rebelled against God, God cursed both mankind and the earth. As a result, we are separated from God by our sin. The consequences of our sin is spiritual death or eternal separation from God in a place Jesus called Hell. We must first realize that we are all born of sin. HOW DO WE COME TO JESUS We must realize that we are not only born of sin and have a sin nature; we must admit our sin to God. Romans 3:23 says, “For we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Because we all sin against God, we must repent of our sin. REPENTANCE The Bible tells us that it is God's will that we all come to repentance and not perish. 2 Peter 3:9 puts it this way, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” The word "repentance" translated from Greek, which was the original language of the New Testament, means to “turn away from.” FAITH IN JESUS The Bible tells us that we can be reconciled to God and saved from eternal torment in Hell only through faith in what Jesus the Christ has done for us. John 3:16-17 says it best, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” THE GOSPEL Jesus, being fully God and fully man, came in the form of man and lived a sinless life to be a sacrifice once for all. He was crucified, taking on God's wrath for our sins. Three days later, He was resurrected, which was God's approval of His sacrifice for our sins. Through repentance of our sin, and faith in what Jesus has done for us, we are no longer separated from God. The communion with God that we were created for is restored. Ephesians 2:8-9 says it this way “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Grace is the free gift of God for forgiveness of our sins. Only through faith in what Jesus has done for us can we receive forgiveness of sin and have communion with God. ONLY BY GRACE ONLY THROUGH FAITH ONLY THROUGH JESUS The truth of the Gospel is simple. Know that you are a sinner. Repent and confess to God your sin. Put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus. If you'd like to know more, please contact us! |
WHO WE ARE
We believe that God's call on Mountain View Baptist Church to be a biblically centered church that Loves God, Links Together, and Labors Well. Click the buttons to learn more about how to get involved and learn more about Mountain View's heartbeat.