Mission & Vision Statements
Mission Statement
Looking upward, growing inward, reaching outward, and moving forward with Jesus
Vision Statement
We desire to be a community of believers that loves God and others by connecting people to Jesus. We strive to grow God’s kingdom by loving, serving, encouraging, adapting, and being equipped to accomplish God’s will.
Our Beliefs
We embrace the 1963 edition of the Baptist Faith and Message. We are dually aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
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Our church seeks always to affirm all the principles which have defined Baptists historically including Priesthood of the Believer, Soul Competency, Separation of Church and State, and Autonomy of the Local Church.
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Preamble
Baptists have traditionally been a people who profess a living faith. This faith is centered on the person hood of Jesus Christ. The sole authority for faith and the practice of faith is Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible. A living faith must experience a growing understanding of truth and be interpreted to the needs of each generation. Baptists throughout their history have chosen on occasion to issue confessions of faith, which comprise a consensus of their beliefs. However such statements are not to be regarded as complete or infallible, nor should they be seen as a creed or mandatory authority. Jersey Baptist Church cherishes the soul's competency before God, freedom of religion, and the priesthood of every believer. In the spirit of the history of Baptist confessions the following statements are to be understood as a confession of faith by Jersey Baptist Church.
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God
There is only one true and living God. The one and only living God is eternal, holy, and personal. God is the creator, preserver, redeemer, and ruler of all creation. God is expressed to us as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit... the “Trinity”.
Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 24:1-2; John 1; Romans 1:20; & 2 Corinthians 13:14
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God the Father
God the Father reigns over all of creation. God is all powerful, all loving, and wise. God's self-revelation as Father is an indication of a loving attitude toward all people.
Genesis 1:1; Psalm 19:1-4a; Isaiah 43:3a; Jeremiah 10:12; Matthew 6:9ff, 7:11, 23:9; John 3:16; Galatians 4:6-7; & Ephesians 4:6
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God the Son
Jesus Christ is God's only eternal Son. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus was fully God and fully human yet without sin. Through his life he revealed the nature and character of God the Father. Jesus' death on the cross provided the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus was buried and then was resurrected from the dead by the power of God. Jesus has ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father as Advocate for all believers. Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead. Only through faith in Jesus Christ can men and women know God and salvation.
Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18ff, 3:16-17, 11:25-27, 16:16; John 1:11ff, 10:30, 14:6ff, 19:1ff, 20:1ff; Acts 1:1-11, 4:12; Romans 3:22-26; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Ephesians 1:20; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:18-20; Hebrews 13:20-21; 1 John 1:1-4; & Revelation 5:9-14, 20:11-15
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God the Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit works to convict us of our sin and our need for reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit fully lives in every believer at the moment of salvation. The Spirit comforts, teaches, and enables us to live righteous lives and equips every believer for service within the Church.
Genesis 1:2; Psalm 51:11, 137; Isaiah 61; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18, 3:16, 28:19; Luke 1:35, 4:1; John 14:15-21, 26, 15:26; Acts 1:8, 2:1-4, 4:31, 16:16-40; Romans 8:9-11, 14-16; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 John 2:13-14; 1 John 2:13-16; & Revelations 22:17
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The Bible
The Bible is the divinely inspired word of God. Its revelation of God through Jesus Christ is the supreme authority for faith and practice. The Bible is the written record of God's self-revelation to all people.
Deuteronomy 4:1-2; Isaiah 34:16; Psalm 119:89, 105; Matthew 24:35; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; & 1 Peter 1:24-25
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Humanity
All people are created by God and have within them the innate image of God. God created men and women for the purpose of worship and fellowship with God. We are sinners and are separated from God by our sin. Humanity by its free choice disobeyed God and brought sin into the world. Therefore, all are sinners and fall short of what God intends them to be. Salvation is provided freely by God to all people through faith in Jesus Christ.
Genesis 1:26-30; Psalm 1; Isaiah 6:5; Romans 3:10-18, 3:23, 5:6, 12; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; & Colossians 1:21-22
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Salvation
All persons are separated from God by sin. God provides reconciliation for sin through belief, acceptance and forgiveness in God's Son, Jesus Christ. We must realize our separation from God, seek forgiveness of our sins, confess our faith in Jesus Christ, and accept God's loving grace to receive salvation.
Matthew 1:21, 27:22-28, 6; Luke 1:68-69, 2:28-32; John 1:11-14 & 29, 3:3-21 & 36; Acts 2:21, 4:12, 15:11, 16:30-31; Romans 3:23-25, 6:23, 10:9-10 & 13; & Galatians 2:20
God's Purpose of Grace
Grace is the free, unmerited favor of God that is provided for us in salvation. The purpose of God's grace is to recreate, mature, and complete the believer. All true believers in Jesus Christ are eternally secure through God's grace.
Exodus 19:5-8; John 1:12-24, 10:27-30; Acts 20:32; & Romans 5:9-10, 8:35-39
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The Church
The Church is the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is composed of baptized believers who are free before God to respond to the revelations of God as led by the Holy Spirit and are responsible for their relationship with God. The main work of the Church is to worship, witness, minister, teach, disciple and fellowship. Each believer is a minister (priest) and a servant leader. The church is free and autonomous from all other entities in perceiving and joining God's continuing work of redemption. Leadership is a servant role, based upon the model of Jesus Christ, which calls forth God's gifts in all members, both male and female.
Matthew 16:18-19, 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-47; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:10-16; & Hebrews 4:14-16
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Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are two ordinances within our church. Baptism is an act of obedience portrayed by the immersion of a believer into water. Baptism symbolizes the believers' faith in the life, death and resurrection of Christ and their new life in Him. The Lord's Supper symbolizes Jesus' body and blood that He sacrificed for our sins. As an act of obedience, we remember all Christ did in His death and anticipate his return through this ordinance.
Matthew 3:13-17, 26:26-30, 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11, 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22, 22:19-20; Acts 2:41-42, 8:35-39, 16:30-33; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
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Last Things
God, in the fulfillment of time will in God's own way bring the world to its appropriate end. According to the promise of Jesus, Christ will return and the dead will rise again and all will be judged in righteousness. The fulfillment of time is known only by God the Father.
Matthew 16:27, 24:36, 25:13; Mark 8:38; Luke 12:35-40, 17:20-25, 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:7 & 11; Romans 14:10-12; 1 Corinthians 4:5, 15:12ff; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Timothy 6:14-16; Hebrews 9:27-28; & Revelation 3:11, 20: 1-22:13
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Evangelism and Missions
We believe that sharing in the Good News (gospel) of the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is the responsibility and privilege of every member. Evangelism and missions encompass reaching out to the whole person - spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. We cooperate with other Christians in taking the gospel to our homes, our community, and wherever God leads.
Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 28-19-20; & Acts 1:8
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Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings. All we have and all we are we owe God. As Christians we are to be faithful stewards will all our possessions, time, and talents to use them for God's glory. According to the Bible we are to be generous, regular, systematic and cheerful givers of tithes and offerings to the church and its work in the Kingdom of God.
Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4; Luke 12:16-21; Acts 2:44-47; Romans 12:1-2 & 2 Corinthians 9:7
Cooperation
As a local church we should cooperate with other churches, associations, conventions, and denominations in an attempt to further the work of the Kingdom of God. These cooperative relationships should be voluntary and have no authority over one another or the church. While cherishing and enriching our Baptist heritage, First Baptist will seek to cooperate with all Christians in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Exodus 17:12, 18:17-18; Ezra 2:68-69; Nehemiah 4; Matthew 10:5-10, 28:19-20; Acts 4:32-36, 13:2-3, 15:1; 1 Corinthians 1:10, 3:8-9, 12:12ff, 8-9; Ephesians 1:1-16; & Philippians 1:15-18
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Religious Liberty
Church and state should be separate. The Christian ideal is a free Church in a free state, and this ideal implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all people.
Matthew 22:21, Acts 4:19-20; Philippians 3:20
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