Welcome to the Missional

July 2006

Community of Faith

First Baptist Church, 115 West Blucher Street,

Falfurrias. Texas, 78355-0545

What We Believe

We believe the Bible is God’s Word to us. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. God has miraculously preserved His written Word and it says exactly what He wants us to know about living the life He has given us and to prepare us for the life that follows.  It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living (2 Timothy 3:16 -17)

Man is made in the spiritual image of God, to be like Him in character. As the supreme object of God’s creation, we were designed for dignity. However, Adam’s sin catapulted the creation into a fallen state, and plunged all his descendants into depravity. Thus, all of us are marred by rebellion and disobedience toward God, which is called “sin.” Sin separates people from God and causes many problems in life (Romans 3:23 ) .

 Jesus Christ is God's Son. He is co-equal with the Father. He is both God and man. He was born of a virgin. He lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of His people by dying on a cross. He died to become a substitutionary atonement for the sins of His people. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Matthew 1:18; Hebrews 4:15; I Corinthians 15:3-4; John 14:3).

 Salvation is God’s free gift to us. We receive this gift through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone. Repentance means turning away from our sin and turning towards Christ. Faith means trusting in Christ alone for the remission of our sins. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, His perfect obedience is credited to us so that God sees us as the righteousness of Christ. If you have made a genuine commitment of faith in Jesus, you cannot lose your salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Baptism is a picture and an illustration—a symbolic act. Baptism by immersion best illustrates the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf and our subsequent faith in Him. It is not necessary for salvation, but is strongly associated with salvation as it best illustrates our new identity with Jesus Christ (Acts 8:36 -39).

 We believe in believer’s baptism. A person must first exercise faith in Jesus Christ, believing that He died for their sins, was buried, and rose from the dead. An infant or person who does not understand God’s plan of salvation cannot make that kind of commitment. The Scriptural order is belief first followed by baptism. Baptism is limited to those who have personally believed in Jesus Christ as Savior (Acts 8:12 ).

 Each person is able to come to God for himself or herself. There is no need for a third party to tell a person how to pray, how to interpret Scriptures, or how to vote in church. All believers are ministers of servants of God. Therefore the church does not have a distinctive class of priests. All members are made “priests unto God” by the death of Christ. The church is a holy priesthood chosen by God to offer up spiritual sacrifices. There is only one mediator between God and man and that is Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:11 -12).

 The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the church. It was instituted when the Lord had the Passover meal before His crucifixion. We observe the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis in remembrance of Jesus Christ atonement for our sins. It is a proclamation of His death and an assurance of His second coming. We ask only those who have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ to participate in the Lord’s Supper. The elements of bread and grape juice are used as symbols of Christ’s body that was broken and His blood that was shed for the remission of our sins (1 Corinthians 11:21 -32 )

 The church is the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25 -33) and the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12). The purpose of the church on earth is to fulfill the last command of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). Christians are endowed with spiritual gifts which enable them to minister in the church (Ephesians 4:11 ). The Holy Spirit, whom every believer receives at conversion (Ephesians 1:13 -14), leads and guides us.

What We Have Found

We have found that God is real and that he wants you to be happy.

We have found that God is not interested in making you follow a bunch of silly rules, but that he has made it possible for us to be truly free to be what we are!

Here’s how it works: First, we see the Flowing

God’s love is flowing through each of us. When we recognize this truth, we can then accept his word that all of our foolish behavior (what the bible calls sin) has already been forgiven. All we need to do is agree to allow this forgiveness to be applied to our lives.

When we really know his love, we then begin to feel the flow as we worship (learn to lean on his love) and minister to those in need (learn to care about someone else as much as ourselves.)

Next, we start Growing

God’s love encourages us to grow in every part of our lives. As we do this, we take an active part in fellowship (learn to love each other) and discipleship (learn to do what God has created us to do.)

Finally, we get Going

This good news is something we can’t keep hidden. We are so excited about what God has done in our hearts that we need to tell someone… everyone! We do that through what is called evangelism (learn to go ourselves) and missions (learn to send the news when we can’t go ourselves.)

We invite you to come find out more, ask questions, and see for yourself what a huge difference this relationship with God will make in every moment of your life.

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