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What We Believe
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Matthew 5:17-18; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21.
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature essence, or being.
Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; Psalm 19:1-3; Matthew 28:19; John 5:26; 14:6-13.
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 human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary 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, fully God, fully man, 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.
Matthew 1:18-23; John 1:1-18,29; Galatians 4:4-5, Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:13-16, 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. 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 guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
John 14:16-17,26; 16:7-14; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 12:3-11,13; Ephesians 1:13-14
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through 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.
B. 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 unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.
C. 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 maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life.
D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18, 29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-22; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23.
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ 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: 41-42, 47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3.
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 faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, 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 to the privileges 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 the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.
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 18:8-9; 25:31-46; Mark 8:38; 9:43-48; I Corinthians 15:24-28; 35-58; 2 Peter 3:7ff; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13.
Missions & Evangelism
"There is no better way for your church to invest in eternal things than giving to missions... that all peoples may know Him." – Jerry Rankin, President, IMB
One of the ways Little Rock's First Baptist Church fulfills the mandate of the Great Commission to teach all nations is through our support of the International Mission Board (IMB). As a Southern Baptist Church, our gifts to the Cooperative Program help to support more than 5,000 IMB missionaries who fervently seek to proclaim the life-changing message of Jesus Christ to more than 2,161 nations (1.7 billion people) who have little or no access to the gospel.
Each year Southern Baptist Churches are privileged to participate in a special offering to the International Mission Board. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering supports the work of missionaries serving abroad with 100% of the offering used in their overseas budget for the missionary and their ministry.
In addition to financial gifts the IMB depends on members of Southern Baptist congregations, like Little Rock's First Baptist Church, to prayerfully support this vital work and to seek God's leadership in volunteer mission work. To learn more about praying, giving, or going visit the International Mission Board's Website at www.imb.org
Added to our faithful support of the IMB, is our active and aggressive commitment to provide "hands on" mission opportunities. For example, First Baptist was not only instrumental in planting an evangelical church in Novgorod, Russia, but we remain today an active partner with that flourishing congregation. Teams from First Baptist have traveled recently to Russia, Argentina, Chengdu, Beijing, and Shanghai, China. New trips are currently being planned and future opportunities are being explored. If you have a heart for the world-then you will not be disappointed at Little Rock's First Baptist!
Our mission work in North America is accomplished through our partnership with NAMB (North American Mission Board). NAMB exists to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, start New Testament congregations, and minister in the name of Christ. Their work is funded primarily through two sources: the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and gifts to the Cooperative Program. Little Rock's First Baptist Church gratefully acknowledges the work of the North American Mission Board and gladly contributes financially through these two ways. To learn more about Cooperative Program giving visit www.cpmissions.net To learn more about the work of the North American Mission Board and how you can be involved in home mission work, visit www.namb.net
The Arkansas Baptist State Convention is our primary partner in fulfilling the Great Commission in the state of Arkansas. By giving to the Cooperative Program LRFBC joins with 1,435 other Southern Baptist Churches in our state to provide the best and most effective missions work. Money given to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention goes to help Student Missionaries, Baptist Student Union, Disaster Relief, Chaplaincy Ministry, Missions Education, Discipleship Training, Church Leader Training, Church Growth, Music/Worship Training/Festivals, Church Annuity Plan, New Church Starts, Ministers' Needs (career assessment, counseling, conflict management), Evangelism, National & International Partnership Missions, Ethnic/Language Ministries, Church and Community Ministries.
You may contact the Arkansas Baptist State Convention at:
525 W. Capitol Avenue
PO Box 552
Little Rock, AR 72206
Phone: (501) 376-4791 or (800) 838-2272
Fax: (501) 374-2754
www.absc.org
Dr. Emil Turner – Executive Director
Little Rock's First Baptist Church is an active participant in the Pulaski Baptist Association. The Pulaski Baptist Association is made up of dozens of churches in the Little Rock (Pulaski County) area. Our church, in cooperation with the association, serves together to meet the needs of the people in Pulaski County. This goal is accomplished through financial support, practical application of ministry, and the effective proclamation of the gospel.
You may contact the Pulaski Baptist Associational office at:
16502 Lawson Road
Little Rock, AR 72210
Phone: (501) 455-8506
Fax: (501) 455-8508
Why Membership Matters
For the person who has chosen to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, membership in a local church is important for three essential reasons…
It is Biblical!
Collective and corporate worship is a vital part of spiritual life (Hebrews 10:24). Therefore a commitment to a local body of like-minded believers will ensure three benefits in your walk with Christ: 1) Your personal spiritual growth and the fulfillment of your Christian responsibility (Eph. 4:11-15); 2) Your personal accountability (Gal. 6:1-2); and 3) Your Christian productivity (I Cor. 12:1-31).
It is Theological!
The New Testament affirms that when a person makes a personal commitment to follow Jesus Christ he is "baptized into one body" (1 Cor. 12:13). This figurative expression affirms that to be a Christian is to be an active member of Christ's church. It is in the context of a local body (church) of believers that you exercise your spiritual gift, you receive biblical instruction, and you actively join with others to fulfill the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20).
It is Practical!
Your commitment to membership in a local church provides many practical benefits for you, your family, and your extended church family. Some of these benefits include: 1) The ability for us all to do more together than we could ever possibly do alone; 2) The confidence in knowing that you have found a place where you can meet new friends and develop meaningful relationships; and 3) The peace and assurance of having like-minded friends who will hold you accountable in your weaknesses, encourage you in your disappointments, and rejoice with you in your victories.
How to become a member
First Baptist is a body of believers united by our desire to follow Jesus Christ. If it is your desire to join with us we warmly invite you to become a member. Here are the two steps to becoming a member:
At the close of each worship service, our Pastor will extend an invitation for you to come forward. You will be greeted by a minister and introduced to a friend who will guide you in your decision.
1. By Profession of Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
If you will receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord and follow Him in baptism by immersion, we will welcome you into our fellowship.
2. By transfer of membership from another Southern Baptist church
As a Baptist whose membership is elsewhere, should God direct you to First Baptist we will be pleased to welcome you into the First Family. We will take care of the appropriate details for the transferring of membership. You need only to present yourself for membership at the conclusion of any worship service.
3. By statement of faith
If you know in your heart that you have a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and have been baptized by immersion as a testimony of your commitment to Him we will be happy to receive you. If your membership is currently in another denomination and you have not been baptized by immersion as a testimony of your faith in Christ, you would be required to be baptized before you could be a member of First Baptist.
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