We Believe

 

We believe the Scriptures of both the Old and New Testament are verbally inspired Word of God, error-free in the original writings, and the supreme authority of faith and practice for the believer in Jesus Christ.

 

 

We believe there is but one living and true God, who is one in essence, while eternally existing in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Though each person of the Godhead possesses one and the same nature, each functions differently in respect to God's dealings with man.

 

 

The first Person of the Trinity orders and directs all things according to His own purpose, pleasure and grace. He has decreed all things that come to pass for His own glory. He graciously involves Himself in the affairs of men, hears and answers prayer, and saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

 

 

Jesus Christ is both the eternal Son of God and virgin-born Son of man. Fully God and fully man, He surrender nothing of His deity during His earthly life. Having led a sinless life, He satisfied the Father's justice concerning sin by His death. We believe in His bodily resurrection, His physical ascension, and His visible return to this earth to establish His earthly kingdom.

 

 

The third person of the Trinity executes the will of God on the world of men. It is the Holy Spirit who applies the salvation of Jesus Christ secured through His death on the cross. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers the church to live a lifestyle pleasing to God, endowing it with special gifts which equip believers to accomplish distinct ministries planned beforehand by God the Father.

 

 

We believe that man was directly created in the image of God to enjoy His fellowship and to fulfill God's will on earth. Man fell into sin by a voluntary act of personal disobedience to the will of God; consequently all men are spiritually dead and subject to the certainty of both physical and spiritual death apart from Jesus Christ. The fall of man was a once-for-all historical fact. Its spiritually deadening effect spread to all men each of whom is born with a sinful nature and sins habitually in thought, word and deed.

 

 

We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins as the only sufficient sacrifice. All who believe in Him are declared justified by the Father on the grounds of Jesus' death and resurrection. All who receive the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith have been regenerated by and baptized in the Holy Spirit. They are thereby the children of God forever and members in the one true church, the Body of Christ. This salvation results in righteous living and good works as the believer submits his life to the Word of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

We believe that all who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit belong to the one true church and are directed by the Scriptures to associate themselves in a local, visible church. The local church is the only visible representation of Christ's invisible church and consists only of regenerated believers. The local church is autonomous in its relationship and elects its own members to servant leader roles. The twofold purpose of the church is to lead men to Christ and to mature them in the faith.

 

 

We believe that the next great event of human history will be the personal return of Jesus Christ. This is the BLESSED HOPE, for which all who love Jesus Christ yearn. Though the time of Christ's return is a mystery known only to the Father Himself, we believe that it is as sure as Jesus' first coming was fact. We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting in the presence of God for those who believe.

 

 

Baptism is an essential "first step" for a believer who seeks to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.  In taking it he reveals that a coup has taken place in the secret recesses of his soul. The government of self has been toppled and overthrown. In its place, a new authority now reigns and rules. It is Christ, the living Lord! At Countryside Baptist we uphold the act of baptism as a sacred, uncompromisable injunction of the Scripture. Every believer, serious in his or her faith, will also be serious about baptism. It is the "badge" of our identity with Christ. In many ways, baptism is to Christianity what a ring is to marriage. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words. And the picture portrayed in baptism declares a variety of scriptural truths:

 

Our method of baptism is the immersion method. We feel strongly that this mode is the one presented in the New Testament for the following reasons:

 

 

The Lord's Supper is primarily summed up in the command of Christ, "Do this in remembrance of Me". It is first and foremost a memorial of Christ and His redemptive death, and secondly an expression of our fellowship with one another. We believe the Lord's Supper is open to all who meet the prerequisites outlined in Scripture. They are first:  that one personally know Jesus Christ as Savior, and secondly, that they have a cleansed life. We corporately share the Lord's Supper in the Sunday Worship Service at the first of the month.

Staff