Statement of Faith Emmanuel Baptist Church

This is a brief statement of our basic beliefs, please feel free to call or e-mail me if you have any questions.  Thanks Pastor Andy.

1st let me say welcome to our website.  If you live in or are passing through the Belle Fourche area, I’d like to invite you to join us in worship on Sunday morning 10am, even if you are not a “Baptist”, Come and worship with us.  

Our desire is to know the Lord Jesus Christ and make Him known to all (Matt 28:18-20, Acts 1:8) and to bring glory to His Name by living fruitful lives (John 15:8).

God:   We believe in one God, eternally existent in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit— who are infinite in glory, wisdom, holiness, justice, power, mercy, grace, knowledge, and love and that He created everything out of nothing for His own pleasure and purpose.  
Gen 1 & 2; Isaiah 45:5, 6, 18, 21, & 22; John 10:27-33; Acts 5:1-4.

God the Father:  God, as Father, reigns over all of His universe with providential care and is all powerful, all loving, all knowing, and all wise. (Gen 1:1; 1 Chr 29:10; Jer 10:10; Matt 6:9; Acts 1:7; Rom 8:14-15; 1 Cor 8:6; 1 Cor 15:24; Eph 4:6)

God the Son: Jesus Christ is unique, He is God, who in His incarnation was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary and became a man.  In His earthly ministry He lived a sinless life, performed miracles, and died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. By the power of God, He was raised from the dead in the same body now glorified. He ascended into Heaven where, at the right hand of God, He continually makes intercession for us.  He will soon return and physically reign on the earth for 1000 years.  (Luke 1:34-35; John 1:1, 2, 14, 18; Rom 3:24-26; 8:3)

God the Holy Spirit:  The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son; He regenerates the believing sinner; indwells, guides, instructs, seals, gifts and empowers the believer for Godly living and service; He comforts the children of God. The Holy Spirit guides and gives power to the church, the body of Christ, to fulfill the Great Commission.  The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment and points man to Jesus.   Every believer is called to live in the power of the Holy Spirit so that he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but to bear fruit to the glory of God.  (John 3:3-8; 14:16-17; 16:7-11; 2 Cor 12:7-11, 13; Eph 4:30; 5:18; Gal 5:19-25)

Scripture:  We believe that the 66 books of the Bible are the written Word of God. The Bible is divinely inspired, inerrant throughout, and that holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the very words of Scripture.

The Word of God is without error (2 Timothy 3:16: 2 Peter 1:21). We believe that God has preserve His Word throughout the centuries.  The final guide to the interpretation of Scripture is Scripture itself.

Scripture is our final authority in all matters of faith and life as revealed by the Holy Spirit to each individual believer.

The Pastor at EBC preaches out of the King James Bible.

Man, woman and sin:  Adam, the first man and Eve, the first woman, were created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27), their fall into sin is the basis for the necessity of salvation for mankind. Death, both physical and spiritual, entered this world and affected the creation as a whole, a direct consequence of man’s sin. The Word of God tells us that everyone has Adams’s sin nature, and we are all sinners, inherently from Adam and individually by choice and are therefore subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.  The Word of God clearly tells us that a man must be born again or he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3; Rom 3:10, 23)

Salvation:  Salvation is the gift of God and includes the forgiveness of sins, the imputation of the Righteousness of Jesus Christ (on to the repentant sinner), and the gift of eternal life. Jesus is the only way by which man may have access to God.  Union with the triune God provides all blessings in this life and the life hereafter. Salvation is received by faith alone, apart from all good works and merit.  John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Ephesians 2:8-10; Rom 6:23.

Baptism:  The Word of God states that after a person has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, then he or she should be baptized by immersion in water.  Acts 8:36-40; Acts 16:30-34.  

Baptism is a testimony that the person being baptized has: 

(1) died with Christ to their old self;
(2) they are raised with Christ a new creature.  

Baptism does not save, true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ saves.  God commands us to believe and then to be baptized.  Any believer who refuses baptism should truly examine his or her conversion, have they truly repented and believed?

Eternal Security of the believer:  Every child of God possesses eternal life. Being justified by faith, sanctified by God, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, he/she is safe and secure for all eternity and cannot lose his salvation. Through sin, a Christian can lose his fellowship, joy, power, testimony and rewards, and incur the Father’s chastisement (discipline) but the relationship is eternal, being established by the new birth.
(John 10:27-29, I Corinthians 3:11-17, 5:1-5 and 11:30-32 and Hebrews 12:5-11).

The Church:  The church is composed of all those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Spirit of God by whom they have been baptized into one body of whom Christ is the head. The purpose of the church is love God, love people and reach the lost.  We accomplish this by prayer, study and application of the Bible, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, ministry and worship.

Satan:   We believe as the Bible reveals that Satan is a created angelic being.  Satan was originally named Lucifer.  Lucifer was the anointed Cherub who guarded the throne of God until he rebelled against God.  Satan is the author of sin, a liar and the father of lies, and is destined to the judgment of an eternal punishment in the lake of fire. He is the adversary, enemy of both God and man.  

Satan is NOT equal to God.  God is All Powerful, All Knowing, All Present. Satan is limited in power, in knowledge and cannot be present in more than one place at a time.  (Isa 14:12-15; Eze 28:13-19; Matt 4:1-3; Acts 5:3; 2 Cor 4:4; John 8:44; Rev 20:10)

Hell:  Hell is the temporary holding place for lost souls, it is not purgatory.  There is no such place called purgatory.  

Hell was created for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41) but those who have rejected God’s mercy and grace and die in their sin will be placed in hell until the Great White Throne Judgement.  Luke 16:19-31.

At the end of the Millennial reign of Christ, the unsaved will be called before the Great White Throne of God and judged.  Death and hell will at that time be cast into the lake of fire.  God will judge unbelievers (unsaved), they will then be cast into the lake of fire, where they will be for all of eternity.
Rev 20:11-15.

You can know if you are forgiven and have eternal life (1 John 5:12-13).
If you are unsure and concerned of where you will spend eternity  click here.

Heaven: Heaven is the eternal home of those who have been redeemed by the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the born again or saved.

Heaven is described in the Bible as a place where the throne of God is located.  A place of unimaginable beauty. 

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

A place where there is no sin, no sorrow, no curse, no tears, no pain.

Prayer:  The Church is commanded throughout Scripture to be a people of prayer.  Over and over especially in the book of Acts we see that the church is to pray and preach.  

We are to pray without ceasing.  

Things that should be included in our prayers: praise and thanksgiving, confession of sin, salvation for the lost, the needs of others and ourselves.

Evangelism:  If the church is to grow it must prayerfully go.  Matt 20:18-20, Acts 1:8.

We can and should utilize different God-honoring methods to get the Gospel in front of people, but we must not compromise or water down the message.  

Evangelism simply put is taking the Gospel (Good News) to the world, beginning with in our own households.

Discipleship:  Once a person comes to the Savior, God has given us the responsibility to help them grow as believers.  

We need to take the responsibility as lead by the Holy Spirit to guide new converts in the learning process, but it does not end there we are to learn Scriptures and application of those Scriptures throughout our lives and help and encourage others to do
the same.

Ministry: Meeting others needs in the Name of Jesus.

Worship: Corporate (together with other believers) and individual.  Worship includes but is not limited to music.  It includes prayer, Scripture reading, offerings, decisions, and most importantly the hearing of God’s Word.  Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  Worship is NOT just focused on music.

Fellowship:
At EBC:  We like to fellowship after each Sunday morning service. We eat lunch together after most Sunday Services.  Everyone is welcome.

Fellowship with other churches of like faith:  Believers in heaven will fellowship with one another.  There will be no denominational separations.

So why not fellowship with believers, men and women of like faith?

Eschatology:  The Word of God has given us a glimpse of things to come.  The end of the church age, the tribulation period, the 1000-year physical reign of Christ on this earth, the great white throne judgement and the promise of a new heaven and new earth, where there is no more curse, no more sorrow, no more tears, no more death.

 Marriage:  Biblical marriage is one man and one woman married to each other in a monogamous, lifetime relationship as described and defined by the Word of God.