Mission Statement

Bible Grove Christian Church is committed to teaching all the Truth of the Bible, to making disciples of all people, and to obeying all that Jesus Christ has commanded his followers to do.

Who Is God?

God is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. His power is above all powers of the Earth. Through Him we have been given life, and He has shown us proper conduct in our lives through his Word. The Bible gives us glimpses of God and His nature. We are told He is omnipotent, which means he is all-powerful. We are told he is omniscient, which means He is all-knowing. We are also told He is omni-present, which means He is everywhere. The Old Testament reveals much about God’s nature. He is described as our Lord, our Provider, our Shepherd, the Mighty One, and the Everlasting God, to name just a few of the revelations we are given about Him.

The New Testament has a most amazing description of God when 1 John 4:16 says “God is love.” Among all the attributes God holds, His greatest attribute by which He wants to be known is His love. But there is also another side of God, which cannot be ignored. He is also described as our Judge. These two aspects of His nature seem to contradict one another, but this is just a misunderstanding of God and who He is. His love and His justice are the two sides of the same coin. In His love, He has given us a clear way to Him: through His Son, Jesus Christ. But for those who reject Jesus, none of the requirements for forgiveness of sin has been met, and God’s justice must be satisfied.

Who Is Jesus?

Jesus is the Son of God; Lord, Savior and Redeemer of His Church. John 1:1-14 teaches that Jesus is the Creator. He is the Word of God, and He was “in the beginning.” When the angel Gabriel announced to Joseph that Mary would have a son, Matthew says that this child would be called “Immanuel, which means, ‘God with us’.” (Matthew 1:23) Jesus is fully God, and as such, He is uniquely qualified to be the ransom for our sin, satisfying the punishment of death which was placed on sinners in Genesis 3. He was born of the virgin, with God the Father miraculously placing Him in His mother’s womb. He lived His life without sin, perfectly keeping all of the Old Testament Law. Therefore, He was able to offer Himself as a substitute for our sins, satisfying the requirements of the Law on our behalf. He was crucified, and on the 3 rd day He arose to life, conquering sin and death forever. “He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)

The Bible

The Bible is the Word of God, delivered to us over the course of dozens of centuries, penned by about 40 different authors, but it was always inspired by God to preserve God’s message for mankind. The original writings of all the books of the Bible were literally ‘God-breathed’. This is generally referred to as “Inspiration.” In spite of the number of authors and the wide time span of its writing, The Bible contains no errors or contradictions. This is known as Inerrancy. Since it was inspired by God, who is Truth, the Bible is 100% true. Not only is it true on spiritual matters, but also on all factual matters. For example, Isaiah 40:22 refers to the “circle of the earth,” thousands of years before man discovered that the earth is indeed round. Through the centuries there were several other writings that circulated among God’s people, some of which were under consideration as having also been inspired by God. But these writings didn’t hold up under the 2-fold test to determine if they were from God. 1) They must be true (Deuteronomy 18:21,22) and the message must direct you to God. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)

Becoming A Christian

Since heaven is a place of perfection, and we have proven ourselves to be imperfect and sinful, there must be some avenue for us to reestablish a relationship with God, or else we will be consigned to eternal separation from God. God has provided a way to salvation, available to all people. It is clearly outlined in the New Testament, finding its basis in the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross.

One of the easiest outlines of salvation to follow and understand is sometimes called The Roman Road. The path that the book of Romans shows us to salvation begins in Romans 3:23. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” With sin present in the lives of each of us, we are unqualified to be in the Presence of God’s throne in heaven.

Romans 6:23 then says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Since God is perfect, holy and the source of life, our sin sets us on an opposing track: the track to death. But in His grace He has offered us a way back to Him.

This way back to God is through His Son, Jesus. “But God demonstrates His love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:80

When we choose to return to God, there are very specific steps along the way which are laid out for us in Romans. The first is immersion for the forgiveness of sins. There is some confusion in the Christian community on this point. However, the Bible is clear that immersion is the accepted form of baptism. When the original language is studied, there is no doubt that God did not instruct the writers to refer to either sprinkling or pouring of water as methods of baptizing. There were other words for those concepts, and they are found elsewhere in the New Testament. But never in relation to forgiveness of sins through Jesus. These passages exclusively refer to immersion as the proper method of baptizing.

Still more confusion surrounds the function of immersion. When immersion is discussed in the New Testament, it is shown to be the moment in time in which God forgives our sins. “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized [immersed] into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:3,4)

Elsewhere in the New Testament the same connection is drawn between immersion and forgiveness. “Repent and be baptized [immersed], every one of you, for the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) “For all of you who were baptized [immersed] into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Galatians 3:27) And speaking of the waters of The Flood from Noah’s time, Peter said, “…and this water symbolizes baptism [immersion] that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.”

The Roman Road continues by telling us that our decision to follow Jesus must be expressed. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” When we are immersed, we are identifying with the resurrection of Jesus (Romans 6:4), thus “believing in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead,” and then we confess freely to those in our lives that Jesus has become our Savior.

Confession is a continual process, to be carried out every day of our lives. Our faith in God is the strength that enables us to continue in the way of Jesus, even when life’s struggles seem to overwhelm us.

Salvation is not earned in any way, either by good deeds or by ritual. It is by grace we have been saved. (Ephesians 2:8) All the work was done by Jesus. We claim Him, and identify with Him, and then He performs the work of salvation in our hearts. Our responsibility is to follow His path, so that His work can be properly applied to our hearts.

Communion

According to the pattern established by the New Testament church, communion, or The Lord’s Supper, is practiced at Bible Grove Christian Church every Sunday. Acts 20:7 says, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” Jesus simply said, “As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me.” The first Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42) “Breaking of bread” refers to their practice of taking the cup of the fruit of the vine and the bread as symbolic reminders of Jesus’ death: His body and His blood offered up for our sins.

When we offer communion at Bible Grove Christian Church, we offer it to any who profess to be a believer in Jesus. We exclude no one who is willing. We only ask that each participant enter the time of communion with an understanding of the importance of the moment. “For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Corinthians 11:29)