About Us | First Baptist Church Crystal Beach

Affiliation

We shall serve the Lord in cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention, the Golden Triangle Baptist Network, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention so long as we feel that such cooperation is the best way to further the Kingdom of our Lord and glorify His name.

– MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of this church is to experience and express the love of God through the following ways: • to carry out the great commission of the Lord through missions, education, and benevolence (2 Timothy 4:2, Matthew 28:19-20) • promoting the worship of God as the believer’s most important activity, involving a communion with God that centers the mind’s attention and the heart’s affection on the Lord • preaching and teaching the Word of God as the only source for discovering the essentials of the Christian life that lead to a loving, nurturing fellowship of fully equipped believers who are growing in spiritual maturity and are learning how to serve God in every area of their lives (Ephesians 4:12-13) • pursuing the lost in the community with the goal of leading them to a saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8) • participating in meeting the spiritual and physical needs of the community in cooperation with other Christians and Christian organizations in reaching out to the whole world

STATEMENT OF BELIEFS

The Bible is the Inerrant Word of God

We at First Baptist Church of Crystal Beach believe that the Bible is God’s Word without any mixture of error. We accept the Bible, including the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament, as the written Word of God. The Bible is the only essential and infallible record of God’s self-disclosure to mankind. It leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Being given by God, the Scriptures are fully and verbally inspired by God. Therefore, as originally given, the Bible is free of error in all it teaches. Each book is to be interpreted according to its context and purpose and in reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through it in living power. All believers are exhorted to study the Scriptures and diligently apply them to their lives. The Scriptures are the authoritative and normative rule and guide of all Christian life, practice and doctrine. They are totally sufficient and must not be added to, superseded, or changed by later tradition, extra-biblical revelation, or worldly wisdom. Every doctrinal formulation, whether of creed, confession, or theology must be put to the test of the full counsel of God in Holy Scripture (Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalm 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105, 140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16;36; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1Peter 1:25; 2Pet. 1:19-21).

God is Manifest as One in Triune Relationship

There is one God: infinite, eternal, almighty, and perfect in holiness, truth and love. In the unity of the godhead there are three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-existent, co-equal, and co-eternal. The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, yet each is truly Deity. One God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit — is the foundation of Christian faith and life.

GOD the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. By His Word and for His glory, He freely and supernaturally created the world from nothing. Through the same Word He daily sustains all His creatures. He rules over all and is the only Sovereign. His plans and purposes cannot be thwarted. He is faithful to every promise, works all things together for good to those who love Him, and in His unfathomable grace gave His Son, Jesus Christ, for mankind’s redemption. He made man for fellowship with Himself and intended that all creation should live to the praise of His glory.

JESUS CHRIST, the only begotten son of God, is the eternal Word made flesh, supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He is perfect in nature, teaching, and obedience. He is fully God and fully man. He is always with God and is God. Through Him all things came into being and were created. He was before all things and in Him all things hold together by the word of His power. He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation, and in Him dwells the fullness of the godhead bodily. He is the only Savior for the sins of the world, having shed His blood and died a vicarious death on Calvary’s cross. By His death in our place, He revealed the divine love and upheld divine justice, removing our guilt and reconciling us to God. Having redeemed us from sin, the third day He rose bodily from the grave, victorious over death and powers of darkness, and for a period of 40 days appeared to more than 500 witnesses, performing many convincing proofs of His resurrection. He ascended into heaven where, at God’s right hand, He intercedes for His people and rules as Lord over all. He is the Head of His body, the Church, and should be adored, loved, served and obeyed by all.

HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit, convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Through the proclamation of the gospel, He persuades men to repent of their sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord. By the same Spirit a person is led to trust in divine grace and mercy. The Holy Spirit unites believers to Jesus Christ in faith, brings about the new birth, and dwells within the regenerate. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify the Son, who in turn came to glorify the Father. He will lead the Church into a right understanding and rich application of the truth of God’s Word. He is the empowerment through which we live victoriously in this world over sin and for living a Christian witness and service. While all genuine believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit at conversion, the New Testament indicates the importance of ongoing, empowering work and imparts His supernatural gifts for the edification of the Body and for various works on the ministry in the world. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church of the first century are available today, are vital for the mission of the church, and are to be earnestly desired and practiced. He is to be respected, honored, and worshiped as God the Third Person of the Trinity (Genesis 1:1-2; 2:7; 18:1; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11; 20:1; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; Judges 14:6;1 Chronicles 29:10; Job 26:13; Psalm 2:7; 19:1-3; 51:11; 110:1; 139:7; Isaiah 7:14 43:3,15; 53; 61:1-3; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:16-17; 4:1; 6:9; 7:11; 8:29; 11:27; 12:28-32; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 23:9; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1,9-12; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19,41; 11:13; 12:12; 22:70; 24:46,49; John 1:1-18,29; 4:24; 5:26; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:6-13,16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-16,28; 17:1-8,21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:7-9; 2:1-4,22-24,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55-56; 8:17,39; 9:4-5,20; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3;9-11,14-16,26-27,34; 10:4; 1Corinthians 1:30; 2:2,10-14; 3:16; 8:6; 12:3-11; 15:1-8,24-28; 2Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 4:4-6; Ephesians 1:13-14,20; 3:11; 4;6-10,30; 5:18; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:19; 1Timothy 1:17; 2:5-6; 3:16; 4:1; 2Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:8,12-15,24-28; 11:6; 12:2,9; 13:8; 1Peter 1:17; 2:21-25; 3:22; 1John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:6-7,9; 2John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16; 22:1).

Man

God made man – male and female – in His own image, as the crown of creation, that man might have fellowship with Him and worship Him and enjoy Him forever. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against God. Being estranged from the Maker, yet responsible to Him, he became subject to divine wrath, inwardly depraved and, apart from a special work of grace, utterly incapable of returning to God. The depravity is radical and pervasive. It extends to his mind, will, and affections. Unregenerate man lives under the dominion of sin and Satan. He is at enmity with God, hostile toward God, and hateful of God. Fallen, sinful people, whatever their character of attainments, are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Christ (Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalm 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11).

The Gospel

The message of Jesus Christ is the Gospel . The good news is revealed in His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. . In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, the Gospel is stated, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to Scriptures, and that He was buried and raised on the third day according to Scriptures. (Psalms 22, Psalms 16:7-10, Isaiah53). Christ’s death is a substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice to God for our sins. It satisfies the demands of God’s holy justice and appeases His holy wrath. It also demonstrates His mysterious love and reveals His amazing grace. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. There is no other name by which men must be saved. At the truth of all sound doctrine is the cross of Jesus Christ and His resurrection and the infinite privilege that redeemed sinners have of glorifying God because of what He has accomplished. Therefore, we want all that takes place in our hearts, churches, and ministries to proceed from and be related to the testimony of Jesus and His finished work, especially, His resurrection.

Man must respond one way or another to the Gospel. Man’s response to the Gospel is rooted and grounded in the free and unconditional election of God for His own pleasure and glory. It is also true that the message of the gospel is only effectual to those who genuinely repent of their sins and, by God’s grace, put saving faith in Christ. This gospel of grace is to be sincerely preached to all men in all nations. Biblical repentance is characterized by a changed life, and saving faith is evidenced by kingdom service or works. While neither repentance nor works save, unless a person is willing to deny himself, pick up the cross, and follow Christ, he cannot become His disciple.

Man is given an inheritance through the power of the gospel. Salvation, the free gift of God, is provided by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. Anyone turning from sin in repentance and looking to Christ and His substitutionary death receives the gift of eternal life and is declared righteous by God as a free gift. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to him. He is justified and fully accepted by God. Through acceptance of Christ’s atonement for sin an individual is to be reconciled to God as Father and becomes His child. The believer is forgiven the debt of his sin and, via the miracle for regeneration, liberated from the law of sin and death into the freedom of God’s Spirit

(Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22to28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians;2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:19-22; 3:1; 1Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1to12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1Peter 1:2-23; 1John 1:6to2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1to22:5).

Security of the Believer

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, this is not to say that they become perfect in this world, but ultimately shall persevere to the end as those whom the Father has placed in Christ nothing can take them from Him (John 10:28-29, Heb 7:25).

Sanctification

Sanctification is to be holy. It means the state of being set apart or dedicated to the services of God. The burden of Scripture is the effect that sanctification is an instantaneous experience whereby the regenerated one is set apart to God’s service. Thereafter, he should grow, develop, and serve in the state of sanctification (2 Thess. 2:13, Acts 26:18, Heb. 10:10, 1 Cor. 1:2, 1 Cor. 6:11, Romans 15:16).

Church

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing two ordinances of Christ, committed to His teachings, seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth (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; 1Corinthians 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; 1Timothy 3:1-15; 4:14; 1Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3).

Two Ordinances of the Church-Christian Baptism and The Lord’s Supper

a. 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 a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.

b. 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 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; 1Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12

Global Concerns: Evangelism and Missions

The Church is the bride of Christ and God’s institution communicating salvation to the world. It is a duty and a privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all the nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary efforts on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal effort and by all other methods in harmony with the Gospel of Christ (Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30, 37-43; 16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12; 15:7-8,16; 17:15; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2; 8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; 1Thessalonians 1:8; 2Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:39to12:2; 1Peter 2:4-10; Revelations 22:17).

Last Days, Jesus is Coming

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to an 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 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 9:43-48; Luke 12:40,48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28,35-58; 2Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1; 2Thessalonians 1:7; 2; 1Timothy 6:14; 2Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2Peter 3:7; 1John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1 to 22:13).

Stewardship

God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are, we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions

Religious Liberty

Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal.

Family, Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male and female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person.

We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:3-6; Mark 10:5-9). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other (Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:5-6; 1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4).

We believe any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pedophilia, transgenderism, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. This church does not condone abortion (Matthew 15:18-20; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His grace, mercy, and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of First Baptist Church of Crystal Beach.

We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of First Baptist Church of Crystal Beach as a local Body of Christ and to provide a Biblical role model to the First Baptist Church of Crystal Beach members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by First Baptist Church in any capacity or who serve as volunteers agree to and abide by this Statement on Family, Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality (Matthew 5:16; Philippines 2:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:22).

We accept the resolution on Transgender Identity Ruling from the SBC: “On Transgender Identity - Baltimore, MD 2014”.

Prayer

There are few activities as necessary, emphasized, and outlined in Scripture as prayer. We see modeled by the life of Christ the importance of prayer. He modeled the necessity and power of prayer. Its importance is demonstrated by the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray and further emphasized in Scripture as something we are to do without ceasing. Of all the things God could have said His house would be called, He said it would be called a house of prayer. By prayer we seek the will of God, we make our requests made known to Him, and through prayer we also intercede on behalf of others. Prayer is not a one-sided conversation; it is dialogue between us and our Heavenly Father. (Isa 56:7, 1 Thess. 5:17, Mark 1:35, Isa 65:24, John 11:41, James 5:15, Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:1)

Church Relationship

We, as baptized believers, covenant together for the fulfilling of our responsibilities to God, to one another, and to the world. These covenant relationships are based on our common salvation experience. Convicted of our sins and convinced of our need for a Lord and Savior by the Holy Spirit, we all entered into this experience by repenting of our sins and publicly confessing the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, demonstrating our faith by being baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We accept as our responsibility and privilege the daily walk of faith as we yield ourselves to the fullness of the Holy Spirit realizing that it is only in His power that we can walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in all respects, and we take the Bible as the foundation and guide for all that we do. The Bible is the final authority about all matters of faith and moral duty. To that end, we shall strive to acquire spiritual knowledge and grow spiritually.

It should be the desire of all our membership to strive for the growth of this church, enabling it to fulfill its mission through our presence and participation. It should be our desire to encourage each other to grow in our relationship with Christ, and should the occasion arise, to be open to correction and willing to make confession as we all seek to live together in the unity of the Spirit.

It should be our desire to conduct ourselves in a way that will let the world see a genuine Christian life and lifestyle that will open the door for a greater witness.

First Baptist Church Crystal Beach

1260 Hwy 87
Crystal Beach, Tx 77650

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