Merlin Community
Baptist Church
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Our Beliefs

Purpose - Why We Exist

Our purpose comes from two scriptures given by our Lord Jesus Christ call the “Great Commandment” (Matthew 22:37-40) and the “Great Commission” (Matthew 28:18-20).
We believe each person was created by God to fulfill five purposes.

  • We were planned for God’s pleasure (worship) - Revelation 4:11
  • We were formed for God’s family (fellowship) - Romans 12:5
  • We were created to become like Christ (discipleship) - Romans 8:29
  • We were shaped to serve God (ministry) - 1 Peter 4:10
  • We were made for a mission (evangelism) - John 17:18
We believe we best fulfill those five purposes for our lives in a community of people called the Church.

Our Statement of Faith - Doctrine

As a body of New Testament believers, we affirm our belief in the inspired authority of the scriptures; in the virgin birth and essential deity of our Lord; in His atoning death and bodily resurrection; in His ascension into Heaven and the promised indwelling of the Holy Spirit; in His personal, visible return; and His ultimate and undisputed Kingdom and reign.

Church Covenant

  • Believing Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, I have accepted Him as my personal Savior, and acknowledged Him as my master and Lord. I affirm the New Testament teaching as stated in our Doctrine.
  • With the New Testament as my guide, I will seek to lead a consistent Christian life, honoring Christ in all my relationships.
  • I will strive to be faithful in my Church worship service attendance.
  • I will endeavor to render some form of Christian service.
  • I will give regularly to the support of the Church and its benevolences.
  • I will pray regularly for myself and for my Church.

Our Mission Statement

"We preach Jesus Christ: crucified, risen, and coming again."
God: God is the Creator and ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three are co-equal in power, in nature, and in eternality, and are one God.
Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the promised Old Testament Messiah who was virgin-born of a human mother Mary by the Holy Spirit. He was fully human and fully God, co-equal with God the Father. He lived a sinless human life and offers Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on the cross. His bodily resurrection from death on the third day demonstrated His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven where He continually makes intercession for believers. One day He will return to earth to ransom His Bride the church to eternal glory, to judge the earth and Satan, and to establish His eternal kingdom, that He might reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son. He is present in the world to bring people to an awareness of their sin and need for a savior. He also lives spiritually in all believers from the moment of their salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living and for witnessing; for understanding spiritual truth; and for guidance in doing what is right and pleasing to God. He gives every believer spiritual gifts for serving Jesus Christ and building up other believers in their faith. As Christians we seek to live under the control of the Holy Spirit daily.
The Bible: The Bible is God’s revelation to us, written by human authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is the faithful, inspired, infallible, inerrant record of what God wishes us to know about Himself, the world in which we live, how we are to live, and our ultimate destiny. We believe the Bible teaches that marriage is between one man and one woman. We believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis affirming a six day creation in the recent past. We affirm a historical Adam.
Salvation: The Bible tells us that all have sinned and are in need of a Savior. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as our Savior, can we receive God’s forgiveness and be saved from the penalty of our sin, which is spiritual death. Salvation is God’s free gift of grace to us, but we must accept it by faith, having repented for our sin.
Baptism: We practice "believers’ baptism by immersion." In the New Testament we have the record of those who committed their lives personally to Jesus Christ, professing their faith in Him, and then being baptized. The Biblical model of baptism is immersion. Baptism does not confer salvation - it is merely a symbol and a public confession of what has already taken place in a believer’s heart, and that is repentance and regeneration by the Holy Spirit through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
The Lord’s Supper: Along with baptism, the Lord’s Supper (communion) is an ordinance Christ gave to His church. It, too, is symbolic - the bread and cup symbolize the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ given for the remission of our sins. In the act of celebration, we commemorate the Lord’s death for us, as we look forward to His promised return for His church at the end of the age. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper monthly.