What Makes Community Baptist Church Distinct
Proclaiming the Sovereign Grace of God in What We Believe & What We Do
What We Believe
Scripture Alone - The Bible alone is our final authority for faith and life. While God has revealed
Himself in nature, it is in the Bible alone that we learn who He is, what He has done for us in Christ, and
what His will is for our lives. The Bible alone can bind man's conscience, not the traditions and doctrines
of men.
Christ Alone - A person is saved from God's most holy wrath by the perfect life and death of Jesus
Christ alone. The good news of the gospel is not what we must do to be saved, but what Christ has done to
reconcile sinners to God. His redeeming work renders His people righteous, holy, and blameless before
God.
Grace Alone - A person is saved by God's free grace alone. The love of God does not seek in the
sinner that which is pleasing to it, but creates it. By grace alone, God the Holy Spirit supernaturally
unites us to Christ, releasing us from our bondage to sin, raising us from spiritual death, and creating new
life in us. The forgiveness of our sins and the imputation of Christ's righteous merits is strictly a gift of
God's sovereign grace and cannot be earned nor deserved.
Faith Alone - All the benefits of Christ's redeeming work are graciously applied to the sinner by
faith alone. True faith firmly believes that God has granted to us the forgiveness of sins, everlasting
righteousness, and salvation out of mere grace, only for the sake of Christ's merits. Gospel faith, like all
of salvation, is a gift of God. This faith the Holy Spirit works in the heart of the sinner in the hearing of
the gospel.
What We Do
Doctrine Matters!
What is doctrine? Doctrine is what the Bible teaches. Doctrine explains who God is, what He has done, who we
are in Christ, and what His will is for our lives. In pursuit of living fully for God, we must understand
sound doctrine. Biblical doctrine is foundational to knowing and loving God. It transforms, balances and
blesses on the mountaintop and in the valley. It is absolutely essential and it is a supreme comfort. It is
out of the richness of God's doctrinal truths that the Holy Spirit nourishes us in Christ.
It's We, Not Me!
The church is Christ's body. We live and grow in the community of the faithful. In the church we experience
God's grace for salvation and Christian growth. The church is NOT a building, nor is it a filling station
where we get pumped up once a week so that we can go out and live our lives in isolation. The church is a
living organism - the body of Christ. Body life is most beneficial when done corporately - in fact, it can
only be done corporately.
Peer Segregation or Family Unit
God has ordained the family as the primary means for religious and moral training. It is essential for
worship, interpersonal relationships, academic education, historical perspective and training for godliness.
The church gathers to worship God and to assist one another in our common goal of building each other up in
the grace and knowledge of Christ. To assist in doctrinal training, we use the great creeds, confessions and
catechisms of the Reformation.
God's promises in the New Covenant that we are His people and that He dwells in our midst. He has sealed this
covenantal promise with the blood of His Son. God's people gather on the Lord's Day to offer sacrifices of
praise through song, prayer, and confession. The preaching of His Word and the sacraments are an integral
part of our worship. In the preaching of His Word, the Holy Spirit imparts saving and sanctifying faith. In
Baptism and Communion, the Holy Spirit strengthens and confirms our faith. The worship service is sacred and
holy because we enter into the presence of God.
It's Not About You! It's About God
God and His Word are relevant and life changing. We believe that in the public hearing of who God is and what
He has done in Christ, the Holy Spirit ministers to each at the point of need. Our greatest heritage is the
true knowledge of God and His redemptive acts in history as recorded in the Bible. Only in Him can true peace
and joy be found, because all things are from Him and through Him and to Him. To Him be the glory forever.
Amen.
Enough with the Fads & Cultural Foofaraw!
Here are the facts: God created the heavens and the earth; God sent His eternal Son in the form of man to
reconcile us to Himself; and there will come a day of complete disclosure of the Kingdom of God. ABSOLUTELY
everything in history is moving towards this inevitable climax - when all will submit to the headship of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, we want to live and worship God in truth, understanding His past deeds and looking
forward to the coming of His glorious Kingdom.
Community Baptist Church of Fargo, ND is a growing community of believing households who are committed to
a historical Reformed
understanding of the gospel in faith and practice for the glory of God, the exaltation
of Jesus Christ and the advancement of His Church on earth.