WHAT WE BELIEVE
Our Mission
God has called us to share his love with unbelievers in our community in a way that allows them to know and share his love with others.
God has called us to teach other Christians so they can mature in Christ and show his love to others.
God
We believe that God is one God, Who is Spirit, infinite, eternal, immutable, wise, powerful, holy, just, and true; and that he is sovereign over all things regarding creation, providence, and salvation.
Eph 1:11-12, 4:6; Jn 4:24; Job 11:7, 23:13; 1Ti 1:17; Ja 1:17; Ps 90:2, 135:6, 147:5; Rev 4:8; Ex 34:6-7; Gen 1:1
Sin
We believe that the first man, Adam, was created holy in the image of God and yet fell voluntarily into sin as his holiness was not immutable; that this sin brought death and a sin nature unto all that Adam represented, that is, the entire human race.
Gen 1:26-27; 1Co 11:7; Eph 4:24; Ecc 7:29; Rom 5:12, 19
Church
We believe that the church is a visible assembly of scripturally baptized believers, established by Christ during his earthly ministry for the observance of the ordinances (baptism and communion), for the carrying out of the Great Commission (to make, baptize, and teach disciples), and for the edification of the saints (to reprove, rebuke, and exhort them).
Act 2:41-42, 15:22; 1Co 11:2; Eph 1:22-23, 4:11-12; Col 1:28; Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15-16
Sexuality
Creemos que Dios ha mandado que ninguna actividad sexual íntimo puede ser perseguida fuera del matrimonio entre un hombre y una mujer. Creemos que cualquier forma de incesto, fornicación, adulterio, pornografía, homosexualidad, lesbianismo, bisexualidad, o bestialidad es una perversión pecaminosa del regalo de Dios de sexo.
Gn 2:24; 19:5,13; 28:8,9; Lev 18:1-30;. Ro 1:26-29;. I Co 5:1;. 6:9; I Ts 4. :1-8;. He 13:4
Our Purpose
The purpose of our mission is:
* To give unbelievers the opportunity to receive Christ
* To grow in the worship of God
* To live according to the Word of God
* To contribute to God's work
* To impact the world for the cause of Christ
Holy Spirit
We believe that God is one God, Who is Spirit, infinite, eternal, immutable, wise, powerful, holy, just, and true; and that he is sovereign over all things regarding creation, providence, and salvation.
Eph 1:11-12, 4:6; Jn 4:24; Job 11:7, 23:13; 1Ti 1:17; Ja 1:17; Ps 90:2, 135:6, 147:5; Rev 4:8; Ex 34:6-7; Gen 1:1
Jesus
We believe that Jesus is God the Son, born of a virgin and in accordance with all of the prophecies of the Old Testament, lived free of sin, and that he came to do the will of his Father which sent him, which was to be the atonement for the sins of his people, thereby imputing his righteousness onto them.
Jn 1:1,14, 4:34, 5:30, 6:38; Gal 4:4; Mt 1:18; Lk 1:27,31; Heb 10:14;
Rom 3:25-26; 1Jn 5:7-8
Baptism and Communion
We believe that the church was given two ordinances to observe: Baptism and Communion. That these two ordinances can only be properly administered by the church and under specific guidelines; namely, that baptism is only to be administered to believers, by immersion, and in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost for the purpose of identifying oneself with the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that Communion is only to be administered to believers in membership with that local church for the purpose of remembering the Lord’s death through the use of unleavened bread and wine, preceded by solemn self-examination.
Act 2:41-42, 8:36-39; Mt 3:16, 28:19; Mk 14:22-26; Jn 3:23; Rom 6:3-5; Col 2:12; 1Co 11:23-28
Marriage
We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance. We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; I Cor. 7:2; Eph. 5:22-23), and that same-sex marriage is a transgression against God. Since incest, fornication, adultery, pornography, homosexuality, lesbianism, bi-sexuality, bestiality, and same-sex marriage are transgressions in practice, we believe that no person may be a member of the Encounter Baptist Church who practices any of these, or who has pleasure in them that do them (Rom. 1:32).
The Scriptures
We believe that the Scriptures are the verbally and plenarily inspired Word of God, perfectly preserved by him for the purpose of revealing to us his will and his perfect plan for salvation, and can be found today in the Reina-Valera 1960 for the Spanish-speaking peoples of the world.
2Ti 3:16; 2Pe 1:19-21; Ps 119:89; Pro 30:5-6; Isa 8:20; Jn 5:39, 12:48; Rom 3:4, 15:4; Eph 6:17; 1Pe 1:23
The Creation
We believe that the Genesis account of creation is literally true, that God created the heavens and the earth in six literal days and that it was all good. That God created man in his image and not through evolutionary processes. We reject all teachings of this kind whether by evolution or other man-made theories such as Progressive Creationism or the Gap Theory.
Gen 1:1, 26-27; Ex 20:11; Col 1:16-17; Heb 11:3; Jn 1:3; Rom 1:20; Act
17:23-26; Jer 10:12; 1Co 11:7
Salvation
We believe that salvation is wholly of God’s electing grace, that no man has earned or attained it by his own works, his own will, by his birth, or by another’s will; that the Holy Spirit secures our voluntary obedience by his power and in connection with the word of God; and that salvation’s evidence will appear in our lives by fruits of repentance and new life.
Eph 2:1,8-9; Jn 1:12-13, 3:3-8; Rom 8:29-30, 10:14; Act 16:30-33; 2Co 5:17, 15:10; Isa 55:7
Saints
We believe all of the Lord’s saints will persevere in faith, the reprobate will continue in unbelief, and at the Last Judgment all will be judged for their works both good and bad; that the saints will spend eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ glorifying God for his grace and mercy, while the wicked will spend eternity in conscious torment, which brings glory to God for his holiness and his justice.
Jn 6:37-39,8:31; Heb10:39; 1Jn2:19; Mt 13:19-21, 25:21,34,46;Rev 20:12-13; Rom 9:22-23; Lk 16:19-26; 2Th 1:7-10
Life
We believe that human life begins at conception and the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1,5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44). Since seeking abortion as a lifestyle act is a transgression in practice, we believe that no person may be a member of the Encounter Baptist Church who practices this or supports abortion as a personal philosophy.