WHAT WE BELIEVE

Pipeline Church subscribes to the doctrinal statement of The Baptist Faith and Message as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention June 14, 2000. We voluntarily band ourselves together as a body of the baptized believers in Jesus Christ personally committed to sharing the good news of salvation to lost mankind.

SCRIPTURES - We affirm the Holy Bible as the truth, reliable, and inspired word of God and the basis for our beliefs. The Bible is God’s Word to us. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it has salvation for its end and is truth without any mixture of error.

GOD - God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three persons: The Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God.

A. The Father - He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. He reigns with providential care over the universe and the flow of human history goes according to His purposes and plan.

B. The Son (Jesus) – Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is co-equal with the Father. Jesus has eternally existed and became man at His incarnation. He lived a sinless human life and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross. He bodily arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

C. The Holy Spirit – He is the third person of the Trinity. He guides men into all truth, exalts Christ, convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment, cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, bestows spiritual gifts by which believers serve God and seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the lives of believers is the assurance of God to bring us into the fullness of the stature of Christ.

HUMAN BEINGS - People are made in the image of God and are the supreme object of God’s creation. All of us are marred by an attitude of disobedience toward God called sin. Sin separates people from God and causes many problems in life.

SALVATION - Salvation is God’s free gift to us, but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty. When we turn from our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one received Jesus Christ into his life by faith, and we are eternally secure. Because God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ, the true believer is secure in that salvation for eternity. If you have been genuinely saved, you cannot “lose” your salvation. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christian. It is the grace and keeping power of God that gives us this security.

ORDINANCES - Baptism by Immersion – We believe that scriptural baptism must be: (1) by being completely immersed under the water and (2) after salvation. Jesus was immersed and all baptisms in the New Testament were by immersion. These two facts set the standard for baptism today. Baptism has no saving power but is the first act of obedience symbolizing (1) the believer’s faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, (2) the believer’s death to sin and resurrection to walk anew in Christ, and (3) the Christian’s belief that he will die, be buried, and that Jesus will resurrect him from the dead. The Lord’s Supper – The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby believers remember the death of the Lord Jesus and anticipate His second coming. The bread is symbolic of His body and the juice represents His blood.

THE CHURCH - A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by their common faith and fellowship with Jesus. A local church is to observe the two ordinances: (1) baptism and (2) the Lord’s Supper. The church should be faithfully involved in personal discipleship, exercise their God-given gifts and extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. The church is an autonomous body serving under the Lordship of Christ. All members are equally responsible as they serve with the pastor and spiritual leaders of the church.

EVANGELISM - It is the duty of every born-again follower of Jesus Christ and of every church to endeavor to make disciples of all peoples everywhere. It is the command of Christ for every believer to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal effort and by all other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.

MARRIAGE - Marriage is a biblical institution established by God as described by Scripture. We believe the biblical ideal for marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment. Accordingly, this church’s pastors and staff will not officiate in the same-sex unions or same sex marriages or will its property or resources to be used for such purposes.

UNITY - To live in harmony with other believers is clearly the teaching of the New Testament. It is the responsibility of each believer to endeavor to live in fellowship with each member of the congregation. It is further the responsibility of each member to bring all gossiping and backbiting to an end.

GIVING - We believe in giving the tithe – ten percent of our gross income (not net income) – as the biblical standard of giving. The tithe is to be given as an undesignated offering to the “storehouse” ministry of a local church. According to the Scriptures, we are to give cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.