What We Believe
Our mission is to model the life of Christ to our community.
Our Mission
The mission of FBC Warm Springs is to model the Life of
Jesus Christ to our Community
Core Values
Each Sunday at the end of our worship service we commit ourselves to:
• Worship Faithfully,
• Study Seriously,
• Serve Eagerly,
• Care Deeply
• Give Generously, and to
• Live Worthy of the Name, Christian.
Our Beliefs
Historic Roots
While we are proud of our historic Baptist roots, we never place denominational loyalties above our primary call and mission to be the visible presence of the risen Christ in our community and support the ministry of other Christians in other places. We have a primary identity as Christians. Our secondary identity as
Baptist Christians defines how we live out our Christian faith.
Our Primary Identity as Christians
The Apostles Creed
The word ‘creed’ comes from the Latin word credo, meaning ‘I believe and trust’. The Apostles’ Creed, though not written by the apostles, is the oldest creed of the Christian church. In its oldest form, the Apostles’ Creed goes back to at least 140 A.D. Baptist Christians have an aversion to creeds believing it could violate the freedom of the individual conscience. Baptists have long been averse to creeds,…
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claiming we need “no creed but the Bible.”
In spite of that, at the first meeting of the Baptist World Alliance in 1905, a well known Baptist Pastor, Alexander
Maclaren called for members of the BWA’s first congress to rise and confess the Apostles’ Creed “not as a piece of coercion or discipline, but as a simple acknowledgment of where we stand and what we believe.”
Pastor Bob preached a series of sermons in the spring of 2021 on the Apostles Creed. The church began reciting the creed in worship. Bob said “no one can say they completely understand every word of the creed. It is a summary of what the Church has taught and what Christians together believe, rather than a detailed statement of individual and personal belief.”
The Apostles Creed as confessed by the First Baptist Church of Warm Springs, GA
We believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection, and life everlasting.
Amen.
In Our Community
We affirm and celebrate our unity with the worldwide and local Body of Christ, in all its ecumenical diversity and form. We have long been part of the local ecumenical Meriwether Ministerial Alliance. Pastors and churches from most of the churches in our community participate. We host the monthly breakfast meetings.
We collaborate to advance the kingdom of God in our
community working toward the ideal Jesus prayed for in the John Chapter 17, that his followers would be one.
We participate in the community Thanksgiving service, the night of worship and the Easter Sunrise service.
Our Secondary Identity as Baptists
We were the first church in our community. From our founding we have embraced the name Baptist. The church history tab has more information about our heritage. Keeping the name Baptist is our way of practicing truth in advertising. However, given the diversity in Baptist life that is not enough to define what kind of Baptist church family we are. Much bad publicity has been generated by state…
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and national Baptist denominations. Regrettably, much of it is true. While we started as a Baptist church with strong ties to Mercer University, The Georgia and Southern Baptist conventions, we are not affiliated with any denomination or institution. Today, we support missions through both the National and Georgia Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and provide protection and retirement benefits for our professional staff through the CBF Church Benefits Board. We also support a couple who serve at Tennessee Tech as Campus ministers through the Alpha Chi organization.
General Baptist Principles that inform our church identity
Dr. Walter ‘Buddy’ Shurden a retired professor at Mercer
University eloquently identified [in his book, “Four Fragile
Freedoms”] four basic identity beliefs that set Baptists apart from other Christians. We do not believe Baptists are the only ones that practice these beliefs but we do believe taken together they are historically accurate descriptions of our Baptist faith. Given the wide diversity of Baptist practice these four bedrock principles fairly state foundational beliefs of most Baptist fellowships.
Soul Freedom
Soul freedom describes our belief that each human being is
created in the image of God. No one can be coerced to believe. God’s grace calls us to respond to the offer of salvation. Historically, Baptists have referred to this freedom as The Priesthood of All Believers. Freedom means some accept while others reject God’s offer of grace.
Bible Freedom
We believe the Bible, under the Lordship of Christ, is central
to the life of the individual and the church. We affirm the freedom, right, and obligation of every Christian to interpret and apply Scripture under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We also affirm that God calls in a massed choir not solo voice, so the wisdom and counsel of the larger local congregation should inform individual believers as they seek to interpret Scripture.
Church Freedom
Church freedom is the principle belief that each local church
has the freedom and responsibility to interpret scripture, select its own leaders, to plan their worship, their ministry and make its own decisions in all matters related to church governance. We also believe that individual churches should work together to achieve goals that one church by itself could not reach. We practice our belief that men and women are equal partners in the leadership of the church body. We have had female deacons since 2000, and female staff members since 1987. Both men and women lead worship and preach.
Religious Freedom
Religious freedom is the principle belief that every individual
has the right to freedom of religion, freedom for religion, and even freedom from religion. The separation of church and state affords an important constitutional protection of that freedom.
Baptism
The name Baptist is usually connected to baptism by immersion. That is you are dipped under the water. Other Christian denominations practice Baptism by different modes. Some sprinkle while others pour water over the person to be baptized.
The word “baptize” literally means “to dip under water.” The Greek word “baptizo” means “to immerse or dip under water.” Many examples of the use of the word in extra biblical Greek exist where the meaning is clearly to dip, plunge or immerse.
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The King James translation chose not to translate the word but to transliterate the word. That means the KJV translators spelled the word in English like it sounds in Greek rather than translate it to its English equivalent. Other words that were transliterated are: Amen which means truly; apostle which means someone who is sent; angel which means someone who is a messenger; sometimes human and sometimes nonhuman; blaspheme which means to speak evil of or revile; Satan which means one who opposes; and of course baptism which means to dip, plunge or immerse. This has in no small part led to the confusion about baptism in the New Testament.
Baptists as an identifiable group didn’t emerge until the winter of 1608 – 1609. A group of English separatist [called that because they believed the church of England could not be purified as the Puritans believed] fled to Holland where they could worship as they believed God intended. As their theology developed, they were influenced by Mennonites and became convinced that baptism by immersion was the New Testament form of baptism. The first Baptist church in history was formed in Amsterdam. Later they returned to England and established the first Baptist church on English soil at Spitalfield in 1611. It is now a suburb in the east end London Borough of Tower Hamlets
We believe the expectation for Baptism is that you have made a commitment to follow Jesus. Baptism should come after an individual makes a commitment to follow Christ. The following frequently asked questions and scripture references that may be helpful to you:
1. Why be baptized?
Jesus was baptized by John the Baptizer [John the Baptist is not the correct name for Jesus’ cousin], so by being baptized, you’re following his example.
“When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. . . “ Luke 3:21 NIV
2. Did Jesus command baptism?
Yes, Jesus commanded that his followers be baptized.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”Matthew 28:19-20 NIV
3. Must Baptism be in public?
Baptism is your public declaration of faith in Jesus. This faith should be the reason for baptism.
“Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized. Acts 18:8 NIV
4. Must I be baptized in order to be in right relationship with God?
We do not believe baptism conveys any grace or power to the one being baptized. The pastor baptizes on behalf of the church family. The pastor has no special power or authority that conveys any grace. It is a powerful symbol. But it is a symbol, baptism does not redeem you in the eyes of God.
“ . . . and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ . . .” 1 Peter 3:21 NIV
5. What is the Meaning of Baptism?
Baptism symbolizes the death and resurrection of Christ. The pastor will say as you are lowered into the water, ‘buried with Christ in Baptism, raised to walk in newness of life.’
“ . . .having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:12
6. When do you baptize believers?
After you talk with the Pastor, your baptism will be scheduled as part of the Sunday worship service. The pastor will explain where to go on that day to change into a baptismal robe. A deacon of the same gender will help you select a robe and show you the changing area. The Baptism is usually a few minutes into the service. The pastor will answer any questions you have about the act of baptism. If you are disabled, we will make arrangements for Baptism in a swimming pool.