Our Purpose

God’s purpose for the Countryside Baptist Church: To serve as a pathway of His kingdom to families, friends, associates, communities, the nation, and the world. 

Our Mission

  • Praising God in Worship.

  • Praying to God for Power.

  • Putting God’s Word to Work in Everyday Life.

  • Participating in Ministry as Gifted.

  • Proclaiming the Good News as Opportunities Arise.

Our Structure

  • We Are a Flock.

  • We Are a Family.

  • We Are a Fellowship.

  • We Are a Body.

  • We Are a Building.

Our Beliefs & Values

 We are conservative in theology. As such, we believe there are several fundamental scriptural truths that cannot and must not be surrendered or compromised if Christianity is to remain Christianity — a viable and relevant faith rooted in Jesus Christ and springing forth from Him. These non-negotiable truths are as follows:

• the divine inspiration of Scripture and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice.
• the virgin conception of Jesus Christ.
• the necessity of the blood atonement, that is, the only way to salvation and a right relationship with God is through the substitutionary,
propitiatory death of Jesus Christ
• the reality of Christ’s resurrection.
• the literal return of Christ to earth.
• the active indwelling of the believer with the presence of the Holy Spirit, a
presence that provides the power and ability for a person to discern the
will/word of God and to serve Him with effectiveness.
• the energetic involvement of the believer in the local church.

Doctrinal Statements

Scripture

We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Bible, God’s unique revelation of Himself to man.  The Scripture is completely reliable, totally trustworthy, and without any mixture of error.  The Word of God is the supreme authority for the church and the believer in all matters of faith and practice.  While variants exist within available ancient manuscripts, the variants are so miniscule in nature that no doctrine (major or minor) is affected in a negative way.

God

We believe that God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Controller of the universe.  He is without flaw in His essence, character, and purpose.  He has revealed Himself to us as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Man

We believe that God brought man into being as the crowning glory of His creation.  Man was made in God’s image and is capable of intimate fellowship with God and service to Him.  Yet, man chose to reject that fellowship and service in order to follow his own plans and devices.  Thus, mankind fell under the condemnation of God and can only be restored to that fellowship and service by God’s unmerited favor through Jesus Christ.  Only in submission to God can man reach the potential bestowed upon him by God.

Salvation

We believe that soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) includes justification, sanctification, and glorification.

         Justification is a legal term that means “to be made right.”  This word refers to the initial experience of salvation as a person is made right with God.  That experience is founded on the confession of Jesus as Lord and the bedrock belief in His perfect life, His sacrificial death, and His miraculous resurrection.  As a result, God pardons sin and adopts the confessor/believer as His child.  There is no other avenue of salvation.

         Sanctification refers to the process of becoming like Christ, a process that begins at the moment of justification and continues throughout the disciple’s life.  Christianity is a lifestyle of continual progression and maturation not only spiritually but also emotionally, mentally, and socially.

         Glorification is the third part of salvation and begins the moment we cast off this body of flesh and receive our spiritual body to be given to us by the Lord.  We will forever remain in that perfect habitation.

Baptism

We believe that baptism has no power to save.  The significance of this act is in its symbolism.  Baptism is not only representative of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, but is also a picture of the disciple’s life — death to self and resurrection to a new way of living.  Immersion is the biblical way for a new Christian to identify himself or herself publicly with Christ.

Eternal Security

The Bible clearly teaches the perseverance of true believers.  Jesus promised that He would neither abandon His followers nor cast them out.  Paul affirmed that God continues the work He begins in His children “until the day of Jesus Christ.”

The Lord’s Supper

Like baptism, we believe that the Lord’s Supper is an act of worship that is fraught with figurative meaning.  Christ is not present in the elements of the Supper, but He is present at the table when this ordinance is observed.  The Lord’s Supper represents the broken body and shed blood of Christ.  The believer is reminded of the price Christ paid to purchase salvation and is personally called to sacrificial commitment.