What We Believe

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At Lake Drive Baptist Church, we are striving to build our church on what the Bible teaches about the church. To that end, here are some of our core doctrinal convictions that we believe are central to what God designed the church to be.

The Glory of God – “To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:21)

The heartbeat of our church is to give all praise to our Triune God who created us, saved us, and now calls us by His own name (Isaiah 43:7; Matthew 28:19). We believe that the church is the expression of God’s eternal plan to display the glory of His wisdom and power both on earth, among mankind (Romans 16:25-27), and in heaven, among watching angels (Ephesians 3:9-11). God chose to make us His people for the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14), so that we would exalt Him for His mighty saving works, and proclaim how great and marvelous He is (1 Peter 2:9). The highest goal of our church is to give all glory to God (Philippians 4:20) in all things (1 Peter 4:11).

Knowing God – “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

We believe that the greatest blessing and privilege that God gives us as His people is to know God Himself. This is the reason why the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came into the world (1 John 5:20). This is the goal of the New Covenant relationship with God that He purchased for His people by His death for us (Jeremiah 31:34). All true New Covenant ministry seeks to bring the church into joyous, life-giving fellowship with the Triune God – knowing the Father through the Son in the Spirit (1 John 1:1-4). Through knowing God and His word, we have all that we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:2-4; 3:18), and nothing else can be compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord (Philippians 3:8).

The Sovereignty of God – “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36) 

We believe that God is fully sovereign over all aspects of salvation, since He Himself plans, accomplishes, and secures it for His people from eternity past to eternity future (Ephesians 1:3-14). He is also fully sovereign over all creation, since He is the source, sustainer, and goal of all things (Romans 11:36). Both salvation (Psalm 3:8) and kingship (Psalm 22:28) belong to the Lord, as He rules over all nations (Daniel 4:35) and over all that He has made (Psalm 103:19).

The Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture– “The church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15)

We believe that God rules and governs His people by His word, and we gladly submit to its authority in our life together as a church (Matthew 28:20). We also believe that God’s word is fully sufficient for every aspect of the church’s life: for our worship, discipleship, witness, counseling, and how the church is led and run (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The church is called to uphold and defend the unchanging truth of God’s word in a world that is constantly changing (1 Timothy 3:14-15). God’s word gives us life (1 Peter 1:23), causes us to grow (1 Peter 2:2), is powerfully at work in our lives (1 Thessalonians 2:13), and continually sanctifies and cleanses us from sin (John 17:17) to prepare us for the day when we meet our Lord face to face (Ephesians 5:26-27). Because God’s word is our life, we strive to be a church where the Bible is purely taught, diligently studied, joyfully obeyed, and faithfully lived from a heart of love for God and others (1 Timothy 1:5).

The Lordship of Christ – “And he is the head of the body, the church…that in everything he might be preeminent.” (Colossians 1:18)

We believe that Christ alone, not any man, is Head of His church (Ephesians 1:22). As the Head, He alone has the right to speak to the church through His word with unrivalled, divine authority, and we must listen to Him (Luke 9:35). The spiritual government of the church is directly under Him (Ephesians 5:23), the spiritual growth of the entire church comes from Him (Ephesians 4:15-16), and the spiritual power of the church only comes from being filled in Him (Colossians 2:10). We believe that Christ alone is Lord of the human conscience (Romans 14:4). We also believe that every Christian not only trusts in Jesus as their Savior, but also follows Him as their Lord (Colossians 2:6).

Word-Centered Worship – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)

We believe that God, in His sovereign grace, invites us to draw near to His heavenly throne for an audience with Him, and has given us a pattern of worship in His word that leads us to worship Him in Spirit and in truth. So we seek to follow the Bible in our worship services, which involves five simple elements: we read the word, pray the word, sing the word, preach the word, and see the word, as the gospel is visibly portrayed in the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Expository Preaching– “Preach the word!” (2 Timothy 4:2)

We are committed to teaching and preaching the word of God verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book, because we believe that God’s word builds God’s church (Acts 6:7; Colossians 1:5-6). Our goal is to preach the whole counsel of God from both the Old and New Testaments, since we need the whole Bible for the whole Christian life (2 Timothy 3:16-17). All Scripture testifies together to God’s redeeming work in Christ, which we seek to proclaim with the goal of presenting every believer mature in Christ (Colossians 1:25-28).   

Biblical Theology– “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2)

We believe that the Bible tells us the true story of the world, and that we should seek to understand it in its own terms and categories as it unfolds the sovereign plan of God to bring His kingdom – His righteous & saving reign – from heaven to earth, from creation to new creation, through covenant, for His glory in Christ.

Reformed Theology – “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” (Jonah 2:9)

We are a Reformed Baptist church that joyfully stands on the biblical truths recovered during the Protestant Reformation, summarized as the “Five Solas”: Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), Sola Gratia (grace alone), Sola Fide (faith alone), Solus Christus (Christ alone), and Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone). We also believe, love, and teach the Doctrines of Grace, summarized as Total/Radical Depravity, Unconditional Election, Definite Atonement, Effectual Calling, and the Perseverance of the Saints. We are in broad agreement with historic Reformed Baptist confessions such as the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689.

Bold Prayer – “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)

We believe that our God and Father delights to hear the prayers of His people, and that He is able to answer them far more abundantly than all that we can ask or think (Ephesians 3:21). Because of that, we want to be a church that prays boldly to Him, confident that He loves to give good gifts to His children, and trusting Him to always work all things together for the good of those who love Him.

Every Member Ministry– “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10)

We believe that the church grows into the fullness of Christ when every member of the body is equipped for the work of ministry in the church (Ephesians 4:12-16), serving with the spiritual gift they have been given for the benefit of the whole body (Romans 12:4-8). Since the church is the people, not programs, the members of our church are committed to build relationships with one another that seek to help us grow together toward spiritual maturity in Christ.

Discipleship– “Make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19)

We believe that every Christian is called not just to profess Christ by making a decision for Him, but to follow Christ by being His disciple (Luke 14:25-33). As disciples, we are students, apprentices, and learners in the school of our Master who are being taught and trained in the context of the local church to obey all that our Lord commands us (Matthew 28:20). The job of every follower of Christ is to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord (2 Peter 3:18), and to help others follow Him (Mark 1:17).

Evangelism– “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16)

We believe that the mission of the church is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8) and unto the end of the age (Matthew 24:14). Evangelism is simply speaking to people about Jesus – who He is as Son of God, Savior, and Lord, what He has done to save sinners, and His call to repentance, faith, and discipleship. As a church, we want to constantly seek to share the good news of the gospel, and go out of our way to build relationships with people who do not yet know the Lord.

• Statement of Faith

What we believe at Lake Drive Baptist Church is not man-made but has been revealed by God in His word. Our Statement of Faith is simply a summary of biblical teaching that explains what we as a local church agree the Bible teaches about essential truths of the Christian faith. As members of Lake Drive, we are united by the truths contained in this document:

(Link to PDF of Statement of Faith)

• Church Covenant

If our Statement of Faith is our declaration of what we believe as members of Lake Drive Baptist Church, then our Church Covenant is the pledge of our commitment to one another:  

(Link to PDF of Church Covenant)

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