Our Mission & Beliefs
Carmel Baptist Church holds to the statement of faith adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention and recorded in "The Baptist Faith & Message, 2000".
OUR MISSION
Carmel means “garden.” As such, we live to sow seeds of gospel truth that, through Christ, can bear much fruit for God’s glory. (John 15:8)
Our mission is to make disciples of those Nearest, our Neighbors and the Nations. (Matt 28:18-20/Acts 1:8)
We make disciples by equipping, encouraging, and challenging believers to cultivate “ABLE” lives. Lives that:
- Abide in Christ (John 15)
- to Build relationships with the lost and found (John 13:35)
- and Live the gospel in word and deed (Colossians 3:17)
- with Everything we are and have (2 Timothy 2:1; Ephesians 4:11-16)
And we don't do it alone. We do it in community. Come join us!
OUR Beliefs
The Scriptures: The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.
God: There is one and only one living and true God. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
Jesus Christ: Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead, He ascended into heaven, and He and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man.
Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
Man: Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's creation. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. God created man in His own image; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Salvation: Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
God's Purpose of Grace: Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.
The Church: A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
The Christian and the Social Order: All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.
The Family: God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
Carmel Baptist Church Position Papers:
Biblical Worldview: A biblical worldview begins with the infallible, unchanging source of truth: the Word of God. Through the Scriptures, God chooses to reveal His nature and character to His creation – namely mankind, who God created in His own image. However, according to a biblical worldview, instead of faithfully walking with God, mankind rebelled, sinning against God. As a result, suffering and death entered the world and mankind’s fellowship with God was broken. Mankind was helpless, in their own strength, to restore this relationship with God. However, Jesus, as a perfect, spotless sacrifice, died in the place of guilty sinners and provided a way to restore that which was broken. All who trust in Him alone as their Savior and Lord now have the privilege of living for Him and eagerly awaiting His return when He will finally put an end to pain, death, and suffering.
The Christian worldview is comprehensive as the Bible makes no distinction between one’s “religious” and “secular” life. In fact, it would be wrong to do so. The Christian worldview, rightly applied, will affect literally every aspect of one’s life. As an outflow of our adoption of a Christian worldview, Carmel Baptist Church believes that: Every human being has dignity, worth and value as those made in the image of God. (Gen. 1:27; Col 1:13-15; Mk. 10:1-12) The greatest problem facing mankind is the sin nature inside of the human heart. (Matt 15:18-20; Rom. 3:10-12). It is from this sin nature that atrocities are committed against human beings. (Mk. 7:21-23; Rom. 8:7). The gospel -- the good news of the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and how, through faith in Him, we can be reconciled to God -- is the only lasting solution to the challenges facing our world. (Gal. 3:25-29; Eph. 2:11-22)
While everyone subscribes to a worldview -- whether knowingly or unknowingly -- because God Himself created us and provided His Word to follow, the Biblical worldview is the only worldview that Carmel recognizes as accurate, truthful and valid. We, therefore, will preach, teach, encourage and live as God mandates in His Word - so that we might be to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:12).
Sanctity of Life: All human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life.
Gender: God wonderfully created two (and only two) immutable genders: male and female (Gen. 1:27, Ps. 139:14). These two distinct, complementary genders are biologically determined at conception, are not subject to change, and together reflect the image and nature of God (Gen 1:26-27).
We love and care deeply for those who struggle to follow God’s good design in areas of gender identity and expression. It is out of that love that we seek to help one another understand and embrace their God-given gender.
Not accepting one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person. As such, we will use terminology that honors God’s design of his image-bearers as male and female.
Marriage: At creation God designed, defined, and ordained marriage as the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime (Gen. 2:24). Thousands of years later, Jesus would reiterate God’s same unwavering design in the New Testament (Mat. 19:4-6, Mk. 10:6–8).
Although civil government is instituted by God (Rom. 13), to the extent that civil government defines marriage in a way that differs from the biblical narrative, the church is under an obligation to follow the Bible.
Carmel will only recognize marriages between a biological man and a biological woman (see Carmel’s Position Paper on Gender). Further, the pastors and staff of Carmel shall officiate or take a facilitating role in weddings and solemnize only marriages between one man and one woman. The facilities and property of Carmel Baptist Church shall only host weddings between one man and one woman.
Carmel’s position on marriage is based upon the inerrant, infallible truth which God has revealed to us in His Word: the Bible. God’s definition of marriage is not subject to change through popular vote, referendum, prevailing opinion of the members of Carmel Baptist Church or the general public, influence of or interpretation by any government authority, agency, or official action, or legal developments on the local, state, or federal level.
God’s design for marriage, when properly lived out, makes the gospel visible to a watching world as a picture of the relationship between Christ and His bride, the church (Eph. 5). A biblical marriage, therefore, is a covenant relationship between one man and one woman who are pursuing Christ together so that the gospel is proclaimed.
Those who lack the desire or opportunity for marriage are called to serve God in singleness and chastity. This is as noble a calling as marriage (1 Cor. 7).
Sexual Purity: We believe the Bible is completely authoritative for determining how all people should live their lives and is thus the final written authority for all matters of faith and conduct. It follows, therefore, that sexual attitudes and behaviors are to be evaluated in the light of the unchanging truths of the Bible, rather than the Bible being reinterpreted, modified or overturned by current cultural trends in thought and behavior.
Sex is a gift from God to be honored, cherished, and enjoyed in the context of biblical marriage. Outside of marriage, God’s plan is for abstinence. Unfortunately, sin has radically affected every aspect of our lives including our longings and affections, be it with sexuality, food, pleasure, or any other desire. We believe that any form of sexual immorality as defined by Scripture, is sinful and offensive to God.
Scripture calls us to live differently from our natural predispositions and consistently names all sexual immorality sin. Furthermore, it offers no exceptions to the commands against the practice. Therefore, we deny that it is permissible to adopt any sexually immoral lifestyle and remain consistent with God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption.
All sexual sin grieves God’s heart. Scripture informs us that all sinners can be sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:9-11). If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17). It is possible for a person to struggle with any of his or her sinful sexual desires without sinning through the power of the Holy Spirit and the fellowship of the body of Christ. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to escape it (1 Cor. 10:13).
QUESTIONS?: If you would like to know more about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, please email to request a contact from a pastor.