Mission

We believe God provides a fresh start to those who seek forgiveness of their wrongdoings and believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  We strive to serve Christ by cultivating the Gospel - both in word and in deed.

Values

We the members of Immanuel Baptist Church do covenant with God and with each other to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and to advance His kingdom. This we will strive for:

By maintaining a positive Christian witness in all that we do.

By daily setting aside time for personal and family prayer and for study of God’s Word.

By actively participating in the life of the church in worship, learning, fellowship, and mission.

By contributing our time, talent, and money to the advancement of the church, giving it a pre-eminence over all institutions of human origin.

By loving one another—sharing our joys and sorrows, visiting the sick, and befriending the lonely.

In all this, we pray for God’s grace and guidance as we endeavor to be a fellowship of the concerned: where the lost may find Jesus Christ, the believer may find enrichment, and all who come may find inspiration and direction for life and living.

Beliefs

We affirm the teachings of The Apostles' Creed and The Nicene Creed.

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
    the Maker of heaven and earth,
    and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
    born of the virgin Mary,
    suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,
    and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
    from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
    the holy catholic church;
    the communion of saints;
    the forgiveness of sins;
    the resurrection of the body;
    and the life everlasting.

Amen.

 

We believe:

  1. In one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfectly and eternally existing in three, co-equal persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  2. That the Bible (both Old and New Testaments) is God’s written revelation to man and that it is verbally inspired and without error in the original manuscripts.  It is the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of mankind and is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
  3. That Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man.  We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life and miraculous ministry on earth, culminating in His death on the Cross as a sacrifice for our sins. We also believe in His bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension into Heaven and His present ministry of intercession for us. We believe in His return to earth in power and glory.
  4. In the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit and that His work is to glorify Jesus Christ, perform the miracle of new birth in the repentant sinner and indwell believers, enabling them to live godly lives and advance Christ’s work on earth. 
  5. That mankind was created in the image of God but because of sin is alienated from God and is under His judgment.  We believe that since the Fall of Adam into sin all human beings are sinners, both by nature and choice, and are in need of reconciliation with God. 
  6. That the shed blood of Christ and His resurrection provide the only acceptable ground for that reconciliation and that only those who receive by faith God’s gift of salvation become the children of God.
  7. That all those who become the children of God are called by God to godly living as demonstrated in the life of Christ and set forth in the Bible.
  8. That the Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been reconciled to God and are united together for worship, the pursuit of godly living and the proclamation of the Gospel to all the world.
  9. That water baptism and Communion are the only ordinances demonstrated in Scripture that are to be observed by the Church until Christ returns.
  10. In the bodily resurrection of the dead—the believer to unending blessedness and joy with the Lord and all the saved in the New Heaven and New Earth and the unbeliever to unending, conscious suffering away from the presence of God and all that is good in what the Bible calls “the Lake of Fire”.
  11. In the existence of Satan who is a personal, spiritual being actively working in the world to deceive and destroy the souls of mankind and that he and all the demons will eternally perish in the Lake of Fire.

Denomination

We are part of the American Baptist Churches USA.  We are regionally associated with the American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware.