OUR MISSION & VISION

Southview Baptist Church exists to nurture within one another an ever-increasing knowledge of and fulfillment in God that inspires us to reflect Christ and make disciples.

Our Vision is that that God would be glorified through people being conformed to the image of Christ as evidenced by:

• Treasuring God above all things
• Thinking Biblically
• Reflecting godly character
• Sharing truth and love
• Possessing an eternal mindset

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OUR VALUES

• Biblical Community- we value living out God’s grace in transparent, accountable relationship with one another, strengthening one another towards the vision of godliness and for spiritual warfare; spurring one another to love, good deeds, and encouraging discernment of truth in a sinful world, all of which follows our passion for the centrality of Christ.
• Prayer- we value prayer as our amazing privilege of speaking with our Father, the King of the Universe, expressing and enjoying intimacy with Him. In prayer, we recognize our desperate need for God to guide, equip and empower us to accomplish His will for His glory. In prayer, we express our adoration unto God for who He is, confession and repentance of sin, thanksgiving for all God has done and supplication on behalf of others and ourselves. 
• Gospel-centered- we value the Gospel as a demonstration of God’s love to undeserving sinners. It is a glorious and eternal plan to rescue sinful people from the punishment we all deserve. We believe that by his incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus Christ acted as our representative and substitute. He did this so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God: on the cross he canceled sin, propitiated God and by bearing the full penalty of our sins reconciled to God all those who believe. The Gospel is the foundation for the entirety of the believer’s life, and the motivation for all we think, do and say.** 
• Biblical Revelation—We value the written Word of God, the Bible, as God’s reliable, authoritative, and sufficient revelation to man.  God’s inspired and inerrant Word reveals his glorious attributes, character and plan for his creation. It is the means through which the Holy Spirit enables believers to see, enjoy and be transformed by God in response to His divine revelation and directs us in all matters of life and behavior. We value a growing love for the Word, as well as a deepening understanding of it, in each person within the church.
• Family/Home—We value strengthening the homes of our church through clear Biblical instruction, defining and guiding marriage and parenting relationships.  We value strong marriages (biblically defined as one man and one woman for life), specific roles that are complementary to each other, and families where God’s Word is taught and lived out.  Biblical families will reflect the image and joy of God.  Healthy, gospel-centered homes are foundational to a healthy, gospel-centered church. 
• Worship—We value worship because it is the goal of the Gospel.  Worship is our response to God when we fully embrace the good news of what God has done for us in Christ.  We value both private, personal worship and corporate worship of God that is authentic and results from our awareness of the greatness of God and the amazing goodness of the Gospel.      
• Stewardship of Life—We value the pursuit of a full devotion to God of all that we are and all we possess.  We acknowledge God as the giver of every good and perfect gift, and seek to glorify Him through the proper management of such gifts.  These include our spiritual gifts, talents/abilities, material resources, and the fullness of our lives.

 ** Sentence in italics borrowed directly from Gospel Coalition confessional statement.

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OUR BELIEFS

1. All Scripture is verbally inspired as originally written and therefore infallible and inerrant (II Tim. 3:16-17; II Peter 1:21; Matt. 5:18; I Cor. 2:13).   The Bible IS the Word of God.  We CANNOT accept the misleading statement: "The Bible contains the Word of God."
2. There is one living and true God who exists in three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  (Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14).  The Father is God (I Cor. 8:6); the Son is God (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1, 14; Heb. 1:8-10); and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4).
3. The Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38).
4. Christ rose bodily from the dead and ascended unto God the Father (Matt. 28; Mark 16; I Cor. 15; Rom. 1:4).
5. Christ will return:
   1. First, for the "dead in Christ" who will be resurrected bodily; and for those who are alive at His coming.  This resurrection not only precedes His return to earth to reign 1,000 years, but also precedes the Tribulation (I Thes. 4:13-18; 5:9).
   2. Then, to reign 1,000 years on the earth (Rev. 20:1-6; II Tim. 2:12).
6. All men inherit a depraved nature and are lost sinners in need of salvation (Rom. 3:9-19; Eph. 2:1-3).
7. God has provided salvation through offering His Son on the cross of Calvary, and allowing His BLOOD to be shed to atone for our sins (Heb. 9:22-28; John 3:3-21; Romans 5:8-10; Eph. 1:7).
8. We are saved and justified when we recognize ourselves as sinners, and put our trust in Christ as the son of God and His finished work on the cross of Calvary.   Salvation is by grace through faith plus nothing (Rom. 3:24; 4:5; Eph. 2:8-9).
9. Once saved, we cannot be lost; we are eternally secure in Christ (John 3:16; 10:27-29; Phil. 1:6; Rom. 8:38-39).
10. We believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place at the time of conversion and is the act of placing the believer into the body of Christ, but is not a second work of grace (I Cor. 12:13. Gal. 3:27).  It is different than the filling of the Holy Spirit which is an ongoing process that may occur at any time in the believer's life (Eph. 5:18).  Neither of these aspects is accompanied by unusual signs such as speaking in tongues.
11. The Bible teaches the
    1. We should regularly participate at the Lord's table (I Cor. 11:23-32). 
    2. All believers should be baptized by immersion as an act of obedience, but not for securing their salvation (Acts 2:41; 19:4-5; Matt. 28:19-20).
12. The Bible teaches the eternal blessedness of the saved (John 4:14; 5:24; Eph. 2:7).  It also teaches the eternal punishment of the lost (John 5:28-29: Rev. 20:10, 15; Matt. 25:46).
13. The grace of God teaches us to "live soberly, righteously, and godly" (Titus 2:11-13).
    1. Titus 2:13 - "Looking for that blessed hope" of His returning for us.
    2. Col. 3:2-3; 1 John 2:15-17 - Setting our "affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
    3.  II Cor. 6:14-18 - Living a life of separation from the world.  We believe in separation "unto God" (Rom. 1:1; 16:17; II Cor. 6:17-18; II Thes. 2:15; 3:6; I Tim. 6:3, 5).