Purpose & Doctrine

Memorial Baptist Church of Middlebury, Vermont
 

NAME
The name of this church shall be Memorial Baptist Church of Middlebury, Vermont.

PURPOSE
We commit ourselves to knowing God and making God known. We will follow Jesus by loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and by loving our neighbors as ourselves.

POLITY
This church is an independent, evangelical congregation with government vested in the body of members who seek to know and do the will of God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Bible. This church shall maintain an affiliation with the American Baptist Churches U.S.A. and the American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire.

DOCTRINE
We accept the Bible as our inerrant and infallible authority.1 We believe the Bible reveals God the Father, Jesus Christ as God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.1 We believe in God the Father as creator of heaven and earth,2 and in Jesus Christ his only begotten son, our Lord and Savior. 3  We affirm He was born of the Virgin Mary,4  suffered death on the cross for the sins of humanity, was buried, was raised on the third day, and appeared bodily to his disciples.5  He ascended into Heaven where He reigns with God the Father.6  We believe He will return to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit as the third person of the triune God. The Holy Spirit is the Counselor sent by Christ to teach us all things.7  The Spirit bestows gifts to believers for mutual ministry in service to the glory of God, and intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.8 We believe that sin has separated humanity from the love of God and that the wage of sin is death.9  However, the death of Jesus on the cross has removed the punishment of sin from those who are in Christ.10  Therefore we believe that salvation comes by God's grace through Christ alone and not by any human work. The Christian is regenerated and transformed by God's work and is called to have a faith in Christ which expresses itself through love.11 We believe in the Church as Christ's body, a spiritual temple, and a priesthood of all believers.12 The local church is accountable to Christ for her life and ministry. It is called to assist, counsel, and encourage other churches, seeking to be one as Jesus and the Father are one.13

1 Matthew 4:4, 2 Timothy 3:14-17, 2 Peter 1:20,21, Psalm 119:9, 28-30, 97-105
2 Genesis 1-2
3 John 1:1-14
4 Matthew 1:18-23, Luke 1:26-38
5 1 Corinthians 15: 1-8
6 Acts 1:6-11
7 John 14: 15, 21
8 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11, Romans 6:26,27
9 Romans 6:23
10 Romans 5:8-11
11 Ephesians 2:1-10, Galatians 5:6
12 Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, 1 Peter 2:4-8
13 John 17:20-23, Acts 15:1-34