What We Believe

First Baptist Church of Litchfield holds to the Baptist Faith & Message 2000. Below is a summary of what we believe, written for those exploring our church for the first time. For the full confession, including supporting Scripture references, please contact the church office.

The Bible is God's own revelation of Himself, written by men He inspired. It is true in all its parts, with no mixture of error, and it stands as the final authority for what we believe and how we live. Every page points to Christ.

There is one true and living God, eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is infinite in holiness, all-powerful, and all-knowing, and His perfect knowledge extends even to the future choices of His creatures. The Father reigns over history with providential care. The Son, Jesus Christ, is fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, lived without sin, died on the cross to redeem sinners, rose bodily from the grave, ascended to the Father's right hand, and will return in glory. The Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, convicts the world of sin, regenerates believers, and indwells, seals, and empowers every Christian for a life of worship, evangelism, and service.

 God made man and woman in His own image, the crowning work of creation. Through Adam's sin, all people inherit a nature bent toward sin and stand condemned apart from grace. Because every person bears the image of God, every person, of every race, possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

 Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ. It includes regeneration (the new birth), repentance and faith, justification (God's declaration that we are righteous in Christ), ongoing sanctification, and final glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Christ

 God graciously chose to save sinners according to His own sovereign will, a truth that excludes boasting and produces humility. Those whom God has truly saved will persevere to the end, kept by His power through faith.

 A New Testament church is a local body of baptized believers who gather under the lordship of Christ to worship, observe the ordinances, exercise their gifts, and carry the gospel to the world. Scripture reserves the office of pastor/elder for qualified men, while both men and women are gifted and needed for the church's ministry.

Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, a public testimony to faith in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, and a prerequisite to church membership. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic meal in which the church remembers Christ's death and looks forward to His return.

We gather on Sunday, the first day of the week, to commemorate the resurrection of Christ through public and private worship.

God reigns over all creation, and His Kingdom is entered by childlike faith in Jesus Christ. We pray and labor for God's will to be done on earth, knowing the Kingdom will be fully consummated when Christ returns.

Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly. The dead will be raised, and He will judge all people in righteousness. The righteous will dwell forever with the Lord in glory; the unrighteous will face everlasting judgment.

Every believer and every church is called to make disciples of all nations, proclaiming the gospel by word and by life.

All sound learning finds its foundation in Christ. Christian education is a vital part of a complete spiritual heritage, exercised in submission to the authority of Scripture.

Everything we have belongs to God. We are called to give cheerfully, regularly, and generously for the advance of His Kingdom.

We gladly partner with other believers and churches, within the bounds of Scripture, to accomplish together what none of us could accomplish alone.

We seek to live under the lordship of Christ in every sphere of life. We oppose racism and all forms of sexual immorality, we care for the orphaned, needy, and vulnerable, and we speak on behalf of the unborn and the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.

We pursue peace with all people and pray for the reign of the Prince of Peace, trusting that the gospel, not the sword, is the true remedy for the brokenness of the world.

God alone is Lord of the conscience. We believe in the freedom of every person to worship according to their conviction, free from government interference.

God ordained the family as the foundation of human society. Marriage is the covenant union of one man and one woman for life, a picture of Christ and His church. Husbands are called to love their wives sacrificially, and wives are called to respect their husbands and serve as their helpers. Children are a gift from God, and parents bear the responsibility to raise them in the truth of Scripture.