About Us

Question 1

Statement of Faith

Answer

Baptists are a people who profess a living faith. This faith is rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ who is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”

A living faith must experience a growing understanding of truth and must be continually interpreted and related to the needs of each new generation. Throughout their history Baptist bodies, both large and small, have issued statements (or confessions) of faith that comprise a consensus of their beliefs. Such statements have never been regarded as complete, infallible statements of faith, nor as official creeds carrying mandatory authority. This congregation aims to stand in this historic succession of intent and purpose as it endeavors to state for its time and theological climate those articles of the Christian faith that are most surely held and useful among us.

Baptists emphasize the soul’s competency before God, freedom in religion, the autonomy of the local church, and the priesthood of all believers. However, this emphasis should not be interpreted to mean that this church does not stand in the orthodox stream of the Christian faith which lays claim to the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. While CBC will never coerce belief or rigidly enforce doctrinal conformity, we do affirm the witness of our forefathers in the faith who predate the Baptist movement by more than 1,500 years.

It is the purpose of this statement of faith to set forth certain teachings which we believe.

Question 2

Answer

There is one and only one living and true God. He is Creator and Redeemer. To Him, we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience.

He was and always will be in a communal relationship with Himself—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

a. GOD, the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-wise.

b. GOD, the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God, co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Sent by the Father, Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God. By His death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.

c. GOD, the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, co-equal with the Father and the Son. Sent by the Father and Son, He inspired holy people of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination, He enables people to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls people to the Savior and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church.

Question 3

The Scriptures

Answer

The Holy Bible was written by people divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to humankind. God inspired the authors of Scripture by His Spirit to speak to all generations of believers, including us today. The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.

Question 4

Human Beings

Answer

Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for humankind; therefore, every person possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Question 5

Salvation

Answer

Salvation involves the redemption of all of humankind and of all creation. It is offered freely to all who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. Jesus’ path of suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection has brought hope to humankind and all creation.

Question 6

The Church

Answer

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, committed to His teachings, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.

This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation, members are equally responsible.

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.

Question 7

The Kingdom of God

Answer

The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men and women who willfully acknowledge Him as Lord. Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God’s will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.

Question 8

Eschatology

Answer

The day is coming when Jesus will return to judge the world, bringing an end to injustice and restoring all things to God’s original intent. God will reclaim this world and rule forever. On that day we will beat swords into tools for cultivating the earth, the wolf will lie down with the lamb, there will be no more death, and God will wipe away all our tears.

Question 9

Stewardship

Answer

God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are, we owe to Him. Christians are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others, particularly the poor, forgotten, and marginalized.

Question 10

Religious Liberty

Answer

God alone is Lord of the conscience. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every house of worship protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all humankind, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.

Question 11

Priesthood of All Believers

Answer

Every believer has direct access to God through prayer, the Bible, and a daily dependence on the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that every Christian plays an important, essential role in the corporate body. Together, we most fully manifest the Spirit of God and the Kingdom of God as each believer exercises their gifts within the congregation. Together we are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation capable of bringing God’s blessing and salvation to the world. Every believer is a minister and missionary of the Gospel and should discover a place of ministry.

Question 12

Statement of Faith

Answer

Baptists are a people who profess a living faith. This faith is rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ who is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”

A living faith must experience a growing understanding of truth and must be continually interpreted and related to the needs of each new generation. Throughout their history Baptist bodies, both large and small, have issued statements (or confessions) of faith that comprise a consensus of their beliefs. Such statements have never been regarded as complete, infallible statements of faith, nor as official creeds carrying mandatory authority. This congregation aims to stand in this historic succession of intent and purpose as it endeavors to state for its time and theological climate those articles of the Christian faith that are most surely held and useful among us.

Baptists emphasize the soul’s competency before God, freedom in religion, the autonomy of the local church, and the priesthood of all believers. However, this emphasis should not be interpreted to mean that this church does not stand in the orthodox stream of the Christian faith which lays claim to the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. While CBC will never coerce belief or rigidly enforce doctrinal conformity, we do affirm the witness of our forefathers in the faith who predate the Baptist movement by more than 1,500 years.

It is the purpose of this statement of faith to set forth certain teachings which we believe.

Question 13

Answer

There is one and only one living and true God. He is Creator and Redeemer. To Him, we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience.

He was and always will be in a communal relationship with Himself—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

a. GOD, the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-wise.

b. GOD, the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God, co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Sent by the Father, Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God. By His death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.

c. GOD, the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, co-equal with the Father and the Son. Sent by the Father and Son, He inspired holy people of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination, He enables people to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls people to the Savior and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church.

Question 14

The Scriptures

Answer

The Holy Bible was written by people divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to humankind. God inspired the authors of Scripture by His Spirit to speak to all generations of believers, including us today. The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.

Question 15

Human Beings

Answer

Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for humankind; therefore, every person possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Question 16

Salvation

Answer

Salvation involves the redemption of all of humankind and of all creation. It is offered freely to all who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. Jesus’ path of suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection has brought hope to humankind and all creation.

Question 17

The Church

Answer

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, committed to His teachings, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.

This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation, members are equally responsible.

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.

Question 18

The Kingdom of God

Answer

The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men and women who willfully acknowledge Him as Lord. Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God’s will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.

Question 19

Eschatology

Answer

The day is coming when Jesus will return to judge the world, bringing an end to injustice and restoring all things to God’s original intent. God will reclaim this world and rule forever. On that day we will beat swords into tools for cultivating the earth, the wolf will lie down with the lamb, there will be no more death, and God will wipe away all our tears.

Question 20

Stewardship

Answer

God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are, we owe to Him. Christians are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others, particularly the poor, forgotten, and marginalized.

Question 21

Religious Liberty

Answer

God alone is Lord of the conscience. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every house of worship protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all humankind, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.

Question 22

Priesthood of All Believers

Answer

Every believer has direct access to God through prayer, the Bible, and a daily dependence on the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that every Christian plays an important, essential role in the corporate body. Together, we most fully manifest the Spirit of God and the Kingdom of God as each believer exercises their gifts within the congregation. Together we are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation capable of bringing God’s blessing and salvation to the world. Every believer is a minister and missionary of the Gospel and should discover a place of ministry.

About Us

GOD WANTS TO DO GREAT THINGS THROUGH YOU

CHESTERFIELD BAPTIST EXISTS TO HELP PEOPLE DISCOVER WHO GOD CREATED THEM TO BE

GATHER

GROW

GIVE

GO

The Innovation Continues

Our Beliefs

a. GOD, the Father

b. GOD, the Son

c. GOD, the Holy Spirit

a. GOD, the Father

b. GOD, the Son

c. GOD, the Holy Spirit