Our Beliefs
Q: What is the purpose of Harvest Baptist Church?
A1: Exist to glorify God.
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
- Romans 15:5-6 “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
A2a: Help people develop a heart for God . . .
- Matthew 22:35-37 “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”
- Deuteronomy 6:5 “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
- Jesus Christ linked the two greatest commandments together. The first is not any more possible without the second, than the second is without the first
- (1 John 4:20 “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”)
- This wholehearted devotion to God is the beginning of everything and produces a right relationship to others. Christ was not talking about religions, but relationships!
A2b: . . . through evangelizing the unbeliever, edifying the saints, and employing the soldier.
- Ephesians 4:11-12 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”
Q: What is our priority?
A: We desire that each area of our ministry be guided by Biblical principles. As such, we regularly evaluate the effectiveness of each ministry on the basis of these Biblical priorities. All of these were found in the New Testament early church (Acts 2):
- Biblically Balanced – a ministry characterized by integrity (2:42)
- People Focused – concerned with lives being changed (2:43)
- Family Oriented – providing a place to belong (2:44)
- Missions Minded – emphasizing a spirit of sacrifice (2:45)
- Faith Motivated – attempting and anticipating great things (2:46)
- Purpose Driven – finding out what God wants and concentrating on those tasks (2:47)
- Broadened Outreach – a ministry that allowed God to choose the size (2:47b)
Q: What principles do we strive for?
A: We believe that all our ministries should be guided by Biblical principles. These principles are found from Genesis to Revelation. Here are the six most important principles you will hear in our teaching and preaching:
- Building biblical families
- God uses the family as a picture of His relationship with His children. This is one reason for God’s displeasure with the modern break-up of the American family. God is a God who keeps His promises and He wants this picture extended to children as they grow up in loving and committed homes made up of one man to one woman for life. When homes break up it robs the children of the picture of a committed God who never breaks His promises. God’s plan for the family is mutual submission. In this plan of mutual submission God outlines the hardest task for each member of the family. For the man, the toughest aspect of mutual submission is actively loving his family as Christ loved the Church. For the wife, the toughest aspect of mutual submission, is placing herself in the role of helper-completer. The toughest aspect of mutual submission, for the child is obedience with honor. It is our intention to equip families with the tools to build these values into their homes. Ephesians 5:21-6:4
- Unity according to scriptural principles
- Disunity is a scourge to modern Christianity. Yet, the greater epidemic is disobedience to the Word of God. Some have separated because of a bitter spirit or personality conflicts. The result of this sinful disunity has often led to unity, which is often at least as sinful because it violates the Word of God. This false unity lays the hand of approval on those who deny essential doctrines of Scripture like the Deity of Christ, Faith Alone, Substitutionary Death, and Personal Holiness in the process of Sanctification. While admitting disunity is sometimes caused by a sinful and wicked spirit, the corollary is not true that, therefore, unity must be a sign of spirituality. This false syllogism, unity is a sign of spirituality, has led many to abandon the Scriptural truth of separation from an openly flagrant and immoral brother, when this person has been repeatedly warned. This principle of separation holds true whether it is personal or ecclesiastical immorality. Matthew 18:15-17; I Corinthians 5; II Thessalonians 3:6-12; Galatians 1:6-9; 2:11-16
- Passionate preaching
- In the New Testament the word used for preaching is kerux. This was the description of the herald who stood on the city walls and cried out to the city of important announcements or the approach of the enemy. We believe that the pulpit and proclaiming of the Word of God with great passion is central to the teaching of Christ. Preaching may appear foolish to the world, but it is the primary vehicle in this Dispensation for proclaiming the Word of God. Many despise passionate preaching, but the wisdom of God is greater than the wisdom of men. I Corinthians 1:21
- Biblical purity
- This value is one we take very seriously. In a world that values immorality and amorality, we value morality. This morality is rooted in the Word of God and moves far beyond man’s perversion of God’s gift of sexuality. It extends to ethics, spirituality, and every-day choices. Scripture sets forth our value system of purity when Christ commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves and Paul expands on this teaching when he shares with us that love never does anything hurtful to its neighbor. Pure love for God will always work its way out in a pure love for our neighbor, even if it requires our own discomfort. Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 13:9-10
- Integrity first
- The word integrity comes from the quality of Roman soldier’s breastplate. Every morning the centurion would line his men up in full uniform and they would slap their breastplate and say the Latin word from which we get our English word, “integrity.” Integrity means, “wholeness” or “soundness.” The Roman soldier was asserting that his breastplate was strong and could withstand the difficulties of combat. Our ministry, first and foremost, will be a place of integrity. By God’s grace we will have integrity as we deal with people as well as problems and finances. Operating without spiritual wholeness or soundness, no matter how large or great the ministry, will only be burned at the Judgement Seat of Christ. It is in His presence we wish to be accepted. This is why integrity is such an important issue with us. II Corinthians 5:9-10
- Mentoring servants into Christ-likeness
- One reason we house an academy, institute and radio station as ministries of our local church is because we believe that this vital area of preparation and presentation for ministry, mentoring, best takes place in the local church. We intend to invest our lives in the next generation as we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, develop servants who will be like Christ. This is the example of Christ. He poured himself into a few men and they reproduced themselves in the lives of many. Our ministry desires to mentor others into vocational and non-vocational service. Romans 8:28-29