You're not here by accident.  Jesus loves you, and He wants you to have a personal relationship with Him.  There is just one thing that separates you from God.  That one thing is sin.  People tend to want divide themselves into groups - good people and bad people.  But God says that every person who has ever lived is a sinner, and any sin separates us from God.  That includes you and me.  

"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."  Romans 3:23

According to man's rules, people should be punished or rewarded according to how good they are, and it may be hard for you to understand how Jesus could love you when other people don't always seem to.  But I have great news for you!  Jesus DOES love you!  More than you can ever imagine!  And there's nothing you can do to make Him stop!  Are you thinking that you should make things right in your life before you come to Jesus?  Many people feel that way, but that's not what God says.  

"God demonstrates His own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

For you to come to God, you have to get rid of  your sin problem.  But God says that you can't make yourselves right with God by being a better person.  God wants to save you JUST BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU!

"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy."  Titus 3:5

For you to come to God, your sin must be paid for.  God's gift to you is His son, Jesus, who paid the debt for you.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord."  Romans 6:23

It's God's grace that allows you to come to Him - not your efforts to "clean up your life" or work you way to Heaven.  You can't earn it.  It's a free gift.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."  Ephesians 2:8-9

Jesus paid the price for your sin and mine by giving His life on Calvary's cross.  God brought Jesus back from the dead and paved the way for you to have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus.  All that's left for you to do is to accept the gift that Jesus is holding out for you right now.

"If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."  Romans 10:9-10

God says that if you believe in His son, Jesus, you can live forever with Him in glory.  

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."  John 3:16

Are you ready to accept the gift of eternal life that Jesus if offering you right now?  If it is your sincere desire to ask Jesus to be you personal Lord and Savior and forgive your sins, now is the time.

"Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."  Acts 3:19

Here's a Suggested Prayer:  

"Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I do not deserve eternal life.  But I believe You died and rose from the grave to purchase a place in Heaven for me.  Jesus, come into my life, take control of my life, I repent of my sins, please forgive my sins and save me.  I now trust You alone for my salvation and I accept your free gift of eternal life."  

If you have trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, there is so much in store for you and we want to rejoice in what God has done in your life and help you to grow spiritually and take the next step.  Please let us know; we'd like to help you. 

How can I know for sure that Jesus forgave my sins and I am going to be saved? Because God has given us a clear word and promises in that word for us to know, for example: 

"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." - 1 John 5:13

You can absolutely know that you are going to heaven! It all depends on how you answer these verses:

"The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. 36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." - John 3:35-36

"If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. 11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life." - 1 John 5:9-12

"Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 "But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” - Matt 10:32-33

But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: "DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, 'WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?' (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or 'WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)." 8 But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." - Romans 10:6-13

You can receive Jesus Christ right now by faith through prayer. God is not so much concerned with the words of your mouth as He is with the attitude of your heart. If you desire to have this certainty of salvation, you can right now! 

Elvins Baptist Church is a body of believers united by our desire to follow Jesus Christ and committed to fulfilling the purposes set forth in Holy Scripture. If you feel that God is leading you to join with us and support our beliefs and mission, we warmly invite you to become a member. Here are the three steps to becoming a member: 

1) Present yourself for membership during any Worship Service when the invitation is given at the end of the message.  

Our Pastor will invite those who desire to become members of Elvins Baptist to come to the front of the sanctuary. This is typically done at the conclusion of a worship service. He will greet you and may introduce you to a friend, who may accompany you to a quieter place where you will be guided in your decision. 

2) Express your desire for membership through one of the following ways: 

Profession of Faith 

If you have never received Jesus as Savior and Lord and/or never publicly confessed Him, you will be given an opportunity to do so. After your decision has been confirmed, an appointment will be made for your baptism at Elvins Baptist. 

Transfer membership from another Southern Baptist Church

If you are currently a member of a Southern Baptist Church, we will receive you as a member upon promise of a letter from that church. Our Clerk will contact that church to notify them of your decision and request your letter. 

Statement of Faith

If you have previously made a public decision, acknowledging that you have received Christ as your Savior and Lord, we will be happy to receive you. Our Pastor will need to discuss your experience to determine whether you should baptized at Elvins Baptist. We do not discount other traditions, but if you have never been baptized as a believer, and by immersion, you will want to use the ordinance of baptism as a way to declare your salvation to the Church. 

3) Assignment to a Sunday School Class.  

Regular fellowship in a Sunday School class will provide you with essential information designed to help you become a fulfilled, functioning member of our church. This class will also show you how to begin building relationships in our church, and will help you understand all the benefits and responsibilities of membership.After you’ve completed these steps, we will joyfully receive you as a member of Elvins Baptist Church and you will begin to fully enjoy the benefits and blessings of being a part of our family of friends. 

Let me commend you for your interest in preparing to share your Christian testimony. If you aren’t familiar with the terminology, your testimony is just the story of how God has worked in your life. May the following be of help to you.

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." —1 Peter 3:15

Your testimony is your personal story. It isn’t, and shouldn’t be, preaching or teaching (though there is obviously a place for those in our Christian life). We all have our own, unique story to tell. Some of us were brought up in church and accepted Christ so early we can’t remember a time before we believed. Some may have made a decision early in life, but doubted and chose to make it sure at a later date. Some made a decision and fell away for a time, coming back after God allowed you to experience some crisis. Some, like me, grew up in an unbelieving household, coming to faith as an adult. But coming to Christ is only a part of your story. Perhaps you grew after your conversion, only to level out on some spiritual plateau. You may have been moved off of that plateau only after a time of testing or ridden a roller-coaster of spiritual growth. Some of you grew steadily, sailing along through your Christian life when you were blindsided by a tragedy or unforeseen difficulties. Your story may be a tale of leaning upon God through times of great pain, difficulty or confusion. God may have revealed His wisdom through a time of decision or His power through a miracle. He may have brought you through by showing you the love that you thought was beyond your reach. If God has saved you, you do have a Christian testimony. 

The PDF file below includes guidance from our state convention and has a fill-in form that you can use to write, save and print your testimony. If you are a member of Elvins Baptist Church, we would love to have a copy of your testimony to keep on file and, if you choose, to use in a booklet of testimonies to help others come to faith in our Lord, Jesus. To use the fill-in form, please use the download arrow to the right of the "treasury-of-testimonies.pdf" and open the file in your Adobe Acrobat Reader to get started. If you need help, please contact us. 

treasury-of-testimonies.pdf

You may never have sat down to think about it, but your story is a powerful tool that the Holy Spirit can use to reach into the hearts of believers and non-believers alike. There are other tools, to be sure. We have God’s Word, the Holy Spirit, our acts of love and holiness, etc. But, when all of these come together in the form of a carefully-crafted, personal story, we have the kind of delivery system that has been used from the earliest days of the church to draw people in and communicate God’s truth in a way that can readily be grasped. When the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to write the Acts of the Apostles, He had him record the Apostle Paul’s personal salvation testimony three times (chapters 9, 22 & 26). Was this because Luke, Paul and the Holy Spirit had nothing else to say? Of course not. But it was His go-to method to reach past many of the theological and cultural objections of Paul’s hearers and Luke’s readers long enough to introduce them to Jesus.

If you'd like a guide to use in preparing your testimony to use on one of our testimony days, you can also download this simple guide. 

Men's Testimony Guide 2020

The Scriptures

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.

God

There is one and only one living and true God. … The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

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. … God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in the risen Jesus Christ.

God the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. … He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross and resurrection, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.

God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. … He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. … He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Man

Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. … By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. … The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every man possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who repent from sin and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.

God's Purpose of Grace

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man … All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.

The Church

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 … and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. …This church is an autonomous body. … The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.

Baptism & the Lord's Supper

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. … It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members … memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

The Lord's Day

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. … It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion.

Last Things

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. …Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly … the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell. … The righteous … will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

Evangelism & Missions

It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations … to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal effort.

Education

The cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence … there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. … The freedom of a teacher in a church or Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the church or school exists.

Stewardship

God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions.

Cooperation

Christ's people should  …  organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches. … Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations.

The Christian & the Social Order

Every Christian is under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in his own life and in human society. ... The Christian should oppose in the spirit of Christ every form of greed, selfishness, and vice.

Religious Liberty

Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. … A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal.

Family

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. … Marriage is the unity of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. … The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. … Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.

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For more detailed information on what we believe, obtain a copy of the Baptist Faith and Message, 2000 found online at:   http://www.sbc.net/bfm2000/bfm2000.asp