Opener
1 Have them talk about themselves
2 Talk about myself:
I am
1 of the elders here, I’m a true nerd – I’ve got interests in Science, History,
Comics, Cinema & Literature – the whole 9 yards, S. (my wife) does the
kid’s ministry here, I’m the father of 3 girls – ages 8, 6 & 3 so I could
use your prayers in that area, I did not grow up Baptist, my childhood was more
moral than Christian but I was a regular churchgoer.
How much do you know about Baptists Quiz?
So there are 4 Truths to determining “What is a genuine Baptist?”
I – a Baptist is a Christian
What
I mean by that is Baptists are historically orthodox. Orthodox means “right” in doctrine or beliefs.
So basically Baptists fall in line with
orthodox Christian beliefs. Like what? How we view God – a trinity. How we view Christ – as both God & Man. The sinfulness of Mankind & the need of
Salvation & the Atonement of Christ, these are all orthodox beliefs. Brian will say, “You cannot be a True Baptist
& not be a Christian.”
II – a Baptist is an evangelical (or gospel-centered)
Christian
Last
week, I believe you guys talked about the 5 Solas of the Reformation these very
important truths were defended by Protestants against Catholics at that
time. These ideas were mainly about how
sinful people can stand before a just judge & have him declare us innocent,
which of course is because of Christ’s work done for us.
Can anyone remember a few of the Solas? Sola Fide, Gratia,
Christus, Scriptura & Deo Gloria.
Any questions so
far?
III – a Baptist is an evangelical, ecclesiastical (or churchman)
Christian
A Churchman
is a older term that denotes a more ardent or active participator in the church. This cab be a hard concept to grasp today
when the ease of travel & technology have lost that sense of 100 years ago,
in small town America, where everyone knows everyone else & we’re all
involved in each other’s lives. This is
1 of the reasons we have Sunday school together in class instead of
individually via YouTube video & we have potlucks & community groups to
try & tie those bonds a little tighter. Jay will often make the point that one of the
ways we can get more Sanctified (or more Christ-like) is in helping one another
along the path of growing in more Christ-likeness. So being involved.
Being
ecclesiastical is also why some things we regulate like guidelines for
eldership, baptism, membership, and stuff like that. Stuff at Calvary isn’t
just anything goes because we are actually trying to mimic how the NT tells us
to run the church & what to do & what not to do. That in itself is also being very Baptistic, as
Baptists were often called people of the Book.
However this also means there are some things that we leave
to a liberty of conscience, I’m a political Libertarian, meaning I don’t want
to make a hard & fast rule or law about every single scenario that may come
to past. There are areas that we just
have to use our intelligence to figure out for ourselves & we’re not going
to tell you how to finance you house or what color shirt to wear to church or
more theologically what view of the end times you should hold, even within the
Elders we don’t all agree on that subject & its okay.
IV – a Baptist is an evangelical, ecclesiastical,
confessional Christian
Historically
Christianity has always used various creeds & confessions as ways to help
articulate & clarify beliefs & to help prevent against reoccurring
errors in the Church. This could be anything from the small phrase “Jesus is
Lord” which in the NT was a sort of rebellious rallying cry that Christians
aught to obey God even over the Government which said “Caesar is Lord” in
Jesus’ day or like pharaoh who considered himself a god on earth or even in
more modern times like the Korean Dictators Kim Jung-Un & Kim Jung-Il who
have both made themselves out to be gods & expected worship from their
people.
A few
famous creeds & confessions from Church History are the Apostles Creed, the
Cannons of Orange 529, the Augsburg Confession 1530, the 39 Articles 1571,
Synod of Dort 1618, the Westminster & the Baptist Confession of 1689. I
absolutely love the Baptist 1689, I’d be happy to print or email you a copy of
it if you were interested in reading about the beliefs of Baptists coming out
of the Reformation; I think it really sums up what it means to be Baptist.
Wrap-up
Okay
so let’s wrap up what questions do you have for me? Doctrines, Church History, Astrophysics,
Ancient Civilizations, Marvel comics, this church, anything? Hit me.
A closing quote from the famous Baptist preacher C. H.
Spurgeon, I recollect my mother saying to me, “I prayed that you might be a
Christian, but I never prayed that you might be a Baptist;” but, nevertheless,
I became a Baptist, for, as I reminded my mother, the Lord was able to do for
her exceeding abundantly above what she had even asked or thought, and He did
it.
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