What We Believe

We believe there is only one God, He created all things, He is the Great I Am, and He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. He is our Father; He is the Alpha and Omega, the Provider and Sustainer, the Author, the Developer, the Comforter, and the Teacher of Life. He is the Leader of the church. He is Holy, spiritual, merciful, mighty, awesome, gracious, and just.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is real and that he is God’s gift to us. He lives inside all Christians and acts as our conscience. He is our Comforter, our Guide, our Teacher, our Prompter, and our Counselor. He is one component of the Trinity, along with Jesus Christ and God the Father.

Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God; he is our Savior. He existed before He came to earth and entered into our world from the womb of a virgin. He is the one and only way to salvation and eternity in heaven. He is a Teacher, Friend, Healer, High Priest, performer of miracles, perfect man, fully human and fully God (possess all of God’s qualities), and the Head of the Church. He died on the cross as a perfect sacrifice, once and for all. When He died, He forgave all past, present, and future sins of those who ask for his forgiveness. He arose from the grave and is still alive today. Someday He is returning to judge all evil.

The Bible is the infallible, truthful, applicable, perfect, holy, authoritative Word of God. It is a guidebook, required reading, God’s story given to us so that we can know and understand Him.

Baptism is commanded by God but is not necessary for salvation. It is a public declaration of personal faith, an expression to God and others of a decision to follow Christ and live by His commands. It is a symbol of spiritual rebirth.

We believe that the Lord’s Supper, which took place on Passover, was the Last Supper that Jesus had with His disciples before He died, wherein He disclosed His Father’s plans. It is what we are commemorating, remembering, and celebrating in communion, as Christ commanded us to do. The elements are symbolic of His sacrifice. Communion is a sacrament, as is baptism, it is open to all believers, and should be a regular part of church life.

Man was created by God in the image of God, and each person is born with a yearning to be in close relationship with Him. Man became separated from God because of sin, but through faith in Christ man can be reconciled to God to satisfy the yearning for the divine relationship which he was born to experience. Each person was born with a po­tential for greatness, which can be realized only through a relationship with God.

We believe our minister should be committed to Jesus Christ and able to preach from the Scriptures as well as shepherd, encourage, motivate, and provide leadership for the congregation. Our pastor will be looked to in an administrative management capacity and as a community liaison. He will be expected to attend church functions, visit the sick and grieving, and assist in resolution of conflicts. He/she should be able to teach Biblical and theological truths using methods and vernacular that appeal to all ages. Our pastor should be open to new ideas/forms of worship, and be involved in or aware of all min­istries of the church and be a friend as well as a pastor.

We, as the church, must worship and praise God and pray, study and teach the Bible. We must strengthen fellow believers by nourishing spirits through supportive assembly and prayer and by sharing one another’s joys and sorrows through loving fellowship, including visitation. Members are called to encourage and lead as examples by living moral, God-honoring lives and demonstrating God’s love wherever they go and in all circumstances.

Our local community involvement includes support of the Holly Ministerial Council. We have joined with other churches in our community to support many area minis­tries including: Flint area rescue mission (Carriage Town Mission), Crisis Pregnancy Center, Lighthouse of North Oakland County, and the Oakland County food bank, which provides basic needs and social services to the poor. Youth and adults have participated in missionary efforts through World Servants, an interdenominational mission organization. We have also been involved in several adult mission trips to Pass Christian, MS, to help with Katrina Relief. Youth groups regularly attend Spring Hill, a non-denominational Christian camp. We also sponsor the annual “Community Fun Night”, a safe and wholesome alternative to Halloween trick-or-treating. We have recently begun participating in a program, called Angel Food Ministries, which makes it possible for families of all income levels to purchase quality food at a reasonable price. Click on the Angel Food tab at the top of this page. All of these activities are offered for the purpose of providing a Christian witness to our community. Many are implemented with the participation of Christians beyond our immediate church family.

While we affirm our independence as well as our responsibility to govern the affairs of this local body, we highly value our affiliation with ABC/USA. ABC provides us with a means of supporting missions both within the US and around the world and enables us to provide group insurance benefits to our staff. It is important for our pastor to support ABC missions and other ABC programs. FBC, Holly has a long history of strong support for ABC missions. Our commitment to missions has been reinforced and made more personal as a couple from our congregation were ABC missionaries to Africa. In addition support for ABC camping ministries is broad and strong. Many in the church family attend, support, and are very involved in the development of ABC Michigan camping programs.

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