What we believe & common questions

What we believe

As a Baptist Church, we are members of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and subscribe to their Declaration of Principle.

The Basis of the Baptist Union is: 

1.        “That our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the sole and absolute authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and that each church has liberty, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to interpret and administer His laws.

2.        That Christian Baptism is the immersion in water into the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost, of those who have professed repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who ‘died for our sins according to the Scriptures; was buried, and rose again on the third day’.

3.        That it is the duty of every disciple to bear personal witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to take part in the evangelisation of the world.”

The Salvation Message

As human beings we are all prone to doing, saying and thinking wrong things. These bad habits damage us and other people, and they form a barrier between us and perfect God. There’s nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable to God: no amount of good deeds or acts of kindness can earn us His favour. This universal human problem is called ‘sin’ – and it is an unpopular word these days! The Bible says that the payment we receive for sin is death.

Because God is holy He cannot co-exist with sin, and because he is just, He cannot ignore wrong-doing, but because He is loving and kind, He has freely chosen to do something to about it: ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life.’  (John 3:16, The Bible).

The Bible teaches that Jesus is fully God and fully man – God’s Son who come to live among us in human form. He taught us about God, gave us an example of how to live and although He never did anything wrong, willingly died on the cross to deal with the sin of mankind: ‘He bore in his body the full penalty for [our] sin.’ That means that if we believe in Him – His life, death and resurrection, and if we ask for his forgiveness, God promises to accept us as His children and prepare a heavenly home for us when we die.

We believe that the most important decision we will ever make is our response to Jesus Christ. To those who ask, He also gives the Holy Spirit to come and live within us to give us assurance of what we believe and equip us to serve God in every circumstance of life.

If you would like to become a Christian, then just say (and mean it!!), the prayer below. It is based upon the need to respond to God – SORRY, THANK YOU, PLEASE.

Sorry that our sinful nature has created a barrier between us and God

Thank you God for sending your son Jesus to pay the penalty for my sin

Please send your Holy Spirit to lead me in my life.

This is a first step, and in particular you will find that you need the help and guidance of other Christians to address the issue of repentance (sorry) which not only involves acknowledging the sin our lives but also the steps needed to turn away from sin from now on.

Pray this:

Dear God,

There are lots of things I don’t understand, but I recognise that I am a sinful person and that I cannot save myself. I am sorry that this has formed a barrier between me and you and I now turn away from the sin that separates me from you.
Thank you Jesus that you died on the cross personally for me and that you rose from the dead. Please forgive my sin. I receive you now as my personal Lord and Saviour. 
Holy Spirit please come and fill my life with joy, peace and assurance as I seek to know God better and follow Jesus always.

Amen

If you said this prayer and meant it, God has already forgiven and accepted you. That is good news, and good news is for sharing! So please contact us to let us know of your commitment! You probably have lots of questions – we will do our best to answer these. You will also want to get connected with other Christians so, wherever you are in the world, we will do our best to introduce you to a local church community.

 

Common Questions

Below are our responses to some of the questions you may have about Christianity or about church.

Questions about Christianity

What is a Christian?

A Christian is an ordinary person who has a living relationship with God, through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the forgiveness of sin and who rose from the dead.

Is Christianity really still relevant?

Christianity has enduring and eternal relevance for those who believe and those who do not! Historically, it has shaped the law and moral basis of many cultures, and Christian generosity continues to provide significant levels of development aid.

Why should it matter to me?

How we respond to Jesus Christ makes a difference for all eternity. Christians believe we can enjoy a quality of relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, which begins now and will last for eternity. We all have an individual choice to make concerning him.

Can I really trust the Bible?

The Bible is a collection of ancient books written over a long period of time and by different human authors. They used various types of literature and wrote to address different issues. Some were writing to record history, or explain events, or preach sermons, or encourage churches, or simply to praise God. The Bible therefore requires careful interpretation but contains a reliable witness to God’s activity in human affairs, especially with regard to the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Questions about Church

What is baptism?

As a Baptist Church we baptise believers, normally by immersion. Baptism is symbolic of our identification with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection as well as of the inner cleansing of forgiveness we receive from Him.

Why a “Baptist Church”?

Our practice of baptising believers, rather than infants, is one of the most visible distinctions of our ecclesiology, i.e.our theological understanding of the Christian church.

Click here to download a copy of the Church Rules

What does South Street Baptist Church do to reach out to the local community?

We want to be a church that is involved in the community; we want to reach out to those who don’t know Christ. To do this we use Street Evangelism, Holiday Clubs for Senior Citizens, and in particular, we run Alpha courses as an evangelistic event. We would love you to get on board with any of our outreach events.