Our Beliefs Concerning Cultural Issues
Our Mission Statement
We are people sharing Jesus through lifting up Jesus, learning to follow Him, and leading people to know Him because people need the Lord.
Our Purpose
The focus and mission of Crestview is to be led by the Holy Spirit to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, both to train all in Biblical truth and to include each one in a community of faith, and fellowship. We, as a church, recognize the Bible alone, especially the New Testament, as the guide for its ministry. Our purpose is to seek and follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in understanding the purpose of God in the development of the various aspects of its ministry and to be a channel for God to work out His will through witnessing to the unsaved both at home and abroad through the study of the teachings of the Bible concerning every aspect of life.
"Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." Ephesians 4:15
What We Believe
(For information beyond our statements please refer to our Long-Form Justifications by clicking here)
Concerning Abortion and the Sanctity of Life
Crestview Baptist affirms Psalm 139 which says that God knits us together in our mother’s womb, and that every human person is fearfully and wonderfully made. We affirm that life starts at conception. We affirm it because we believe this to be the teaching of the Scriptures, but also because there is not another logically convincing point at which life begins. Because we believe that God is gracious, we stand ready to minister lovingly to those who have made the choice of abortion. We desire to help you find peace with God and wholeness as you continue to seek the Lord.
Concerning Substances such as Marijuana
Crestview Baptist Church abides by Ephesians 3:18 which says, “do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” We believe that the key to this verse is not to get drunk with any substance, as it becomes a replacement for the filling of the Spirit in your life. Therefore, any substance, the purpose of which is to get drunk, or be high, cannot be integrated into the Christian life. Any substance which has alternative uses or can be used in moderation without getting drunk or high may be partaken of under prayerful consideration, particularly for medical use. We desire to minister to all people in the power of the Spirit and see them filled not with the temporary satiation of worldly pleasures but the eternal satisfaction of life in Christ.
Concerning Issues of Race
Crestview holds to Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:26-29 that all who are baptized in Christ have clothed themselves in Christ. In Christian love, race cannot be used as a weapon or as a benefit, because our identity is fully in Christ and in the body there must be no partiality as James chapter 2 reminds us. We recognize that there is racial injustice in the world, and we believe that Christ will ultimately redeem all things in power and judgement, and until that time works to redeem all things through humility and love. Thus, while we wait on that return we will not seek to divide ourselves by race or any other physical reality, but bear with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Concerning Sex and Gender
We hold to the account of human sexuality given in Genesis 1 and affirmed by Jesus in Matthew 19, that from the beginning of all time, God made human beings in his image, “in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.” There are only two genders because there are only two sexes, and there are only two sexes because that is how God chose to reflect his image in creation. We seek to love and encourage all those who struggle with their gender by gently leading them to truth and helping them to root their identity in Christ.
Concerning the Nature of Marriage
We believe in the establishment of marriage as described in Genesis 1 and affirmed by Jesus in Matthew 19, that “at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
We believe that the image of God is found in the fullness of humanity: soul and body. Marriage is established by God to put humans in a relationship that reflects the image of his own nature. Therefore, the purpose of marriage, which is most fundamentally to reflect God’s loving relationship in his own nature as well as his relationship with his church (Eph. 5), can only be fulfilled between a man and a woman.
We believe that temptations toward same-sex relations and attraction is not unique as it compares to other kinds of sexual sin and that as with any temptation Christ has conquered it (2 Timothy 1:10). Therefore, when we abide in Christ’s life each one of us can overcome our sexual temptations. That overcoming, that freedom, that Christ grants us from sin (John 8:36) is what we desire for each person who struggles with the temptation of same-sex attractions.
Concerning Sex Before Marriage
We affirm with Hebrews 13:4 that “marriage be held in honor by all and the marriage bed be undefiled.” Sex is meant to be enjoyed within the bounds of marriage between a man and a woman for the sake of bearing children and the unity of the spouses. Sex is a physical expression of a spiritual reality of unity between a man and a woman who uniquely reflect the image God in relationship. Sex outside marriage is a sin that Christ has conquered and turned away from.We hope to embrace people in all stages of their journey of faith and encourage them in healthy singleness and healthy marriage.
Concerning Pluralism
We affirm with the apostle Peter that “there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” than the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). We cannot therefore treat all ideas as having equal value for those ideas which undermine or subvert that truth endanger the souls of those who hold them. We will as James says, “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19) toward others who think differently than us. We will not, however, affirm their beliefs for the sake of politeness for we also know that “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:23).
Concerning the Nature of Absolute Truth
We believe the words of Christ when he says, “I am the way the truth and the life” (John 14:6). We believe the words of Jesus when he says, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Therefore, we attribute characteristics to truth which we attribute to God, that there is only one God: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god” (Is. 44:6-8). There is only one God and he is unchanging: “I am the LORD; I change not” (Malachi 3:6). Therefore, truth is not relative to human beings. There is not your truth and my truth, there is only truth, because God is truth.