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The Bible says in Psalm 16:6: “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” Gospel Light Baptist Church has a goodly heritage. God has been so faithful and gracious to us over the years. He is to be praised for the many who labored to provide what we enjoy today. And God is to be praised for the many who continue to build upon their labors.

In June of 1949, Bro. D.W. Long organized Gospel Light Baptist Church with nine members. As God began to bless, this group quickly outgrew its facilities. In July of 1956, Bro. Bobby Roberson was called to be the next pastor. God greatly used Bro. Bobby over the course of 61 faithful years. Under his unwavering leadership, the church again outgrew its facilities. Many ministries were added under Bro. Bobby’s oversight with thousands calling Gospel Light “home.” Bro. Bobby graduated to heaven in February of 2018. We are forever grateful for his steadfast service.

After supporting Bro. Bobby for over 30 years, Bro. Frank Shumate stepped in as the interim pastor. God used Bro. Frank to lead the church through a very difficult time following the loss of its beloved pastor. The steady hand of God through Bro. Frank was evidenced through his love and dedication. Bro. Frank became the Pastor Emeritus of Gospel Light in June of 2021 and continues to serve the Lord at Gospel Light.

In June of 2021, Bro. Matt Morrison became the Senior pastor after serving alongside Bro. Frank for two years. The rich heritage of our church continues on. We still remain an old-fashioned independent Baptist Church that loves God and reaches souls with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We trust that God will continue to keep His good hand upon this work until the day he calls us home in the rapture. To God be the glory, great things He hath done.

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The Statement of Faith of Gospel Light Baptist Church

(A) The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally and plenarily inspired Word of God.  The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible, and God-breathed and are, therefore, the final authority for faith and life.  The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning.  The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official and only translation used by the church (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21).

(B) Dispensationalism

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages.  These dispensations are not ways of salvation but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose.  Three of these dispensations – the age of law, the age of the church, and the age of the kingdom – are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture (Genesis 1:28, 3:13-25; I Corinthians 9:17; II Corinthians 3:9-18; Galatians 3:13-25; Ephesians 1:10, 3:2-10; Colossians 1:24-25, 27; Revelation 20:2-6).

(C) The Godhead

We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each are co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14; John 14:10, 26).

(D) The Person and Work of Christ

  1. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; II Corinthians 5:19-21; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-8).
  1. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:18-36; Romans 3:24-25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5).
  2. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 9:24, 7:25; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1-2).

 

(E)  The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

  1. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling them, and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13-14).
  1. We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures. It is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:17-18, 5:18; I John 2:20, 27).
  1. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry (Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12:4-11, 28; Ephesians 4:7-12).
  1. We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit and that ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, although God frequently chooses to answer the prayer of believers for physical healing (I Corinthians 1:22, 13:8, 14:21-22).

 

(F)  The Total Depravity of Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God. However, because of Adam’s sin, the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God.  Man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:17-19).

(G)  Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; I Peter 1:18-19).

(H)  The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

  1. We believe that all the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; I Peter 1:4-5; I Corinthians 1:4-8;).
  1. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word. However, God’s Word clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).

 

(I) The Church

  1. We believe that the local church, which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again persons (I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27).
  2. We believe that the establishment and continuances of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
  1. We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4,15:19-31, 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; I Corinthians 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; I Peter 5:1-4).
  1. We recognize water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42, 18:18; I Corinthians 11:23-26).

 

(J) Separation

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord and that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded of God (Romans 12:1-2; 14:13; II Corinthians 6:14-7:1; II Timothy 3:1-5; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11).

(K) The Second Advent of Christ

We believe in the “blessed hope” – the personal, imminent return of Christ Who will rapture His church prior to the seven-year tribulation period.  At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the Nation of Israel (Psalm 89:3-4; Daniel 2:31-45; Zechariah 14:4-11; I Thessalonians 1:10, 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Revelation 3:10, 19:11-16; 20:1-6).

(L)  The Eternal State

  1. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men – the saved to eternal life, the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6; 12-13).
  1. We believe that at death the souls of the redeemed are absent from the body and present with the Lord where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23, 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:4-6).
  1. We believe that at death the souls of unbelievers remain in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection when, with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment and shall be cast into the Lake of fire not to be annihilated but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment (Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Revelation 20:11-15).

 

(M) The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin, and the cause of the fall of man. He is the open and declared enemy of God and man. He shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11, 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

(N) Creation

We believe that God created the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods.  We reject evolution, the Day-Age Theory, and theistic evolution as unscriptural theories of origin (Genesis 1-2; Exodus 20:11).

(O)  Civil Government

We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions:  1) the home; 2) the church; and 3) the state.  Every person is subject to these authorities; but all – including the authorities themselves – are answerable to God and governed by His Word.   God has given each institution specific biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other.  The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God.   We believe that we must obey the state unless it requires us to act contrary to our faith at which time we must obey God rather than the state (Romans 13:1-7; Ephesians 5:22-24; Hebrews 13:17; I Peter 2:13-14; Matthew 22:15-22; Acts 5:29).

(P) Human Sexuality

We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.  We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex (Genesis 2:24; 19:5,13; 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; I Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; I Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4).

(Q) Divorce and Remarriage

We believe that God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies.  Divorce and remarriage is regarded as adultery except on grounds of fornication.  Although divorced and remarried persons or divorced persons may hold positions of service in the church and be greatly used of God for Christian service, they may not be considered for the office of pastor or deacon (Malachi 2:14-17; Matthew 19:3-12; Romans 7:1-3; I Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6).

(R) Abortion

We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being.  Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life.  Abortion is murder.  We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable (Job 3:16; Psalms 51:5, 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24, 49:1, 5; Jeremiah 1:5, 20; 15-18; Luke 1:44).

(S)  Missions

We believe that God has given the church a Great Commission to proclaim the gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  As ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to go to foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; II Corinthians 5:20).  Moreover, we believe that the boundaries of the mission field lie at the threshold of our church door.  It is not our intent to proselyte members from other churches for our buildings would surely not hold all the people who have never heard the gospel or who never attend any church.  It is these people whom we believe it to be our mission to evangelize as well as those in foreign countries.

(T) Lawsuits Between Believers

We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes.  We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members.  We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian’s insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander (I Corinthians 6:1-8; Ephesians 4:31-32).

(U) Giving

We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to them, is obligated to support their local church financially through tithes and offerings.  We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving but that every Christian should also give other offerings sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the church, assist in the relief of those in need, and aid in the spread of the gospel.  We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made (Genesis 14:20; Proverbs 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; I Corinthians 16:2; II Corinthians 9:6-7; Galatians 6:6; Ephesians 4:28; I Timothy 5:17-18; I John 3:17).

SOME THINGS GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW

GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW YOU ARE A SINNER BY BIRTH
“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Psalm 51:5
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one.” Romans 3:10
 
GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW WHY YOU ARE A SINNER BY BIRTH
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Romans 5:12
“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Romans 5:19
 
GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW WHAT THE PENALTY OF SIN IS
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23
“For sin, taking an occasion by the commandment, decieved me and by it slew me.” Romans 7:11
 
GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW WHAT HE DID FOR YOU
“For God so loved the world, that he have his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not persih, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
“But God commendeth his love towardus, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
 
GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW HOW YOU CAN BE SAVED
“But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” John 1:12
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13

Our Pastors

Frank Shumate

Pastor Emeritus

Chad Branch

Associate Pastor

Brian Vanderford

Youth Pastor

Ricky Rosario

Spanish Pastor