Harvest Bible Church (HBC)
is a conservative-evangelical,
independent New Testament
Bible Church. We are an elder-governed (part
two) independent body
established in 2001 as a church plant from Cypress Bible Church in Cypress, Texas.
Our
music
strives to be biblical, the preaching is expository,
and the fellowship
among us strives to be genuine as we seek to be holy through regular church
attendance. There are no altar calls
following the preaching, but our people are always available to speak to you if
you should have any questions about trusting Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior and/or about becoming a
member
of Harvest Bible Church.
Although we are non-charismatic, we do believe
in the power of the Holy Spirit’s filling of believers who have been baptized
by the Spirit. We are thus a Spirit-filled
church where the Holy Spirit’s words (the Bible) are preached verse-by-verse. You
can raise
your hands during the singing if you so choose; we just ask that you do so
in a controlled manner. Likewise, proper dress and
conduct are not policed, but modesty and reverence are appreciated.
Many churches have an orthodox
constitution
and a list of
core
values, but these can at times be too general for those simply browsing a
church’s website and wanting to know if they should visit the church. In order
to be more specific about what we believe, we list the following links for
those of you wanting to cut right to the chase.
Harvest Bible Church comments on the following points that
many ask when visiting us:
We believe that preaching
is God’s method of revealing His truth and changing lives. You can listen to
the pastor’s
sermons and judge for yourself.
As a sovereign
grace church, we hold to the traditional five solas
of the Protestant Reformation.
We believe in spreading the good news of salvation in Jesus
Christ alone both locally and through worldwide missions.
We believe that God created women
differently than men and that women are not to teach or have authority over a
man in the church or in the home.
We believe that the charismatic gifts are for all Christians
but that the sign-gifts – healings, miracles, and tongues (known languages and
dialects) were specifically for the first-century apostles and are thus not
normative for the church today. We believe that God still heals and that
tongues have at times manifested themselves when language barriers to the
gospel hinder God’s word from being taught. But we reject the unbiblical
display of these sign-gifts that are taught at normative today in most charismatic
and Pentecostal churches.
We believe in the concept of Lordship Salvation,
namely, that genuine Christians will inevitably bear spiritual fruit in keeping
with their repentance, and all who profess to know Christ bow to him as Lord
and not just their Savior. Those who fail to grow in their faith are not judged
by us as unbelievers, but we do challenge those who choose to live in their
sins to repent and examine themselves (2 Corinthians 13:5) to determine if they
truly are saved.
We believe that baptism, one of two ordinances for the
church, is for those who profess Christ as Lord and Savior and should be
implemented only after one professes faith in Christ. However, those who
believe in infant baptism, insofar as they recognize that their children are
still unsaved until such a time as they profess Christ as Lord and Savior, are
justified in baptizing their infants as a form of simple dedication to Christ into
the covenant community. That said, the elders of Harvest Bible Church do not condone infant baptism or conduct baptismal services for infants. We simply desire to not divide with our brothers in Christ
who hold to a different view of baptism.
We believe that the Lord’s Supper, the second of two
ordinances in the church, is an ordinance to be observed in remembrance of our
Savior’s atoning death on the cross and as a reminder of His future return
where all true believers will eat with Him at the marriage feast of the Lamb
(Matthew 26:26-29; Revelation 19).
Cypress, Texas
USA
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