First Baptist Church

401 North Fifth Street ~ Elsbery, MO

Sundays at 10:40 a.m.

About

First Baptist Church exists to make much of Jesus among the peoples of the earth, starting with the people next door.

Roughly ten years ago the congregation at First Baptist had dwindled to little more than a dozen older members. Today there are young married couples again, children in the nursery, and over 60% of the membership has joined in the past five years. In addition to a complete renovation to the church's building (constructed in 1891, 1941, and 1971), the church has embarked on a five-year strategic plan with the end goal of starting a new church out of First Baptist within a 30-mile radius by the plan's end. Our vision is to be

a multiplying church, impacting our community through changed lives and strong families, raising up leaders, and sending out others to do the same.

For a complete history of First Baptist, click here.

Our Beliefs

We believe the Bible is the ultimate authority for our lives, for how we live and what we believe. We also believe our church's confession of faith is a reliable summary of what the Bible teaches on the major doctrines of the Christian faith. This confession is based primarily on the text of one of the oldest Baptist statements of faith along with excerpts from the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, the Danvers Statement from the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and the Confessional Statement of The Gospel Coalition. You can view or download this document by clicking the link below.

CHURCH CONFESSION

In addition to our confession of faith, we are also guided by four core values:

Faithfulness - we want to be faithful to what we see in God's Word, both in our life together as a church and in our individual lives as followers of Christ.

Fellowship - the New Testament calls Christians a family and a body and the early church is said to have had "all things in common." We want to share our lives together in this very same way.

Family - Families are important for two reasons: they mirror this idea of the "family of God" and they are the ordinary means God uses to disciple people whether young or old.

Fame - Yes, we care about fame and notoriety, but not our own. It's our aim, in everything we do, to see Jesus' fame spread throughout our city and around the world.

Our Worship

Jesus says in Luke 4:8,

“It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God,

and him only shall you serve.’”

Worship is more than just singing songs or praying prayers. All of our lives and everything we do should be done in such a way that it gives worship to our Creator. One specific setting in which God is worshiped though is the assembly of His people. When we assemble on the Lord's Day [Sunday], we do so with the express purpose of glorifying God and enjoying Him. We do this through reading Scripture together, by singing songs together, by praying together, by hearing God's Word read, and by hearing God's Word taught, by giving of our finances, and by observing the Lord's Supper.

Sundays at First Baptist begin with Sunday School for all ages at 9:30, and Corporate Worship at 10:40 a.m. There is nursery available during the meeting for children in pre-K or younger. Dress is casual, come as you are!

Listen to sermons from our weekly meetings.

See the map above for directions to where we meet.

In addition to our primary gathering on Sunday mornings, First Baptist also has several Bible studies that meet throughout the week. There is also an after school program on Tuesdays throughout the school year for children in kindergarten through fourth grade called TeamKID and youth group for students in grades 5-12 on Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m.

Our Leaders

Elders & Deacons

First Baptist Elsberry is an elder-led, deacon-served, congregational church. Each of these groups have a biblically prescribed role to play for the good of the body and the glory of Christ. To read more about biblical church government, we recommend checking out some of the helpful articles and talks from the ministry of 9Marks.

For a church to function the way it's supposed to with elders, deacons, and members all doing their jobs, it's important for the church to have a high view of church membership and all that goes with it. We offer a class called "Pathway to Membership" in the fall and spring for interested individuals to learn more about our governing documents and whether or not FBC and is the place for them to call home.

In addition to paying one of the elders to free them up to minister, the church is also blessed to have a full-time ministry assistant to help with music and discipleship and a part-time ministry assistant to help with children and youth.

CHURCH COVENANT

CONSTITUTION & BYLAWS

Staff