What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of Avon Park Lakes Baptist Church based on the foundational truths taught in the bible.  We are affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and use as our doctrinal statement the Baptist Faith & Message.  All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.

I/We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative, inerrant Word of God.

I/We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I/We believe in the deity of Christ, his virgin birth, his sinless life, his miracles, his vicarious and atoning death, his resurrection, his ascension to the right hand of the Father, and his personal return in power and glory.

I/We believe that the Holy Spirit is God, co-equal and co-existent with the Father and the Son. He is the chief convictor of sin, the chief agent of regeneration and sanctification. The Holy Spirit lives within every believer and empowers every believer to live a godly life.

I/We believe that Adam, the first man, sinned by disobedience. This act resulted in the fall of mankind; therefore, all people have sinned and lost their ability to live for the glory of God. Every person’s sin incurs both physical and spiritual death until there is forgiveness and salvation by the grace of God.

I/We believe in the absolute necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit for salvation because of the exceeding sinfulness of human nature, that people are justified on the single ground of faith in the shed blood of Christ, and that only by God’s grace and through faith are we saved.

I/We believe that the church is the body of Christ and the family of God. It is made up of saved and baptized believers, who regularly join together for worship, fellowship, and ministry.

I/We believe that it is the responsibility and privilege of every Christian to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and to see to make disciples.

I/We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in the covenant commitment. In addition to these important beliefs, I/we also believe that God has given the parents and the home the responsibility to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I/We believe that a consistent and whole education will occur when home, church, and school work closely together and are in agreement on the basic concepts of life.