What We Believe

Mount Carmel Baptist Church upholds historic Christian orthodoxy. As a Southern Baptist Church, our confessional statement is The Baptist Faith & Message 2000

Mount Carmel Baptist Church defends the Bible as the sole infallible rule of faith.

The Spirit of God uses the faithful preaching of the Word of God to build up the people of God in love and unity (Eph 4:13-15). Therefore, we preach the whole counsel of God expositionally—that is, the message of our sermons are dictated by the meaning of the Text of Scripture.

A pastor is more than a public speaker or theological advisor; he is a shepherd (Eph 4:11), a leader (Titus 1:7), and an overseer of souls (Heb 13:17). As a shepherd under the Lead Shepherd, he is called to feed, lead, and defend God’s flock (Acts 20:17-35). As our pastor leads, the church becomes a self-ministering body as its members learn to love, support, and serve one-another (Mt 25:35–40).

The church exists for the worship of Christ (Eph 1:5-6). Therefore, greater than any other concern, the Lord’s Day is for the saints to gather to worship their Lord (Heb 12:22-24). With this Christological focus of worship, we may gladly accept different styles of music and aesthetics so long as they serve to glorify Christ.

The household is God’s first institution and is responsible for the spiritual formation of children (Gen 2; Deut 6:4-9). Therefore, our church acknowledges the government of the household and equips its members to fulfill the duties assigned to them by God—namely, for husbands to love their wives, wives to honor their husbands, parents to disciple their children, and children to obey their parents (Neh 8:13; Eph 5:22-6:4).

The church is united by common faith and knowledge of God’s Son. Therefore, we believe and practice regenerate membership, where each member must be a baptized, confessing Christian. Our membership is guarded by standards and discipline (Mt 18:15-20; 1 Cor 5:9-13). 

Authentic community is fostered by Christian fellowship and mutual service. We are united and not divided by generational or other differences (Titus 2:1-8).

God’s calls His people to participate in His mission to glorify His Name among the nations as deputized ambassadors for Christ (Hab 2:14; 2 Cor 5:16-21). This call is not for a select few but for every Christian. Our congregation is continually equipping and challenged to live missional lives (2 Tim 4:5).

Abusive or absentee leadership is a curse, but faithful and humble leadership is a blessing (Prov 11:14). Therefore, the Lord has blessed His church with leaders to guide and serve them (Eph 4:11; Mt 20:26-18). Leaders are expected to look to Christ as the exemplar of godly leadership (Jhn 13:13-17), and to follow His and the Apostles’ example in training future generations of leaders for the church (2 Tim 2:2).