Statement of Faith
The Bible
We believe in the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments as fully inspired of God and accept them as our final and sufficient authority for faith and life.
(Isaiah 8:20, Luke 16:29, Eph. 2:20, 2 Tim. 3:15-17)
God
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
(Deut. 6:4, Jer. 10:10, Matt. 3:16-17; 28:19, 2 Cor. 13:14, John 1:1-3; 14:11; 15:26, Heb. 1:2, 1 John 4:14-15)
Jesus
We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary and is true God and true man.
(Matt. 1:20-25, John 1:1-3; 14; 18; 20:28, Acts 20:28, Rom. 9:5, Heb. 1:8, Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1, Matt. 1:1-16, Luke 3:23-38)
Holy Spirit
We believe in the person of the Holy Spirit, His regenerating work, and abiding presence in the true believer.
(John 14:16; 26; 15:26; 16:7, Rom. 5:5; 8:1-17, 1 Cor. 12-14, Gal. 5:16-26)
Man & Sin
We believe that God created man in His own image: that man sinned and thereby incurred the penalty of death, physical and spiritual: that all human beings inherit a sinful nature which issues in actual transgressions involving personal guilt.
(Gen. 1:26-27, Gen. 3, Rom. 3:23; 5:12-14, Gal. 3:22)
Salvation
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, a substitutionary sacrifice, according to the Scriptures, and that all who repent of their sin and believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood.
(John 3:16, Rom. 3:23-26, Heb. 2:7, Eph. 1:7, Rom. 3:24; 5:9)
Resurrection of Christ
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Ascension into Heaven, and His present life as our High Priest and Advocate.
(Matt. 28:6, Luke 24:5-6, John 21:14, 1 Cor. 15:3-4; 12-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:1-2; 9-11, Heb. 4:14; 8:1-6, 1 John 2:1)
Return of Christ
We believe in the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Matt. 24:30; 37-44, 1 Cor. 15:24, 1 Thes. 4:14-17; 5:1-2, Rev. 1:7)
Resurrection
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost.
(Eccl. 11:9; 12:14, Acts 17:31, Rom. 14:10, 2 Cor. 15:51-52, Heb. 9:27, Rev. 20:11-15)
The Church
We believe that the one true Church is the whole company of those who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. In the same way in the local church, the new birth and personal confession of Christ are essentials of Church membership.
(Matt. 16:18, 18:17, 26:16-20, John 3:5-7, Acts 2:41; 47, Rom. 9:23-26, 1 Cor. 1:1-2; 12:27, Eph. 2:8-9; 19-22, 1 Peter 1:1; 2:9-10)
Baptism
Baptism is an important ordinance that demonstrates to the church and the outside world that the person has repented of their sins and is now unified with Christ in his resurrection. The immersion in water signifies this death to the old way of living and a cleansing from sin. The notion that the person being baptized should be fully immersed in water instead of being sprinkled has biblical warrant in Acts 8:37-38 where Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch in a place where the water was plentiful. The church is also commanded to baptize people in Matthew 28:19-20, where Jesus tells us to make disciples by baptizing them and teaching them what it means to follow him.
If someone wishes to be baptized in our church then the procedure at IBC is to first have an interview with our pastor to discuss salvation issues, and then decide how to proceed. If the candidate is ready for baptism, then another interview will take place to discuss what baptism means. We hold two baptism services each year.
Vision and Mission
The International Baptist Church of Hamburg exists to call and make disciples from every nation to reach all nations. Jesus commands us in Matthew 28:19-20 to share the gospel message so that people become His disciples, get baptized, and obey His commands. This means explaining and modelling the essentials about the Christian life, such as prayer, fellowship, and Bible reading. Our desire and expectation at IBC is that when we meet in life groups, retreats, one-on-one, in our families, in sermons, in teaching seminars, we are constantly being encouraged and convicted about what it really means to follow Christ, and thus continue to build a culture of discipleship in our church.
