Mates Creek Association - Churches
16 District Regular Primitive Baptist Churches
Worship service of the Church
| Services begin with unaccompanied singing of hymns. We sing for about 30 minutes, the deacons will appoint which minister will be
used for opening prayer, preaching, and closing prayer. The minister that was appointed to open the service with song and prayer, at this time the congregation usually stands
and shakes hands with each other as a token of love and fellowship during another hymn before the prayer begins. When the hymn has concluded the minister holds prayer. After the prayer the preaching part of the service will begin. Depending on the number of visiting ministers, this part of the service may be shared between two or more ministers, that were appointed by the deacons of that church. At the end of the service an invitation is announced for anyone who wishes to join the Church or any Primitive Baptist Church that we are in correspondence with. This usually takes place while singing the closing hymn. If someone desires a home with the Church then upon a profession of their faith in Jesus Christ, that person will be received in as a candidate for baptism and a date will be set to go down to the river or baptistry of their choosing for the ordinance of baptism. Often times, they may choose the ministers of choice to baptize them. When the candidate has been baptized they will be a new member of the Church. They now have membership to participate in communion and footwashing at the appointed dates for each church. After the concluding hymn, service is then dismissed with prayer. |
Things we exclude from the Church
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NO MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: The worship service or order is practiced after the New Testament Church and authority which was taught by the 12 chief apostles of Christ.
Which consists of congregational singing, prayer, and preaching. Musical instruments are not used in the church because there is no New Testament commandment or
an example for them. Even though musical instruments were in existence during the time that Christ established his church, there is no record of their use in the worship
services. We do believe in singing and making a joyful noise and melody in the heart to worship the Lord. Our singing includes old time line-singing which has become
a separation of modern day church singing. There is no greater joyful sound in the sound when the Lord's Spirit helps us to sing together and in order to worship Him.
(Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16) NO SUNDAY SCHOOLS: There are no Sunday Schools in our churches. Sunday Schools is a modern day man-made order that is not a commandment of the New Testament church. Their beginning was not until the 18th century in England, and then was only to teach reading, writing and arithmetic to underprivileged children. Also, Sunday Schools is a modern way of bringing in women teachers or women to preach the gospel, which is forbidden by the Scriptures. For it is ashame for women to speak in the church, if they want to know something, they should ask their husbands privately at home. Therefore we do not ordain women to preach the gospel nor do we ordain women to be deacons in the church. For we do not permit women to have authority over the men. (Ephesians 6:4, 1 Corinthians 14:35, 1 Timothy 2:12) NO TITHING REQUIRED: Primitive Baptists do not believe in tithing or paying an elder (pastor) any salary. The gospel is to be given freely to feed the sheep and the little lambs of God. The gospel is the good news that Christ fulfilled the law for His elect. However, we believe that God loves a cheerful giver and to upkeep our meeting houses and the utilities or other expenses that come with them. Most of our meeting houses has little expenses and God has blessed many cheerful givers to help with the churches expenses. (1 Corinthians 16:2, 2 Corinthians 9:7, Acts 20:35) |
False Doctrines and Baptism Rule
| WE ARE THE ORIGINAL PARTICULAR BAPTISTS: There are different fractions of the Primitive Baptists and Baptists in general. We would be considered
"Hardshell", "Old Regular", "Old School" or "Old-Line" Primitive Baptist. Founded upon the New Testament Church (See our Articles of Faith). We hold no fellowship with the churches or associations that
promote or support liberalism, absolute predestination of all things, no hell, or non-resurrection or different doctrines of men. One such doctrine of men is the freewill doctrine that teaches that men have the
freewill to save themselves from sin and death or save others from their sinful nature. The only freewill that men has is to be obedient or disobedient, but eternal salvation came through an election of Grace chosen
by God before the foundation of the world. WE ARE NOT CALVINISTS: We do not uphold the teachings of calvinism, even though Google or unlearned people may put us in the same faith as Calvinists and we may seem similiar, yet we are very far apart in the Doctrine of God. We follow the ROSE OF SHARON and not the TULIP. We uphold to the "Good Doctine of Sovereign Grace" that the Lord freely gave to us by His Chief Apostles and the Lord's New Testament Church. REBAPTISM: We believe that even though you may have been baptized in a different order and or other denominational church, for you to join this association, you must be re-baptized by one of our ordained Primitive Baptist ministers to take part of full membership to enjoy our communions and footwashings. The Bible teaches there is only one baptism and one faith. The author and finisher of our faith is Christ Jesus, the Son of God. |
Updated: 12/21/22
