ABOUT US
WHAT WE BELIEVE
We believe the historic Christian message, based on the Scriptures, the faith once for all delivered to the saints: That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins, was buried, rose again, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and is coming again in glory.
By God’s grace we seek to live out this faith through the historic Baptist distinctives: The Bible as the only rule of faith and practice, the autonomy of the local church, the separation of church and state, and the practice of believer’s baptism by immersion.
Seven centuries before Jesus was born, the Hebrew prophet Isaiah penned these words in Isaiah 53:6:
"All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Of whom was the prophet speaking? We believe, as have countless other Christians throughout the centuries, that he was speaking of the One who was to come, Our Lord Jesus Christ. And in John 5:24, we read of Jesus saying this:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."
Here at First Baptist we believe the words of Jesus, and take them very seriously.
WHO WE ARE
Who are we? We are seekers, we are sinners saved by grace, and we are students of the Scriptures. We are all works in progress, looking to God each day to make us the people He wants us to be in Christ.
Are we there yet? No, most of the time we aren’t, although by God’s grace we certainly try. Are we what we hope we one day will be? Definitely not-- the east end of Long Island may be beautiful, but it is not heaven.
But are we what we used to be? By God's grace, we trust that we aren’t. God’s working on us, and we are here to help each other cooperate with His program.
Many of us have been involved in churches for years, and we know that any given congregation is going to be “too much this” for some people, and “not enough of that” for others. This means that we have no illusions about being the perfect place for anybody-- maybe you will love it here, and maybe you won’t, and that’s okay either way! All we ask is that you prayerfully consider stopping by to see for yourself.
Feeling at home here is very much what we are about. One of the metaphors the New Testament uses to describe the local church is a household, or family, and we try, by His grace, to put that into practice.
OUR MISSION
What are we about as a church? There are many ways to answer that question, but perhaps the heart of it is best summed up in something the Apostle Paul wrote to another local church, in the city of Corinth, 20 centuries ago. In 2 Corinthians 4:5-7, where he said this:
"For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. "
In a word, we are here to point people to the Lord Jesus Christ, and encourage one another to faithfully follow Him.
REVEREND THOMAS LAMOTHE
A graduate of Cairn University, Pastor Tom (or P.T., as just about everyone calls him), has served at our church from 1989-1994, and again from 2001 to the present. Formerly an atheist, P.T.’s calling is to encourage people to thoughtfully and prayerfully consider what he came to believe to be the most consequential question of all time: Who was-- and is-- this Jesus of Nazareth?
Wrestling with this question changed Pastor Tom's life many years ago, as it has changed countless others throughout the centuries, and his desire is to help others think it through for themselves.