Plymouth Haven Baptist Church

Core Truth: Whether we realize it or not, every believer is called to some sort of Christian ministry and if we allow Him to, God will use everything we’ve been through from the moment of our birth until now – whether good or bad – as the “matrix” or means of shaping our lives for maximum service and usefulness to Him and of greatest blessing to others.

Core Truth: “It Is by the grace of God that a congregation is permitted to gather visibly in this world to share God’s Word and sacrament. Not all Christians receive this blessing. The imprisoned, the sick, the scattered lonely, the proclaimers of the Gospel in heathen lands stand alone. They know that visible fellowship is a blessing.” (Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Core Truth: While we may never in this life come to full understanding or agreement on such great doctrines as those of Predestination versus Free Will, the more important practical reality is that whether we ever grasp it or not, for His own gracious reasons our loving Heavenly Father was quite intentional in choosing us to be His own, and wisdom would seem to dictate that we focus more on the ‘why’ than on the ‘what’.

Core Truth: “Unconditional election means that our election is decided by God according to His purpose, according to His sovereign will. It is not based upon some foreseen condition that some of us meet and others fail to meet. It is not based on our willing or our running, but upon the sovereign purpose of God.” (R.C. Sproul)

Core Truth: Every new year is filled with 365 days of the unknown, unexpected, and at times – if we only knew – the unwanted. However, we do well to remind ourselves that if we are truly followers of Christ we really do have nothing to fear since God has already promised to walk with us, work in and through us, and help us make each of those days useful and productive, both to our best interests and to His eternal glory, and to that end He has already given us rich gifts for facing a new year.

Core Truth: A life well-lived is a life being lived in harmony with the will of God, which means waiting when He says “wait” and moving when He say “move.” A Spirit-led Christian and a Spirit-led church know the difference and act accordingly.

Core Truth: If the church is to ever have the kind of impact intended by its Founder it must of necessity structure its leadership in accordance with the clear teachings of Scripture. Otherwise, it is simply a humanly produced organization that may make a name for itself in terms of religious activities but will never be able to overcome the gates of hell and fulfill its God-intended mission in the world.

Be on your guard; stand firm, be men and women of good courage, be strong. Do everything in love.

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Core Truth: Our Adversary is not after our money or our stuff. He wants our mind … our hearts. We must understand that we are not being attacked over tangible things in our lives; the enemy is fighting us over the things we cannot see … our relationships, our priorities, and the things with which we find ourselves preoccupied in our daily lives.

Core Truth: As “aliens and strangers” (1Peter 2:11) in this present world, we are called by God to take a strong stand against the powers of darkness and the cultural forces that would silence our voices or get us to alter our message.

Core Truth: The Bible identifies three specific sources of spiritual warfare, each requiring its own particular response, and our ability to wage effective warfare will be determined by recognizing each source and knowing how to combat it effectively.

Core Truth: Satan has no problem with those who believe in his existence but do not practice warfare against him. His greatest trouble comes from those who understand how he works and have learned how to oppose him effectively.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

Core Truth: God has provided us a spiritual wardrobe to wear as we enter into battle each day. Today’s message will show us all the components of that armor and why each piece is essential to our being ready to war effectively in the Spirit.

Core Truth: Waging effective spiritual warfare requires us to understand that though invisible to our human eyes or senses, there is another realm that is very real and portends great danger unless we learn to battle it effectively.

Core Truth: Union with Jesus Christ is the central truth of the doctrine of salvation and the whole purpose of God’s plan for every believer.

Core Truth: Everyone has their own definition of what it means to live “the good life,” and certainly no one wants to live a “bad life.” However, our core truth today is that God Himself has already prepared such a life for each one of us and our task is to discover exactly what that is and begin to live it.

Core Truth: God is rich in mercy and grace. He is kind and loving. He has made us alive, raised us, and seated us together with Christ. We should accept the free gift of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone, and live a life of good works.

Core Truth: God made the whole world out of nothing, He ought to be able to do something with me!

Core Truth: "We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants us to be it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there's nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all. Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don't want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because His idea of 'good time' is seldom in sync with ours." (Oswald Chamber)

Core Truth: The leadership structure of Christ's church is unique among all organizations in that just as its birth and growth are by the power of the Holy Spirit, so also by that same Holy Spirit are its leaders divinely-appointed and equipped to the task of bringing His people to maturity in Him.

Core Truth: Even though at the moment of our conversion God puts inside of us the power to live a brand new life in Christ, we still must choose each day whether we will allow His Holy Spirit to now live that new life through us, or whether we will still attempt to live it on our own.

Core Truth: According to Scripture every true believer is engaged on three fields of battle - the world, the flesh, and the devil. And whereas we once had no power of our own for such warfare, we are now made free in Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to win on every one of these battlefields, choosing good over evil, God over Satan, and righteousness instead of sin.

Core Truth: Christ is not coming back to find a bride who is weak, sickly, and ineffective in her witness before a watching world. Rather, He is coming back for a triumphant church that has caused hell to tremble and millions to kneel at the foot of the cross.

Core Truth: It is never God’s intention that we live our lives in fear and defeat but rather that we learn to walk in high victory through the power and blessing of prayer.