| It is hard to attend
Canaan Land very long without feeling the warmth of the
presence of God drawing us into a closer relationship
with Him and those around us. Our people come expecting
the Holy Spirit to move and change lives. Won't you come
and join us as we worship the Lord?
History of Our Church
Our church was founded in
1982. The first meeting place was in a home on Gantz
Road. The church quickly outgrew that space and
moved into a building that housed the local grocer's
association on Harrisburg Pike. Then in December of
1984 we moved into our current facility at 2777
Gantz Road in Grove City.
In 2004 God blessed us with a
Family Life Center (gymnasium) where we now hold our
Sunday Morning Services. In the winter and spring
this area is also used on Friday evenings as a place
to gather for recreation. We are now looking to God
for direction on a new sanctuary. God has given
Pastor Mike a vision of what He wants. But it's up
to us to Catch the Vision.
Doctrinally speaking we are
associated with the National Association of Free
Will Baptists and on a local level our church is
associated with of the Capital City Conference of
Free Will Baptists.
What is different
about our church?
Our church believes in
old-fashioned, Holy Ghost filled meetings. Shouting
is not out of style at our church. Our church
believes that people should get involved in worship.
Worship is not a spectator sport at Canaan Land.
Worship is what each of us brings to the Lord. We
expect people to worship the Lord. Our Pastor
preaches three services a week. Sunday Morning,
Sunday Evening, and Wednesday Evening. If the Pastor
is absent, he will arrange to have another minister
fill in for him. (1 Corinthians 1:21)
Although many churches have
shied away from the "blood", our church has not.
Since the Bible teaches that "the life of the flesh
is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11), we believe that
it took more than the just the death of Jesus to
procure our salvation. It took His precious blood
that was shed on Calvary for our sins. We proudly
proclaim, preach and sing about the precious blood
of the Lamb. If you are looking for good biblical
teaching, we suggest you attend our Sunday School.
We have classes for children, teenagers, young
adults, and adults. Our style of worship is rare but
genuine. We know that although times have changed,
the truth of God's Word has not. (Hebrews 13:8 -
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for
ever.)
What Do Free Will
Baptists Believe (Our Doctrinal Statement)?
God--We believe that
God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Righteous Ruler
of the universe. He has revealed Himself in nature,
and in the Scriptures of the Holy Bible as Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit: yet as one God.
Jesus Christ--He is
God's unique Son; the only one of a kind. The
Scripture teaches that He is God revealed in flesh.
In His Divine nature He is truly God and in His
human nature truly man. He is the One once crucified
for man's sin, the now risen and glorified Savior
and Lord who mediates between God and man and who
gives us access to the Father through His
intercession. None can come to the Father unless
they come through Him.
Holy Spirit--All of the
attributes of God are ascribed to the Holy Spirit by
the Scriptures. It is He who convicts and convinces
men of their sin. He also convinces man of that
which is right, and that a final day of judgment
will come. He, it is, who comes to live in us at
conversion, to open our understanding to the
Scripture, and to lead us into the truth.
The Bible--God used
holy men to write the Scriptures. They are, in both
the Old and New Testaments, the very words God
intended us to have. They are, as given by God,
without error and are our only rule of faith and
practice. We profit from them by learning the truth
about many things: they also speak to us about wrong
doing; they even correct us and get us back on
course as well as instructing us in right living.
Man--God created man in
a state of innocence. Man, being tempted by Satan,
yielded and willfully disobeyed God, becoming a
sinner and incurring God's judgment upon sin. All of
Adam's descendants inherit his fallen nature and
thus have a natural inclination to sin. When one
comes to an age of accountability, he is guilty of
sinning before God and in need of salvation. God's
Relationship to His Creatures and Creation-God
exercises a wise and benevolent providence over all
beings and things. He maintains the laws of nature
and performs special acts as the highest welfare of
mankind and His created order of things require.
Salvation--Man receives
pardon and forgiveness for his sins when he admits
to God that he is a sinner, when in godly sorrow he
turns from them and trusts in the work of Christ as
redemption for his sin. This acceptance of God's
great salvation involves belief in Christ's death on
the cross as man's substitute and the fact of God's
raising Him from the dead as predicted. It is a
salvation by grace alone and not of works.
Who Can be Saved?--It
is God's will that all be saved, but since man
has the power of choice, God saves only those
who repent of their sin and believe in the work
of Christ on the cross. Those who refuse in this
life to repent and believe have no later chance
to be saved and thus condemn themselves to
eternal damnation by their unbelief.
Perseverance--We
believe that there are strong grounds to hope that
the saved will persevere unto the end and be saved
because of the power of divine grace pledged for
their support. We believe that any saved person who
has sinned (whether we call him a backslider or
sinner), but has a desire to repent, may do so and
be restored to God's favor and fellowship. Since
man, however, continues to have free choice, it is
possible because of temptations and the weakness of
human flesh for him to fall into the practice of sin
and to make shipwreck of his faith and be lost.
Gospel Ordinances--Free
Will Baptists believe the Bible teaches three
ordinances for the church to practice: Baptism in
water by immersion, the Lord's Supper, to be
perpetuated until His return, and the Washing of the
Saints' feet, an ordinance teaching humility.
Resurrection--Free Will
Baptists believe the Scriptures teach the
resurrection of the bodies of all men, each in its
own order; they that have done good will come forth
to the resurrection of life, and they that have done
evil to the resurrection of damnation.
Church Government--Free
Will Baptist churches enjoy local church autonomy
(self-governing). The local church is the highest
authority in the denomination. Local churches
voluntarily organize themselves into quarterly
meetings, district, state, and national associations
for the purpose of promoting the cause of Christ on
the local, state, district, national, and world-wide
level.
Christ's Second Coming--The
Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, who ascended on
high and sits at the right hand of God, will come
again to close the Gospel dispensation, glorify His
saints, and judge the world. Missions--Free Will
Baptists believe that Jesus commanded the church to
go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every
creature.
"How can I be
guaranteed of salvation?" or "How can I know for sure
that I will go to heaven?"
Romans 3:23 "For all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God."
We all have sin in our hearts.
We all were born with sin.
We were born under the power
of sin's control.
- Admit that you are a sinner.
Romans 6:23a "...The wages of
sin is death..."
Sin has an ending. It results
in death. We all face physical death, which is a
result of sin. But a worse death is spiritual death
that alienates us from God, and will last for all
eternity. The Bible teaches that there is a place
called the Lake of Fire where lost people will be in
torment forever. It is the place where people who
are spiritually dead will remain.
- Understand that you deserve
death for your sin.
Romans 6:23b "...But the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord."
Salvation is a free gift from
God to you! You can't earn this gift, but you must
reach out and receive it.
- Ask God to forgive you and
save you.
Romans 5:8, "But God
commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
When Jesus died on the cross
He paid sin's penalty. He paid the price for all
sin, and when He took all the sins of the world on
Himself on the cross, He bought us out of slavery to
sin and death! The only condition is that we believe
in Him and what He has done for us, understanding
that we are now joined with Him, and that He is our
life. He did all this because He loved us and gave
Himself for us!
- Give your life to God... His
love poured out in Jesus on the cross is your only hope
to have forgiveness and change. His love bought you out
of being a slave to sin. His love is what saves you --
not religion, or church membership. God loves you!
Romans 10:13 "For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved."
- Call out to God in the name
of Jesus!
Romans 10:9,10 "That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the
heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation.
- If you know that God is
knocking on your heart's door, ask Him to come into your
heart.
Jesus said,
Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I
stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my
voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with me."
- Is Jesus knocking on your
heart's door?
Believe in Him.
Confess to Him that you have
sinned.
Ask Him to come in to your
heart by faith. Then, confess Him as your Savior by
telling someone about it!
|
