Our History and What We Believe

It all started…

In 1987, a growing number of believers in Conway began meeting together to discuss and pray about the possibility of starting a new local church.  They came from various church backgrounds but had a few things very much in common.  They all desired to be a part of a church where Sunday worship was authentic, personal, and free from program-driven agenda.  They wanted a church where the common member was equipped to minister within the body and in the community.

After two years of commuting to Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock on Sundays, a charter was drawn up, elders were selected, and Fellowship Bible Church officially began as a local Conway church on June 1, 1989.  Since then, we have held Sunday services in two warehouses and two former church buildings, moving every time we out-grew the space we were in.  In 1998 we opened our current church home here at 1051 Hogan Lane. Now, 30+ years later, we continue to strive to provide a personal and authentic environment in which each person can become a more fully-devoted follower of Christ.

God

We believe in the one and only true God (John 17:3), who created all things by his will (Revelation 4:11) and upholds all things by His powerful word (Hebrews 1:3).

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and are worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence, and obedience (Mark 12:29; John 1:1-4).

Jesus Christ

We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe He is the manifestation of God in the flesh. We believe He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. We believe Him to be both true God and true man (Luke 1:26-32; John 1:1, 14, 18; John 14:8, 9; John 10:30).

Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ during this age. He convicts the world of sin (John 16:8). He draws the unredeemed to repentance and faith, and at salvation, imparts spiritual life to the believer (1 Corinthians 3:16) and brings that person into union with Jesus Christ and the Body of Christ (John 13:15; Titus 3:5; Romans 8:9-17). The Holy Spirit sanctifies, seals, fills, guides, instructs, comforts, equips, empowers, and permanently indwells at the point of salvation. The Holy Spirit bestows spiritual gifts to each believer (1 Corinthians 12:7-11; Ephesians 4:11-12; Hebrews 2:1-4; Galatians 5:25; 1 Corinthians 12:4-8; 11-13) as required for the calling, service, and Christ-like living to full-fill the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-38) and Great Commission (Matthew 28: 18-20).

The Scriptures

We believe the Bible is God’s written revelation to man. We believe every word in the Scriptures of the Old Testament and New Testament is inspired by God and, therefore, inerrant and infallible in the original writing. We believe the 66 books of the Bible are God’s completed and sufficient revelation for the total well-being of mankind. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:21).

Man

We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker but, by voluntary transgression, fell from his sinless state, and therefore, all mankind are now sinners. We believe that without exception, every man is totally depraved and needs a Savior in order to restore a relationship with God as a Father (Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 3:10-19; Romans 1:18, 32).

Salvation

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice. We believe that all who by faith receive Him as their personal Savior are justified on the basis of His blood shed as a sacrifice on Calvary. All who receive Jesus as their personal savior are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become eternally secure as children of God. This eternal security is based upon the saving and sustaining grace of God and not human merit. (Romans 8:37-39; 2 Corinthians 5:21,1 Corinthians 15:3-5).

Return of Christ

We believe in the personal and imminent return of Jesus Christ before his thousand-year reign on the earth. We believe that the culmination of history will be in a New Heaven and New Earth in which we will live free from sin in perfect communion with God and one another, and God will make his dwelling with us (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Peter 3:3-7; Revelation 20:1-6; 21:1-27).

Satan and Hell

We believe Satan inhabits the earth. Satan, once the highest of angels named Lucifer, rebelled and was cast out of heaven to earth along with one-third of the angels. (Revelation 12:4, 9). Satan is doomed for complete destruction in the lake of fire in hell. In the meantime, Satan roams the earth as a thief who comes to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). Believers in Christ have been given authority to overcome all the power of Satan and the demons through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection (Matthew 16:18, John 8:44, Colossians 2:14-15). Hell is a place of eternal punishment and separation from God’s presence for those who have not believed and obeyed the gospel of the Lord Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).

Baptism and Communion

We believe that Christian baptism, signified by immersion in water, is a public declaration of and identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. We believe this identification with Christ is a confession of faith in Christ’s death and resurrection and a commitment to follow Christ throughout life (Romans 6:3-6).

Communion, the Lord’s Supper, is the commemoration and memorial by believers of Christ’s death until He returns and should be preceded by careful self-examination to ensure acknowledgment of Jesus in every facet of your life (I Corinthians 11:20-29; Proverbs 3:5-7).

The Church

Upon accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, all believers become part of His body, the church. There is one Church universal, composed of all those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We believe that as commanded in the Scriptures, as believers, we are to gather together and devote ourselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, observance of the ordinances (baptism and communion), fellowship, service to the body through the development and use of talents and gifts, and outreach to the world in fulfillment of the command of Christ to make disciples of all believers (Ephesians 5:23; Romans 12:1; Acts 2:42-46; I Corinthians 14:26; Matthew 28:18-20). Wherever God’s people meet regularly in obedience to this command, there is the local expression of the church – under the leadership of pastors and elders. Its members are to work together in love and unity, intent on the one ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ (Ephesians 4:16).

Marriage

We believe that God ordained marriage in creation (Genesis 2:22-24) to be a sacred relationship between one man and one woman (Ephesians 5:22-30, Titus 1:6) intended for the duration of their life together (Matthew 5:32, Mark 10:9) to bear a visible witness to the relationship of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:32-33, 1 Peter 3:1-7) through oneness, love, and submission.

Human Life

We believe that God created man in His image (Genesis 1:27) and authored all life through His Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:3-4, Hebrews 1:2). We affirm that life begins at conception (Psalm 139, 13-16, Deuteronomy 30:19), and therefore must be cherished and protected (Psalm 82:3-4, Proverbs 31:8-9) including that of the unborn, the elderly and the impaired.