This church shall be known as the First Baptist Church of Sebewa, located in the township of Sebewa, Ionia County.

The objective of this church shall be to fulfill the threefold command of our Lord Jesus Christ to:

1) reach out and make disciples among all nations,

2) baptize them, and

3) teach them the things of God’s Word that are important for Christian living, how to share their faith, and how to resist temptations and attacks upon their faith (Matt. 28:19,20).

This independent, local church declares itself in doctrinal harmony with the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches and in fellowship with them.

The church believes that part of our purpose in education is as follows: Christian education is that process which develops in the pupil a Christian world and life view by bringing all truth into a living relationship with the truth of the Word of God for the purpose of better equipping the student to serve and glorify God (Phil. 2:5. 1 Co. 2:16).

Doctrinal Statement of the First Baptist Church of Sebewa

We Believe:

1. That the whole Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 is the verbally inspired and infallible, invincible, and indestructible Word of God (II Tim. 3:16).

2. That Jesus Christ was born of Mary, the Virgin, and is therefore, the Son of God and God the Son (Matt. 1:20-23; Luke 1:34,35).

3. That Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God (1 Cor.15:3).

4. That Jesus Christ arose bodily from the grave the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor.15:4).

5. That Jesus Christ ONLY is our Sin-Bearer and Savior, our Lord, and our Great High Priest, who NOW is at the right hand of God, and ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb.4:14; 7:25).

6. That Jesus Christ will return before the tribulation period begins to rapture His Church, and that He will come again following the seven year tribulation period, in person, bodily, visibly, to establish His kingdom on earth (1Thes. 4:13-18; Rev. 19,20).

7. In the resurrection of both the just and the unjust, righteous and unrighteous, saved and lost. Our Lord declares, “All that are in their graves shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.” (John. 5:28,29; Rev. 20:5,6,12-14).

8. In the New Birth of the Soul, a new creation of the soul, dead in trespasses and sins, and that thus being born again we are partakers of the divine nature; old things having passed away and all things having become new (II Cor.5:17; Eph. 2:1,5; II Peter 1:4).

9. That a church is a body of believers baptized in the name of God the Father and of God the Son, and of God the Holy Spirit; and whose mission is to go into all the world to preach the Gospel, to get folks saved, to baptize them, and to teach them to observe all things whatsoever Christ has commanded (Matt 28:19,20).

10. That Jesus Christ ONLY is the head of the Church; that the Holy Spirit is the ONLY Administrator of the Church; that the officers of the church are pastors and deacons (Eph. 5:23; 1Tim. 3).

11. That Baptism is to be by immersion because it is a picture of dying with Christ to sin and rising to walk in a new life which takes place when a person is born again. Therefore, the only ones who should be baptized are those who have experienced the new birth by accepting Christ as Savior (Rom. 6:3,4; Acts 8:36,37).

12. That every born-again believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and that it is the privilege of all such believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit, thereby being enabled to walk and witness for Christ Jesus our Lord victoriously; that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to all believers, that the Apostolic sign gifts such as “speaking in tongues”, “healing"," taking up serpents”, etc. were temporary in nature and ceased in the infant church age (1 Cor.6:19,20; Eph. 1:13,14; 5:18; 1Cor.13:9,10).

13. That the Church is called to separate from apostasy, worldly alliances, and worldly practices. We will not fellowship or yoke ourselves together with those who are apostate or with those who compromise with such ( IICor.6:14,15; II John 9-11).

14. That we are responsible to carry out the Great commission, part of which will be done through missions. It is the policy of this church that the missionaries this church supports and the boards they serve under be aligned with our local church in doctrinal position as well as practice. Because of this we will give preference to missionaries serving under boards approved by the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (Matt 28:19,20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8)

NOTE: Anything which is not covered by this Doctrinal Statement and is contained in the G.A.R.B.C. “Articles of Faith” (as amended at the June 1968 Annual Meeting) we accept as our own.

First Baptist Church of Sebewa was organized on April 3, 1858 with 18 members. The meetings were held in a log schoolhouse located 1 mile east of our present church building.

A house of worship was completed in 1871 and dedicated on January 10, 1872. The cost was $1,415.00. In 1890 the horse and surrey sheds were built along the west and north sides of the church. A bell was purchased in 1893.

Baptismal services were held on Jun 7, 1913, at Sebewa Creek with 11 candidates being baptized. In January 1914, the water heated at the two fat, pot-bellied stoves was used to fill the baptistry via the bucket brigade. Some years later, a small furnace room was dug under the church and a furnace was installed.

In 1941, the surrey and horse sheds were torn down to make way for the automobile parking lot. In 1948, a basement was dug under the entire building.

Concerning the new basement and Sunday School rooms: “The remodeling was a community project, at a cost of $5700. The ceilings lowered, Sunday School rooms constructed, and new pews replaced the hand-hewn homemade ones.”

In 1965, a new parsonage was built on the corner of State Road (M-66) and Bippley Road.

In 1973 an addition was built on the west part of the church for an Awana room and fellowship hall. In Mid-1975 an additional building that has an auditorium, offices, and bathrooms was built at the cost of $68,000. A new kitchen was added in 1980. Many members pitched in to help.