The church at Three Trails exists to take life in Christ to our neighbors and the nations.
We believe that our church must be focused on taking the life-saving and life-altering truth of the Gospel to the people who live next door and to the unreached people groups around the world.
Our vision helps us accomplish our mission.
We desire to lead people to BELIEVE the truth of Jesus Christ, BELONG to a cause (the Church) bigger than themselves, BECOME all that God created them to be, and BE SENT to their neighbors and the nations.
The Bible:
- The Bible is true, authoritative, sufficient, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed. The Bible is the ultimate authority for life, faith, and morals (Psalm 19:7-11; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit:
- There is only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one in essence but distinct in person and function. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-6, 46:9-10; John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 1 Timothy 2:5).
- The Father is the first person in the Trinity and the source of all that God is and does. He is the designer of creation, the speaker of revelation, the author of redemption, and the sovereign of history (Genesis 1:26; Psalm 45:6-7, 110:1; Matthew 3:13-17, 28:17-20; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6).
- Jesus Christ is the only Son of God. He is eternal and co-equal with the Father. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross. He physically arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5,14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:3-4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13)
- The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son of God and is fully divine. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer a spiritual gift when they are saved. As Christians, we seek to live under His control daily (2 Corinthians 3:17; John 14:16-17, 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16; Ephesians 1:13, 5:18; Galatians 5:25).
Man:
- Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's creation. All humanity (Christ excluded), by birth and action are sinners, the deserved penalty for sin is death, both physical and spiritual. Without a savior, we are hopeless and helpless to know God (Genesis 2:15-17, 3:19, 6:5; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:23, 5:8-12, 6:12-23, 7:18; Ephesians 2:1-3).
Salvation:
- Salvation is a gift of God given to us by grace, and we receive it by a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only by trusting in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone can one be reconciled to God and experience true life and joy (Matthew 1:20; Luke 2:52; John 1:1-4, 14, 29; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:21-26, 5:8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-3).
The Church:
- The Church is the body and bride of Christ made up of those who have placed their faith and trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The Church's role is to make the manifold wisdom of God known to all mankind by making disciples of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18- 20; Ephesians 1:22-23, 3:9-12; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2).
Restoration:
- We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19-21; Rom 10:9-10; 1 Cor 6:9-11.) Every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31).
Marriage:
- Marriage is a biblical institution established by God as clearly described in the scriptures. It is God alone who has ultimate authority to prescribe and describe the marital relationship. This Church recognizes that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. Accordingly, this church, its pastors, staff, and members will not participate in same-sex unions or same-sex marriages, nor shall its property or resources be used for such purposes (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 5:16, 19:1-9, Mark 10:1-12, Phil 2:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:22).
Gender and Sexuality:
- Human Sexuality is only properly exercised and pursued within the confines of a marital relationship between a man and woman. Sexual immorality, defined as any sexual activity outside of the boundaries of the sacred marital relationship between one man and one woman, is clearly and expressly prohibited by the Lord. Hence, this church opposes all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography (Matthew 15:19; 1 Corinthians 6:9-18, 7:2-5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Hebrews 13:4).
- We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person.
The Church’s Statement on marriage, sexuality, and gender are based upon God’s will for human life as conveyed to us through the Scriptures, upon which this church has been founded and anchored, and this shall not be subject to change through popular vote, referendum, prevailing opinion of members of the general public, influence of or interpretation by any government authority, agency, or official action, or legal developments on the local, state, or federal level.
Along with the above basic beliefs, Three Trails subscribes to the Baptist Faith & Message adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in June 2000. We also partner with the Missouri Baptist Convention and the Blue River-Kansas City Baptist Association.