God
There is one and only one living and true God. God is eternal and reveals Himself to us through the Trinity – each aspect of which carries distinct personal attributes but without division of nature, essence and being.
God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin named Mary. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.
God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
The Bible
Commonly referred to as The Scriptures, the Bible consists of 66 books written by men but inspired by God’s divination and revelation. We believe the Bible to be the inerrant and infallible word of God which is a treasure of both instruction for our lives and connection with God.
Man
Man was created in the image of God. By his free choice, man chose to sin and separate himself from a Holy God. Despite this rejection and rebellion, Christ still died and rose again to redeem us from our sin by taking our place in judgment for sin. Because of God’s specific creation and Christ’s redemptive action every person possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and compassion regardless of their race, gender, background or religion. Every person is worthy to receive Christian love.
Salvation
God created man to have a perfect, sinless relationship with Him. But mankind’s sin separated God from people. People were helpless to do anything about their sin. Sins must be atoned and forgiven by God. Paying the price for our sin, Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried and rose from the dead. So now anyone can believe in Jesus alone and be saved from their sins to receive abundant and eternal life. Eternal life can begin today and will last forever.
The Church
The church exists as the body of believers who are associated by covenant in faith and fellowship of the gospel. Christians come together to strengthen each other and the church and to expand the Kingdom of God by sharing the Gospel, which is the good news about Jesus Christ.
Baptism
Baptism is a symbolic statement to others expressing belief in Christ. We baptize by immersion, completely lowering a person below water and raising them up in symbolic new life in Christ. While we don’t believe baptism is necessary for salvation, we do understand it to be a very important first step in the life of every believer after they have accepted Christ as Savior and Lord.
The Lord's Supper
Along with Baptism, the Lord’s Supper (also known as Communion) comprises the two ordinances of the church that we at WCBC honor and celebrate. It is a powerful act of remembrance for the body and blood of Christ which was broken and spilled out for us. When we take the elements of the bread and the cup, we are reminded of what Jesus has done for us. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper five or six times throughout the year on Sunday morning in our worship services. We practice Open Communion, which means any believer is welcome to participate in remembering Christ’s sacrifice regardless of where their church membership may lie.
Church Leadership
As a Southern Baptist Church, we are an autonomous body of believers who are not beholden to any one person, board or council. As such, we meet monthly to go over the business of the church. Our pastor and deacons prayerfully lead our congregation along with important input and information from each age group and ministry. Our ministerial staff and deacons lead and perform the ordinances of the church because each one has been ordained, either by WCBC or a like-minded sister church.
Worship Style
Always an interesting topic, our worship services exist to glorify God, praise Jesus and encourage and challenge the body of believers. The most important audience each and every Sunday morning is God, not us. Therefore, we sing songs, pray prayers, engage through various creative routes, read scriptures and preach sermons for God’s glory and man’s edification. As far as musical styles are concerned, we are a 50/50 blend of the classic hymns of the faith and contemporary praise and worship songs.
Missions
As a Southern Baptist Church we are involved in the Cooperative Program as well as the national Southern Baptist Convention, the Arkansas Baptist State Convention and locally through the Clear Creek Baptist Association. While WCBC cannot reach out everywhere around the world, we can partner and cooperate with our sister churches. This collected pool of resources (prayer, human and material) allows us to help share the Good News of Jesus Christ both down the road and around the world. However, we proactively work to impact Ozark by reaching into the community and schools and also by planning events and services that can open our doors wider for our community to see God’s Truth and Love at our church.
Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions.