ABOUT SKYLINE

Our Purpose

The ultimate purpose of Skyline Baptist Church is to bring glory to our great God. It is our belief that this is best done by obeying the great commandments and obeying the great commission.

Obeying The Great Commandments: Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Obeying The Great Commission: Matthew 28:19-20
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles is truly a place like no other. There are nearly 10 million people who live in Los Angeles county, making it the most populous county in the United States. It is composed of 88 cities with the largest city being the city of Los Angeles. This city alone accounts for nearly 4 million people.

Being the largest county comes with some unique qualities. LA county not only has the highest number of millionaires at over 261,000, but also has the highest homeless population at over 69,000. There are at least 224 identified languages spoken not including the differing dialects. Religiously, nearly 40% of the population adheres to the Roman Catholic faith, and although there seems to be a religious institution on ever street corner, it has been said that more than 9 out of 10 people do not know the gospel.

Our Beliefs

The following comprise the scriptural beliefs of Skyline Baptist Church

THE BIBLE

We believe the Bible to be the revealed Word of God, fully and verbally inspired of God. We believe the Scriptures to be the inerrant, infallible Word of God, as found within the 66 books from Genesis to Revelation. We believe that God not only inspired every word, but that He has preserved them through the ages. We believe that the King James Version is the preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people.

Psalm 12:6–7; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 1:19-21

GOD

We believe in one God; Who is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable. We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance; yet manifests Himself to man in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Timothy 1:17; James 1:17; 1 John 4:4

JESUS

We believe Jesus Christ to be the one and only Saviour of mankind. We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin-born, that He was God incarnate, and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem men, and to rule over God’s kingdom. We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His Deity, but merely veiled them. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for man’s sin. This sacrifice was a just payment to God for the forgiveness of sin. It was activated by His death through the shedding of His blood on the cross and was accepted by God upon His resurrection. We believe He ascended into Heaven after His resurrection to be seated at the right hand of the Father and is now waiting for the time of receiving His church at the rapture followed by His reign as King for 1,000 years.

Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 43:11; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 1:3, 14, 18, 29; Romans 3:19-25; Romans 5:6-15; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:10-15; Hebrews 7:26, 9:24-28; 1 Peter 1:19, 2:2; 1 John 1:3; Revelation 20:1-6

THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe the Holy Spirit of God is a person who has personality and all the attributes of Deity. We believe the Holy Spirit has always been involved in the affairs of mankind; however, we believe He has a special ministry that began at Pentecost and will continue until the rapture. This ministry includes reproving the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit was also sent to regenerate, sanctify, seal, and fill all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ.

Genesis 1:2; John 3:5-6; John 14:16; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:15; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 12:13

SIN AND SALVATION

We believe all men were born with an inherited sin nature received from our common ancestor, Adam. We believe that because of his nature, man is a sinner by choice, and he is totally incapable of reforming himself or ceasing from his sin by his own power. We believe the only hope of deliverance for man is a total change of mind concerning his sinful condition and inability to change it, and a turning to Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. We believe that only through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross can a man be delivered from his sin. We believe that all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Saviour are already condemned to an eternity in the lake of fire. Genesis 5:1-5; Acts 4:19; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:6-12; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; Revelation 20:11-14

Genesis 5:1-5; Acts 4:19; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:6-12; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; Revelation 20:11-14

THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH

We believe the local church is composed of members who have been saved and baptized according to the command of Christ, and have voluntarily united together for the purposes of worship, fellowship, service, and observance of the ordinances of baptism and communion. We believe all true believers will be taken up at the rapture, just prior to the tribulation.

Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:15; Acts 2:41-43; Acts 11:15; Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 15: 51-58; Ephesians 1:12-14; Ephesians 5:25-30; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Timothy 3:4-15

THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

We believe in that blessed hope, the personal, imminent return of Christ, Who will rapture His church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom, which was promised to the nation of Israel.

Psalm 89:3-4; Daniel 2:31-45; Zechariah 14:4-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Revelation 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:1-6

SEPARATION

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord. God commands His people to separate from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations; and to refrain from all immodest and immoderate appearances, piercings, and bodily markings.

Romans 12:1-2; 14:13; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11; Leviticus 19:28; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

HUMAN SEXUALITY

We believe that God created humanity as distinctly and exclusively either male or female from the beginning, and that He blessed His created design as very good. We believe that every human’s true gender identity is identical to the genetic, biological sex with which they were born. We believe that God blesses submission to and acceptance of His created design. We believe God disapproves of and forbids any and all attempts to alter one’s gender through surgery, medicinal manipulation, appearance, or expression contrary to His created design.

Genesis 1:26-28, 31, 2:23-24; Matthew 19:4-6

We believe that marriage is a sacred institution ordained by God, given to represent His love for the church, to continue the human race, and to bless humanity. We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one biological male and one biological female in a covenant commitment before God.

Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; Romans 7:2; 1 Corinthians 7:2, 10; Ephesians 5:22-33

We believe that God has commanded that there should be no intimate sexual activity outside of a marriage between a biological male and a biological female. We believe that any relationships or activities involving homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgenderism, pedophilia, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, or pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex.

Genesis 2:24, 19:5, 13; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-32; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and in the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home, and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church.

Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:18; 1 Timothy 2:8-15; 3:4-5, 12

We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife is to submit herself to the Scriptural leadership of her husband as the church submits to the headship of Christ. Children are an heritage from the Lord. Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values and leading them, through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate discipline, including Scriptural corporal correction.

Genesis 1:26-28; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 127:3-5; Proverbs 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; Mark 10:6-12; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4, Colossians 3:18-21; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7