“…they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”
History of
Loudonville Baptist Temple
On May 11, 2002, 13 people met for the first service of the Loudonville Baptist Temple, a mission church plant of the Mansfield Baptist Temple. Under the leadership of the retired Pastor of MBT, Richard K. Folger, the church grew and in just 6 short months, the church was commissioned as an independent Baptist Church, with 16 members. Three months later we called David J. Koehler as our Pastor. Since that time the church has continued to grow. Many souls have been saved. Many have followed in Scriptural Baptism, and grown in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We did not plan it, but the church would soon adopt Ephesians 3:20 as our ministry verse. “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us.” There can be no doubt that God’s loving hand has been upon this ministry. Our sincere desire is to glorify our Lord and Savior, to lift Him up, so that He may draw men to Himself.
In June of 2004, the church had grown to the point where there was simply not enough room to house all of the children and adults that crammed the small building on St. Rt. 3, 2 miles north of Loudonville. Under the vision and direction of our pastor, and months of planning and laboring, we broke ground on a new 9,000 sq. ft. church building. It was completed in February and dedicated to the Lord on March 13th, 2005.
Once again, the Lord has done exceeding, abundantly above all we have asked or thought. The current facility is continuing to be utilized to the fullest extent. The ministry has continued to grow, people have been saved, baptized, and grown in the Lord.
We do not know exactly what the future holds if the Lord should tarry His coming. But we do know this, Jesus promised, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
LBT is an independent, fundamental Baptist church. We are not affiliated with any other church or organization. We believe that God’s Word is our “only rule of faith and practice” and that we want to do all that we can to follow His Word. We are focused on spreading the loving gospel of Christ throughout our area, growth and edification of our members, and sending missionaries around the world. We want to meet you and minister to you. We want you to know that Jesus Christ loves you and wants you to know and follow him. We invite you to visit our church and contact us with any questions or needs you may have.
Statement of
Faith
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Bible, “as it is in truth, the Word of God…” (I Thessalonians 2:13). We believe in verbal, plenary inspiration in the original writings, and God’s preservation of His pure words to every generation (II Timothy 3:16, Psalms 12:6-8). We believe that the Scriptures are inerrant, infallible, and God-breathed.
The Masoretic Text of the Old Testament and the Received Text of the New Testament (Textus Receptus) are those texts of the original languages we accept and use; the King James Version of the Bible is the only English version we accept and use. The Bible is our sole and final authority for faith and practice.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1-2, 14; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 9:6; 7:14; Philippians 2:5-8; Galatians 4:4-5).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His finished work on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24-25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was raised bodily and that He ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 9:24, 7:25; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1-2)
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Person who reproves the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, indwelling all believers and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; II Corinthians 3:6; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14).
We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. We believe that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit and that ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayer of believers for physical healing. (II Corinthians 12:12; I Corinthians 13:8; Hebrews 2:3-4; Mark 16:17-20; I Corinthians 1:22, 14:21-22).
We believe that the clear message of salvation is “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). We believe that salvation is “by grace” plus nothing minus nothing. We believe that Jesus Christ died for every man, and that each individual chooses to accept or reject the grace of God (Hebrews 2:9; I John 2:2). We believe that men are justified by faith alone and are accounted righteous before God only through the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; I Peter 1:18-19).
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. We believe that eternal life is the present possession of every believer (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:4-5; Jude 1, 2).
We believe that the New Testament church is a local assembly of baptized believers who have voluntarily joined themselves together to carry out the Great Commission. The Lord is doing His work in this world through local churches. The establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control. Christ is the only head of the church (Acts 13:1-4, 15:19-31, 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; I Corinthians 3:9,16; 5:4-7,13; I Peter 5:1-4).
We recognize the ordinances of baptism by immersion in water and the Lord’s Supper as a Scriptural means of testimony for local churches in this age (Matthew. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42, 18:18; I Corinthians 11:23-26).
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28, 29, 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13).
We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; Revelation 20:4-6; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23, 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16-17).
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting, conscious punishment (Luke 16:19-26; Matthew 25:41-46; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:11-15).