It's all about Jesus!
OUR
church
OUR History
Our church began as a home Bible study and soon evolved into what was to become known as Bible Missionary Church in November of 1979. Our desire was to have a fellowship of believers who were committed to sound biblical teaching, together with the practical application of God’s Word and a desire to support God's servants on the mission field. We began meeting in various rental facilities in the beginning, filling the pulpit each week with different speakers such as our own elders, retired or furloughing missionaries, retired pastors, Bible college professors and even Bible College and seminary students. For eleven years we continued this way until the Lord brought Pastor Michael Millican to us in April of 1990 and we invited him to be our pastor.
In May of 1997 we were able to purchase five and a half acres of land on the corner of Lunn Rd. and Parker Rd. in the southwest section of Lakeland. In June we changed our name to Lakeland Bible Church. We arranged for a modular building to be constructed and on November 23, 1997 we held our first service on the property and dedicated it and our future to the glory of God. Don Kelso, a long time friend of the church challenged and inspired us from God’s Word to reach out to others with the life changing message of the gospel. Our vision is to be a vehicle through which people meet our Lord Jesus Christ and discover the fullness of a life totally committed to Him. In March of 2005 we completed the construction of a new facility and held our first service on Sunday, March 13, 2005.
On Sunday, March 10, 2024, we hired Kory Grant to minister in the areas of worship, music, youth and discipleship. Kory has been in youth ministry for over 14 years and is also a talented musician. His passion is to make disciples to help develop the next generation of church leaders.
Our services consist of Christ-centered worship and expositional preaching and teaching of the Bible. We are working to have a fun, dynamic youth program designed to equip and energize our children and teens to “Learn the Word, Love the Lord and Live the Life.” We also have a strong commitment to local evangelism and supporting the work of missions both locally and around the world.
We are very encouraged and blessed by what God has been doing in and through our church family as we seek to serve our Lord, one another and our community. We are a warm, loving fellowship of believers with a passion to please our Lord and Savior. We would love to minister to you and invite you to join with us on our spiritual journey, learning, loving and growing in order to serve others together as a community of committed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, proclaiming His Gospel until He comes. May the God of heaven bless you richly as you seek and discover His will.
OUR BELIEFS
1
The Bible is verbally inspired by God, inerrant in the original writings, and is our final authority for life and faith.
2
God is the majestic, sovereign and holy Creator of the universe and yet is also personal, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3
Jesus Christ is unique as true God and true Man who died as a sinless, substitutionary sacrifice for a sinful human race. He rose bodily from the grave, ascended into heaven and is presently seated at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest and Advocate until He comes again in glory.
4
The Holy Spirit is God's Agent today in glorifying Christ, convicting unbelievers of sin and producing new life by permanently indwelling all believers; thereby enabling them to live godly lives and empowering them for service.
5
Man was originally created in God's image but he deliberately disobeyed God, thus incurring not only physical death but spiritual death as well. This resulted in all men being born in sin and thus are sinners both by nature and practice.
6
Salvation is offered to all men as a free gift, which is received through personal faith in Christ's redemptive work at Calvary alone. All who receive the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior are born again and are eternally secure in Christ.
7
The Church is composed of all born again believers since Pentecost (Acts 2) and is represented both universally and locally. All members are equipped through the teaching of God's Word and are encouraged to exercise their spiritual gift(s) for the purpose of edifying the Church, evangelizing the world, and ultimately glorifying their Father which is in heaven.
8
The Future events known as the last days will begin with the rapture of the Church and the beginning of the seven years of tribulation on the earth. At the conclusion of the tribulation period Christ will return to earth with His saints. Satan will then be bound for a thousand years, during which time Christ will reign on the earth. At the end of Christ's 1,000 year reign, Satan will be loosed to lead one final revolt against Christ. He will then be defeated, mankind judged, the present earth destroyed and a new heaven and new earth will be created.
9
Judgment is determined by one's response to Christ's offer of salvation. Those who have received the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior are eternally rescued from judgment; however, their works will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ to determine rewards or loss. All those who have not received God's gift of salvation will face the Great White Throne Judgment where they will be judged according to their works and condemned to the Lake of Fire for everlasting judgment.
A more detailed copy of our doctrine is available on request.