Sunday Service - 9:30am
Burmese language service - 1pm
2b Morgans Rd, Sandy Beach
Our Pastor
(Terry and Fleur in Nepal with their sponsor child)
Our pastor is Terry Allen. Terry, in his mid-50's, is married to Fleur and, together, they have four adult children - two girls & two boys.
Terry's background is television and radio news journalism but, apart from the occasional voice over, that is the past.
When Terry was about to turn 30, having just become a father for the first time, he began formal theological training, mainly because he was picking up most of the preaching duties here at Sandy Beach Baptist. Although he has only ever attended Baptist churches, Terry was drawn to the external program offered by Moore Theological College; Australia's premier Anglican Bible college.
"I have always admired Sydney Anglicans and when I discovered they offered theological study to people like me who couldn't pack up and move to Sydney, I signed up.
"I discovered the writings of the major Australian evangelical Anglican theologians such as Leon Morris, Donald Robinson and, in particular, Graeme Goldsworthy. I had no idea such a thing as 'Biblical Theology' even existed until then."
For the next five years or so, Terry stayed up late at night and hit the books while his young, growing family slept. "Although there were many years where I bottle fed the babies while I studied under an inadequate lamp."
Terry was then brought in by the Baptist Association of NSW and made a Recognised Minister. Sandy Beach Bap's employed Terry (part-time) from 2005 and the work has grown ever since.
Terry went also completed an M.A. in Theological Studies though Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago. Terry became the first person in that seminary's history to complete a theological degree without stepping foot on campus.
Each year for up to six weeks (when there is no pandemic!), Terry travels to Nepal with the Australian mission organisation International Mission Ministries to help train church planters in their understanding of the Bible. His particular focus is homiletics (the preparation and delivery of sermons).
"I can't think of anything in ministry I have been more blessed by. Many of the Nepalese pastors I teach are young in the faith (a few years at most) and are already leading large fellowships. And many of them face a kind of persecution we only read about. To be used by God to help equip them is so humbling."
You can find Terry in the pulpit most Sundays at Sandy Beach Baptist Church. If not, you'll see him on the soccer field; shuffling his creaking body across the grass on a Saturday afternoon at Woolgoolga, Then, he will be sitting up late to watch Liverpool in the EPL. Terry also enjoys riding his bicycle around the local streets and a bit of fishing (although there have been no miraculous catches to speak of here!)
BELIEFS
What is a Church?
Firstly, a church is not a building. That's where we meet. A church is a gathering of people. If you are "going to church", you are going to meet with people. One of the best definitions we have seen is in the book Global Church Planting. (Read it below.)
Global Church Planting - Craig Ott/Gene Wilson
2011, Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, MI, p7
So, that is a basic definition of church. But we are also a "Baptist" church, which means we have many beliefs in common with other churches, plus a few distinctive beliefs. They are;
1. The Nature and Unity of the Godhead
There is one God Who is eternal personal Spirit. He is infinite in power, wisdom, holiness and love. God is Triune in essential being and revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. The Deity and Humanity of Christ
Jesus Christ as the second Person of the Godhead is eternally one with God the Father of whose person and glory Jesus is the accurate expression. To become human He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, the nature of God and human nature, were united in one Person; truly God and truly human.
3. The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit as the third Person of the Trinity is eternally one with the Father and the Son yet He is sent by Them to achieve the divine purpose in the world and in the Church.
4. The Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures
The Scriptures, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, are the infallible Word of God. They were written by holy people of God inspired by the Holy Spirit and have supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
5. The Sinfulness of People
People were made in the image of God and for fellowship with God. By transgression of God’s command humankind fell from fellowship with God and their nature was corrupted. As a consequence all people are spiritually dead under Satan’s dominion and control and subject to God’s wrath and condemnation. Therefore, apart from God’s grace, people are helpless and hopeless.
6. Christ’s Atonement for Human Sin
In order to redeem people from the guilt, penalty and power of sin, Jesus Christ became human and died a sacrificial death as our representative substitute. By His resurrection, God’s acceptance of His atoning death was demonstrated. This atonement is sufficient for the whole world, but effective only in those who receive it. The sinner is justified and reconciled to God, not through any personal merit, but solely on the basis of God’s gracious gift of salvation in Jesus Christ received through faith.
7. The Work of the Holy Spirit in Salvation
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is necessary for the acceptance of God’s provision of salvation. The Holy Spirit convinces sinners of their sinfulness, leads them to personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and so brings them to spiritual birth as God’s children and to fellowship in Christ. Working within the life of believers the Holy Spirit makes real the presence of Christ, witnesses to their relationship with God, leads into all truth, bestows gifts for effective service and produces graces for holy living.
8. The Church
The Church is the body of people whom God has separated from the world through faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. All regenerate persons are members of the universal Church of God which takes local form wherever groups of believers unite for worship, fellowship and service in accordance with scriptural principles. All believers are called to a priestly ministry in the offering of spiritual sacrifices and sent into the world to be witnesses. God calls individuals to positions of oversight and leadership or to special ministries. The Church recognises such by ordaining pastors, commissioning missionaries, appointing deacons and other leaders, following New Testament practice.
9. The Baptism of Believers Only by Immersion
Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a public declaration of a person’s faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. In accordance with New Testament Scripture it should be administered only by total immersion which symbolises the believer’s identification with Christ in death, burial and resurrection, the remission of sins and the believer’s dedication of himself to God to live and walk in newness of life.
10. The Communion
The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ instituted by Him to be celebrated with the elements of bread and wine by believers in Christ until the end of the age. It commemorates and declares our thanks for the Lord’s substitutionary death. The celebration of the ordinance expresses our fellowship with and in the Lord Jesus Christ as members of the Body of which He is the Head
.
11. The Return of the Lord Jesus Christ
At the end of this age, according to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in His glory to the earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom of God awaits His return.
12. The Resurrection of the Dead
At the end of the age, there is to be a resurrection both of the righteous and the unrighteous. After death people’s bodies return to dust, but their spirits return immediately to God – the righteous to be with Him and the unrighteous to be reserved for the judgment.
13. Rewards and Punishments in a Future State
God has appointed a day of final judgement for the world. At that time Jesus Christ will judge every person and each will receive reward or punishment according to their deeds. Those judged righteous, in their resurrected and glorified bodies, will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment.
LOCATION
Email sandybeachbaptist@gmail.com
PO BOX 251
Woolgoolga NSW 2456
Pastor: Terry Allen 0401 961 889
Secretary: Sue Barnes 0492 905 685
Treasurer: Karen Hutchinson 0407 371 671
Mainly Music - Jo Midavaine 0419 422 856
