It's time for your next step.

Life at Island City Baptist Church begins with life in Jesus. Every member of ICBC is a follower of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus that makes our lives and our church different. The ICBC experience begins with the experience of knowing Jesus as Lord of your life.

STEP 1:

DISCOVERING THE ISLAND EXPERIENCE.

SALVATION
The first step in being part of life at ICBC is putting your faith and trust in Jesus.
One of the clearest and most succinct ways of explaining what that means is the 3 Circles Life Conversation Guide.

If you pray to receive Jesus, we encourage you to share that information with our pastor.

ASSURANCE
Sometimes the simplicity of God’s grace can seem too easy to be true.
We can think that we have failed to do all that we need to receive God’s salvation.

1 John 5:12-13 says, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Additional information about the security of the believer may be found in the Article V of The Baptist Faith & Message.

If you have additional questions about being secure in your faith, we encourage you to contact our pastor.

DOCTRINE
At ICBC our doctrine coincides with The Baptist Faith & Message (2000).
A copy of The Baptist Faith & Message is available in the at your request.

If you have additional questions about our doctrinal beliefs, we encourage you to contact our pastor.

STEP 2:

ENJOYING THE ISLAND LIFE.

BAPTISM
Baptism is often called the first act of obedience. It is an outward symbol of a change that has occurred within you. It is an act of submission where we demonstrate that Jesus is the Lord of our life. Baptism means to dip or immerse, so we practice baptism by immersion and require baptism by immersion for all members.

If you are interested in being baptized, please speak with our pastor.

WORSHIP
Another important part of growing in our relationship with Jesus is proper worship. When we think of worship our minds often automatically go to music. While music and singing are an important part of worship, there is much more to worship.

Romans 12:1 instructs us to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

When we live our lives for Jesus and engage in his mission to reach a broken world we are worshiping. Worship also happens when we are obedient in Baptism, study scripture, pray, and give.
When we gather on Sundays to worship corporately, we are reminded of the great saving deeds of God. When we sing and lift our voices as one we are speaking to God and remembering his salvation offered through his Son Jesus. God invites and initiates our worship. Proper worship responds to what God has done for us; worship is not about us – it is about God.

Here at ICBC we perform for an audience of one. We strongly believe that the people on the platform are not performers but exist to encourage the congregation to lift their hearts, minds, and voices to our Savior.

PRAYER
An important part of growing in our relationship with Jesus is regular communication with Him.
God wants us to communicate with Him in prayer.

There are several components of prayer, we encourage you to spend time regularly in each:

Praise – Spending time Thanking God for who He is and what He has done in a general sense.
Thanksgiving – Thanking God for specific blessings and specific prayers that He has answered.
Confession – Confessing our sins and needed areas of growth to Him.
Intercession – Praying for the needs of others.
Petition – Asking God for specific requests in your life.

We encourage you to begin to regularly talk to God through prayer. There isn’t just one way to pray, and remembering the different components of prayer will help you get started. God wants to hear from you every day. If you need help we will be happy to assist you.

SCRIPTURE READING
An important part of growing in our relationship with Jesus is regular communication with Him. God most often communicates with us through His word. We should read the Bible regularly to know more about God and His plan for our lives.

If you do not have a Bible of your own, we will provide you with one. Many contain scripture reading plans that you may follow, or we can assist you in developing one of your own.

GIVING
The Bible instructs Christians to pay those who make their living through the ministry of the gospel. We are also instructed to give to those in need and to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Scripture talks about a tithe (1/10th) as the amount of money we give to support these ministries.
We also have an obligation to pay our debts. Often new Christians have enormous debt they need to eliminate. Tackling all of these financial issues requires a new way of looking at money.

If you are interested in discussing financial issues, please contact our pastor.

LORDSHIP
It is the desire of Jesus to be the ruler of all our lives. We find that the more control we give Him in orchestrating our lives, the more joy we have. Lordship comes when we turn from sin, allow the Holy Spirit to direct our lives, and commit to growing through the disciplines of prayer, confession, study, meditation, giving, solitude, worship, guidance, and celebration.

STEP 3:

CREATING AN ISLAND HOME.

BECOMING A MEMBER
To become a member at ICBC, 3 criteria must be met.
All Members have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It is Jesus who sets us apart at ICBC. Therefore, we have all received His forgiveness by His death on the cross and have committed our lives to Him.
All members have been baptized by immersion. Baptism is the public recognition of what Jesus has done for us. We believe that baptism by immersion is a powerful symbol that is consistent with biblical instruction. Therefore, that is the mode of baptism we practice at ICBC. If you would like to schedule an appointment to talk about baptism please contact our pastor or the church office.
All members have been formally approved by the church body. The members at ICBC ultimately determine membership. Everyone is voted into the body by the body at a business meeting.

From time to time we offer a Welcome Class to familiarize those who are new to ICBC with our structure and ministries. Those classes usually take three hours and are most frequently offered during the Sunday School hour for three consecutive weeks. If you would like to learn more about becoming a member at ICBC please contact our pastor or the church office.

JOINING A CLASS
There are several opportunities to grow in you understanding of scripture and your relationship with others. Classes are primarily held on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings.
Sunday School is at 9:45 and is not just for children. There are several age graded classes for children, teenagers, adults, as well as special interest classes from time to time. A current list of Sunday School classes and locations is available in the church foyer.
Wednesday nights at 6:00pm we meet for additional study and fellowship. There are large group meetings for children, teenagers, and adults.

JOINING A TEAM
There are several opportunities to join a team and minister at ICBC. You do not have to be a member to serve on most teams. (Nursery and counting money are exceptions.)
You can help minister as a member of the praise team, welcoming team, hospitality team, or building maintenance team.
There are special times during the year to minister during short term projects as well. If you are interested in joining a team contact our pastor or the church office.
Please note that you must undergo a background check before working with minors.

STEP 4:

BECOMING AN ISLAND REP.

SHARING OUR FAITH
One important way to become an island representative is to learn how to share our faith so that others can come to faith in Jesus. We should seek to foster relationships with others. As those relationships develop, we might become aware that a friend does not know Christ as Savior. We encourage our church to be able to share how someone might receive Christ as the Holy Spirit gives you opportunity. There are several methods for sharing our faith. You should choose the one that is most comfortable for you. The 3 Circles: Life Conversation Guide and “Steps to Peace With God” are two booklets that can be used to share our faith. There are other methods that may work well for you. If you have questions about how to share your faith, please contact a pastor or the church office.
A copy of the 3 Circles Life Conversation Guide is available in the back foyer at ICBC.

EVANGELISM OPPORTUNITIES
In addition to personally sharing our faith with those we know, ICBC engages in several opportunities to attract those who we don’t know and who don’t know Christ, to our church so we can begin to minister to them with the intention of sharing Christ with them. Eventually we can begin discipling them to be followers of Christ. We need your help with these attractional events. Consider how you might help by baking cookies, passing out information, or even dressing up in a costume to play a part in “Back To Bethlehem”.

MISSION OPPORTUNITIES
We are actively involved in both planting new churches and strengthening existing churches that will ultimately be responsible for the majority of the discipleship in a new believer’s life. Through special mission projects we can help the gospel spread far beyond the banks of the Kankakee.
We are helping to strengthen churches in our area through worship and youth events. If you would like to be involved in mission work, please contact one of the pastors or the church office.