{Below are some answers to questions that I have received on more than one occasion from church seekers that may help to define who we are and what all we are about. If you would like more information on any of the below questions or have other questions not listed please feel free to contact the pastor.}

How can I know for sure that I will go to heaven when I die?

God says that we have all sinned (Romans 3:9-18, 23) against Him, and because of our sin there is a debt to be paid. The debt to be paid for our sin is death (Romans 6:23a), not good works (Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5), not baptism, not church membership, not religion. This death is not just physical death, but spiritual and eternal death (Revelation 20:11-15). Therefore, we cannot escape the fact that our sin must be paid for and it must be paid for with death. This is where your "choice" comes in. You can choose to pay for your own sins in hell (the lake of fire) for eternity, or you can choose Jesus Christ’s payment for your sin. You see, God the Father loved you so much that He was willing to give up His only Son to pay the price for YOUR sin (John 3:16). Jesus as the eternal Son of God, willingly and lovingly left heaven, entered our world as a baby through the miracle of the virgin birth, lived a perfect and sinless life (as only God could do), and voluntarily laid His life down on the Cross of Calvary to pay the sin debt for all mankind, including you. To prove that He is who He said He was, and that He has the ability to offer eternal life, Jesus rose from the dead after three days proclaiming victory over death, hell, and the grave. He did not have to, but because of His love for you He chose to (Romans 5:8). If today, right now, you will repent (change your mind) of your sin and trust solely in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice as your only hope of salvation, He will save you. Right now, you probably see your sin as a nuisance that causes you some heartache now and then, but yet you enjoy it, and don’t think of it as all that bad. God hates your sin, because it required the death of His Son, but He loves you the sinner and is willing to pardon (forgive) your sin, if you will turn from your sin and turn to Jesus in faith. God’s salvation is free to you (Romans 6:23b), but it cost Him His beloved Son. Call upon Him today and be saved! (Romans 10:9-13) For more information click on the Eternal Life button, take the Good Person Test, or contact the pastor.

We are a Bible-believing, Christ-honoring Baptist Church. We are conservative in our doctrine, traditional in our worship, and have a strong focus on soul-winning, missions and consequently the local church. Click on the "What We Believe" button to read our doctrinal statement. If you have more specific questions that are not addressed on this page, please feel free to contact the pastor.

We are affiliated with the Baptist Missionary Association of America (BMAA), as well as the BMA of Missouri, and BMA of Southeast Missouri. The BMA of Southeast Missouri is a local association of 6 churches located between Jackson and Malden, Missouri. An association is a group of churches that share the same beliefs and voluntarily cooperate together in supporting mission work at the local, state, national, and international level.

Seeking a church home is never the same as a customer seeking a product. While we seek to offer ministries that meet the needs of every individual in society, we also must be careful to be a place where you can invest your gifts and talents into others. As Jesus said, "it is more blessed to give than to receive." We do not offer programs per se, for all programs are man-made. Instead we offer you an opportunity to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ with other Christians and to serve Him through His divinely ordained institution, the Church. We have Sunday School for all ages. We have outreach ministry for everyone, whether it be knocking on doors, sending out cards, making phone calls, or visiting shut-ins. We always welcome good, wholesome, Christ honoring music for the musically blessed. We have a Praise/Worship service each month along with a monthly fellowship meal. We participate in a "Youth in the Harvest" service with our sister churches the third Saturday of each month. During months that have five Saturdays we have a singing at one of our sister churches in the BMA of Southeast Missouri on the last Saturday evening.

Our services would be described (in today’s terminology) as traditional. We sing mostly traditional hymns along with a few praise choruses out of the hymnal. Our song service expresses our love and adoration for Christ and His Word and aims to prepare our hearts for the preaching of His Word. The preaching of the gospel and the Bible is the main focus of all worship services. The monthly Praise & Worship service is a little different than usual. We have a devotional from God’s Word at the beginning of the service and spend the remainder of the service singing songs of praise & worship. We stand against all "Christian" rock and most contemporary Christian music because of the worldliness and compromise it promotes and the often times unscriptural lyrics. Our desire in worship is not to please our human flesh (entertain), but instead to please our Lord (exalt) and edify the saints. Unfortunately, most Christians and churches associate music and worship as one, however, the Bible speaks quite differently on the subject. Although, music can and should be used as a means of worship, worship is primarily an attitude of adoration that comes from the heart and is manifested through obedience to God's Word and Will. Our public worship should simply be an outward expression of our private worship not just on Sunday morning, but 24/7.

When the Lord Jesus Christ formed and founded His Church, there was only one Church and one Faith (set of doctrinal beliefs). As the Church in Jerusalem began to grow and multiply throughout the region and eventually to the uttermost parts of the earth, false prophets and false teachers began to creep into the Lord’s churches, bringing with them heresies (false teachings) which caused division and strife with those who clung to the "faith once delivered" (Jude 3). As years, decades, and centuries progressed many false churches, denominations, and religions were developed, many holding to some truths of God’s Word, but mixed with error. These churches were founded by men (or sometimes governments) but they were not the same Church that Jesus founded. Today we have a vast array of different churches and denominations, all with some similarities, but the differences are often too foundational to the "faith once delivered" to be ignored. Even among Baptists, there are various types (freewill, general, southern, missionary, independent, etc). Once again, these variations stem from differences in doctrinal beliefs. There is not enough room here to fully explain all the differences between certain Baptist groups, much less the other Christian denominations, but as a "Missionary Baptist" we hold that it is of the utmost importance to worship and serve the Lord in His Church according to the truth of His Word. We by no means believe that we are exclusive in God’s salvation, because salvation is offered to all by grace, and can be received by repentance and faith. We gladly call others who have been saved by faith brother and/or sister, but when it comes to Church fellowship and cooperation, we must draw the line where the Bible does. There is a difference in the churches, because "things that are not the same, are different" and it does matter which church you belong to as a Christian. If you are a Christian you will give an account someday for your "church membership", whether it be in the Lord’s church or a man-made church. The church has several resources if you desire more information on this subject.

For those who are not familiar with this term, you may want to skip this question, but eventually you will have to face this issue of which version of the Bible should be used. For all others, the answer is yes and no (sounds like the makings of a good politician). I will share my personal conviction as pastor. I believe that the King James Bible (KJB) is the preserved Word of God in the English language and should be used exclusively for worship, devotional, teaching, preaching, and study. It is an accurate, literal translation from the "correct" Greek/Hebrew texts. I believe it is without error or contradiction and is the only trustworthy version of the Bible in the English language. I do not believe that it is inspired in the same manner as were the original manuscripts, but I cling to the promise of Almighty God who is able to do the unthinkable, and seemingly impossible. God promised to preserve His Word and He has. He has blessed the KJB for nearly 400 years now, whereas the newer versions have only aided in bring apostasy and compromise with no true revivals. Most, if not all, new versions of the Bible are either translated from "older" corrupted manuscripts of which there were very few, and that did not even agree with each other, and/or are not literally translated word for word. No matter how good of a literal translation you have, it is corrupted if the manuscripts from which it is translated were corrupted. I do not believe that a person will go to hell for using other versions, nor do I believe one can only be saved by reading and using the KJB. If we are going to do what God’s Word says, we as Christians need to ensure we have God’s Word. If we as preachers are going to stand in the pulpit and say, "Thus saith the Lord", I for one want to make sure that He did in fact say it. I am by no means a Greek or Hebrew scholar, but you do not need to be to understand this issue. I conducted my own research using various references and have come to this stated conclusion and conviction. Check out the King James Bible Page. Chick Publications, and Way of Life websites on our links page for much more information.

This is probably one of the most divisive doctrines in all of God’s Word amongst the various Christian denominations. The simple answer is yes, when a person is truly saved by repenting of their sin and trusting solely in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, they can never be "unsaved" or "lost" again. Time nor space will allow me to answer this question fully. The bottom line is that we are either saved (and kept saved) by our works or by God’s grace. The Bible is clear that salvation is by grace through faith, and not works (Eph 2:8-10, Titus 3:5, Rom 11:6, Gal 2:16, 21, etc.) Jesus said we are to be born again if we want to see and enter the Kingdom of God (John 3). He did not say we needed to be born again, and again, and again, and again, etc. He said he would never leave us, nor forsake us (Heb 13:5). If we could be lost after being saved, the only way to be saved again would be for Jesus to be crucified again (Heb 6:6), and the Bible declares that that was a one time, sufficient sacrifice for our sin (Heb 10:10). There is no "Plan B". Either Jesus’ blood was sufficient to pay for our sin and give us eternal life, or nothing in this universe will work. What could possibly be more precious than the Blood of the Lamb? The clear teaching of the Bible is that God’s salvation is sure and secure. The same cannot be said for man-made salvation where works are added to grace. The Scriptures that seem to contradict the clear teachings of the rest of Scripture must be interpreted in light of the clear teachings, and within the context that they are written. This is referred to as "rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15). There is much more that can be said and if you have questions please feel free to contact us.

We hold church membership in high regard at Dayspring. There are two prerequisites to church membership according to God’s Word. First you must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Secondly, you must have scriptural baptism (See explanation below). If you are saved, you can join by submitting to scriptural baptism. If you are saved, and have already been scripturally baptized, and are a member of a scriptural Baptist church, you may join upon a letter of recommendation from your current church. Dayspring will be glad to obtain that letter for you. Finally, you can be received into the membership of Dayspring by a verbal statement of your faith and scriptural baptism, subject to the vote of the membership.

Scriptural baptism consists of four things: proper candidate, proper purpose, proper mode, and proper administrator. The only proper candidate for baptism is a person who has repented of their sin and trusted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. The only proper purpose for Baptism is obedience to Jesus’ command as a testimony of your salvation. Baptism is not required for salvation, but is one of the first "good works" one should do after being saved. The proper mode of baptism is by full immersion in water. Only immersion perfectly pictures the death, burial, and resurrection (gospel) of Jesus Christ. It also pictures the sinner’s death to sin, burial, and the raising to walk in the newness of life. Sprinkling or any other mode for that matter, completely loses the message of baptism and is foreign to the pages of the Bible. Finally, the only proper administrator of baptism is one of the Lord’s churches, because He gave His commission and authority to baptize to only one institution/agency, His Church.