Truth Baptist Church

A Bible-Believing & Friendly Church

Truth Baptist Church  began with the call of God to Bim Rowley at Tennessee Temple Seminary, and the church was planted on June 29, 1980. Three students accompanied the Rowley family to East Hartford where they felt God calling them. The month of June was spent knocking one-on-one to about 10,000 of the 16,000 doors. It is our desire to provide a friendly and truth-filled Bible teaching ministry to Hartford County, Connecticut, in addition to a number of outreaches including annual Revivals, Bible & Missionary Conferences, Vacation Bible Schools, Banquets, and Special Service Programs in order to evangelize our community.

We are currently building a multipurpose facility attached to the above building directly behind. Soon we'll include pictures of it at TBC.org.

The Most Astounding Claims Ever Made!

See IS THE BIBLE RELIABLE? written by our Pastor, Bim Rowley

Truth Baptist Church
The text in completion is found at our official web site at the Titled link above. Click or copy this info into your browser:

http://truthbaptistchurch.org/ibr_blr.htm

Is the Bible reliable? Has it been corrupted or miscopied through the ages? Is it in truth- THE WORD OF GOD? These are reasonable questions that deserve an answer; first, because the Bible makes universal and absolute claims upon all mankind; second, because it claims to be the WORD OF GOD without error or contradiction, perfect in every part; third, because the character, work, and teachings of Jesus Christ (the Bible's chief figure) are so unparalled by any other that we must know if it is truth; and fourth, because the Bible claims that salvation from hell can come to no man apart from the truths revealed within its pages.

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The Most Astounding Claims Ever Made!

THE MOST ASTOUNDING CLAIMS EVER MADE BY A HUMAN BEING
Jesus Christ cannot be simply a good man. * Either He was the world's greatest liar--a very bad man, or * He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth--as He claimed.
You Must Decide. He claims your eternal destiny depends upon Him!

Consider a few of the claims of Jesus Christ.
1. "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." John 14:6 In this one statement Jesus claims:
* to be the only Way to God, the Father, asserting that all others who offer "another way" to God are imposters, liars, and deceivers
* to be the Truth, asserting that all others are wrong whose teachings disagree or contradict with His
* to be the Life, thus claiming to be the source of all life both here and hereafter
* to be the only One who can assure you access to God the Father.

2. "Verily, verily I say unto you, 'He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life' " John 6:47
In this statement Jesus claims:
* that believing in Him is the only condition of eternal salvation (An astounding claim)
* that salvation will only be given to those who are able and willing to trust Him and Him alone to save them.
3."I am the Bread of Life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger," and
4."he that believeth on Me shall never thirst." John 6:35 In this statement Jesus claims:
* to be the all sufficient source and satisfier of life on this earth and in all eternity
* to be able and willing to spare any person the eternal unquenchable thirst of hell if that person will come to Him.

5. "All authority is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." Matthew 28:18
In this verse Jesus claims:
* to be the Sovereign and Ruler of the universe
* to be God since only God has this authority and power.

6. "All [people] should honor the Son as they honor the Father." John 5:23 (Pure blasphemy if He is not God come in the flesh)In this statement Jesus claims:
* that Jesus Christ deserves the same honor, worship, praise, and reverence as God the Father
* that He Himself is God because only God is to receive worship.

7. "I am the Light of the world." John 9:5 In this statement Jesus claims:
* to be the only One who can shed light upon the perplexing questions about man's origin, identity, purpose, and destiny
* to be the only one who can give the light of hope and salvation
* to this spiritually blind world.

8. "I am the Door, by Me if any man enter in He shall be saved." John 10:9
In this statement Jesus claims:
* to be the one and only door of salvation from hell
* to be willing to save any person who will seek salvation from Him alone.

In view of these claims any thinking person is forced to conclude one of three things about Jesus Christ:
(1.) He was a liar
(2.) He was a lunatic, or
(3.) He is Lord of heaven and earth.
Which is He? You must decide. You cannot remain neutral; since Jesus Christ claims that your eternal destiny depends upon what you believe about Him.
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*See Josh McDowell, "Evidence that Demands a verdict", CCCI, copyright 1972, Pages 107-112.

9. "It is finished!" John 19:30 In this last statement of victory, cried out from the cross at the moment of His death, Jesus claims
* that He had completely finished paying the horrible sin debt of mankind with His own blood. (See 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18, Isaiah 53:4-6, Ephesians 1:7)

10. On the basis of Christ's claim, "It is finished!"---
* The Apostle Paul concludes ... that salvation is now offered to us as a free gift since Christ has finished paying the entire debt. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23
* The Apostle Peter concludes ... that our sins can now be forgiven through repentance and faith. " Repent ... and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." Acts 3:19 "Whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." Acts 10:43
* The Writer of Hebrews concludes that salvation requires no more sacrifices (such as the mass) Hebrews 10:10, 11, 12, 14, 18; 9:12; no more human mediators (such as popes, priests, saints, etc.) Hebrews 4:14-16, 7:24-28, 10:11; 1 Timothy 2:5; no more "works of merit" Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5

---------Consider the Most Astounding Claim of Jesus Christ ---------


11. "After three days I will rise again." Matthew 27:63

* "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how He must ...suffer many things ...and be killed, and be raised again the third day." Matthew 16:21 In this statement recorded over 10 times in the gospels before His death, Jesus Christ claims:
* that He would be killed,
* that He would lie dead, and
* that He would rise up from the dead the third day. "I will rise again" This claim, whether true or false, would resolve forever the identity of the man Jesus of Nazareth.
* If Jesus Christ's body remained dead in the tomb on the third day, this would be proof that He was a fraud, a liar, a deceiver.
* However, if Jesus Christ did indeed rise again from the grave on the third day, this would prove that He was truly God come in the flesh.
* Would not such a resurrection verify every word and claim that Jesus spoke upon the earth? Jesus Christ staked the results of His entire life ministry upon the truthfulness of this one statement.
* If He were a fraud, this statement would have been the greatest blunder of His life. A quick look in the tomb on the third day would expose His life of deception.
* If His body remained dead and decaying in the tomb on the third day, the faith of even the most ardent disciple would be immediately destroyed.

In this statement Jesus Christ makes a claim that no other human being has ever dared to make: not Muhammad, not Buddha, not Confucius, not Abraham, nor any other----that after death His body would not decay, but would rise again. All the millions of Mohammedans, Buddhists, and Jews agree that their founder's bodies have never come up out of the dust in resurrection.
In view of the extreme importance of the resurrection upon the identity and truthfulness of the One who claimed to be the Lord of all, we need to ask a question about the resurrection
-------Did Jesus Christ Truly Rise from the Grave? -------

Notice 6 proofs of the resurrection to help you decide.
{1.} God's Word, the Bible, says He did. "And the angel answered and said unto the women, 'Fear not, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said.'" Matthew 28:5-6

{2.} The transformed lives of the disciples prove it. Men who 3 days before were so frightened and cowardly that they denied Him and "all forsook Him and fled" (Matthew 26:56), became so courageous for His name that they were willing to die telling the world of His resurrection. (Read Peter's sermon in Acts 2) Would these men have been willing to be mocked, beaten, imprisoned, and killed for a man who said He would rise from the dead, but did not? You decide.

{3.} The empty tomb proves the resurrection. What happened to the body of Jesus Christ?
* The disciples could not have stolen the body-it was guarded by a troop of Roman soldiers for whom negligence meant death.
* The enemies of Christ would not have stolen the body--their greatest desire was to avoid the thought of a resurrection.

{4.} The behavior of Christ's enemies proves His resurrection.
* For hundreds of years after Christ's death, not one serious enemy of Christianity tried to deny the empty tomb -- they only try to explain what happened to the body.
* The crack Roman guard troop charged with sealing and watching the tomb was paid by the Jews to say that Christ's disciples came and stole the body out of the tomb while they slept. (Matthew 28:11-15) But if they were sleeping, how did they know who stole the body?
* Could simple frightened disciples sneak past the guards, break the seal, move the rock, remove the body without moving the grave clothes and get away without being noticed? You decide.
See the rest of this text at our official web site, plus many other helpful documents.