Our Vision at Swords Baptist Church

At Swords Baptist Church our vision is to be a growing community of grace-filled followers of Jesus who seek to live out the good news of the Gospel of Christ. We desire to model the life of Jesus in every way possible to help others around us enjoy a relationship with Him and live for Him from their hearts. As a community being transformed by His grace it is always our ongoing mission “to help people meet Jesus and become more like Him.”

What we long for ….

To see people (disciples) enjoying their relationship with Jesus 24/7, living from the heart and discovering more of Him daily through prayer, the Word and other spiritual disciplines
To see people (disciples) reaching out to others around them in various walks of life and inspired to share their stories with a view of drawing them into a relationship with Jesus. In other words, enjoying relationships of grace with God and others.
To see people (disciples) meeting in a multitude of places one-to-one and in small groups sharing life’s journey with Jesus, connecting with God and one another
To see people (disciples) discovering their gifts and passions and using them to extend the Kingdom and energetic for what God is doing in their lives and in the lives of others

Core Beliefs at Swords Baptist Church

In teaching the Scriptures we as a church hold the following doctrines as our basis of faith: (Summarised from our Constitution)

God

He is the Creator of all, existing in three co-equal and eternal persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who is gracious in His love towards all, especially to those who believe. In His holiness, God hates sin and cannot leave the guilty unpunished.

Man

Created in God's image, by exercising his free will, has disobeyed the Creator and thus his fellowship with God is broken. As a result all people are born spiritually dead and incapable of saving themselves.

Jesus Christ.

He is fully God, who became man to save us from the consequences of our sin. He was born of a virgin birth, lived a sinless life and died sacrificially on the cross as our substitute. He was buried, but rose again bodily, and subsequently ascended into Heaven. He will return in time to complete His Kingdom.

The Holy Spirit.

He is the one who convicts us of our sin, baptizes us into the Church when we become Christians and indwells us thereafter permanently. Through His power sin can be overcome. He is the one who teaches us truth, equips us with gifts, so that the Lord Jesus might be glorified

The Bible

It is through His word that God reveals Himself to us. He is its author and it is without error in any part, or on any subject, in the original manuscripts. It is our final authority in terms of our doctrine and daily living.

How we become Christians

We believe that salvation is by grace alone and that eternal life is freely given when we admit we are sinners and accept Jesus death on the Cross as the way to see our sin forgiven and to become a child of God.

Judgement

There is a literal Hell: Jesus spoke of such a place. All who die not knowing Jesus as their Saviour will go there after the final Judgement.

The Devil

The Devil does exist. He is God’s enemy, seeking to deceive us and draw us to worshiping Him. He was defeated at the Cross and will be cast into “the Lake of Fire” after the final judgement.

The Church

The church is the company of all born again believers everywhere, Jesus Christ is its head. Locally the church meets as groups of Christians for corporate worship, fellowship, prayer, instruction, and witness.

Christian Marriage & Sexuality

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as either male or female, and that these two distinct, complementary sexes together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27).

We believe that God created marriage to be exclusively the union of one man and one woman, and that intimate sexual activity is to occur exclusively within that marriage union (Gen. 2:18-25; 1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4).

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

We meet at The Riasc Centre Building (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 10:45 am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There are disabled toilets in the main foyer.

Our Service

The main service begins at 10:45 am with a warm welcome from one of our team members. Then follows a time of corporate worship and singing, led by our band. We typically have 2 or 3 songs lasting approximately 15 minutes. Sometimes a person might pray out loud or read a passage from the Bible. This might seem strange the first time you hear it but it’s all part of our connecting with God. We then share news and notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church. One of our leaders will then give a sermon that is Bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. We then finish with a final worship song.

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What about my kids?

We have a great programme lined up for kids of all ages:

Creche (0 months to 3 years). Children under 12 months are welcome but must be accompanied by their parent/grown-up at all times.
Kidzone Juniors (Junior, Senior Infants, 1st and 2nd Class )
Kidzone Middle (3rd and 4th Class)
Kidzone Seniors (5th and 6th Class)
Impact Xtra (Secondary School age students)

Children stay with their parent or guardian at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and notices. We really value worshiping God all together as a family. At the end of the notices someone will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups.

The kids group activities vary depending on the age but usually there is a friendly welcome, Bible stories, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games and free play. Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes.

Getting Connected

Home Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our small groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Check out Small Groups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a small group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team.

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

Leadership


Johnny Holland
Lead Pastor

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.

Best Wishes