Welcome
Thanks for visiting our website. I hope your visit gives you a taste of what our church is all about…what we believe and what we do.
At the Creek, we are like family. If you do not have a church family, we would love to have you as our guests. Our heart’s desire is to have an impact in our community and beyond….and we encourage you to join our efforts.
Come as you are. We are a people more concerned with what is on the inside rather than the outside. We offer Bible based studies and worship services that are designed to comfort and to challenge. Our music consists of hymns from the past sprinkled with songs from more recent times.
We have a place for people of all ages. We also provide a Children’s Worship service during the Sunday morning worship hour. Our main nursery workers have been with us for over thirty or forty years! They have cared for some of our parents when they were babies and continue to minister and demonstrate God’s love to our little ones.
We would love to have you come and see us face to face at the “Creek.”
History
Sandy Creek Baptist Church
History 101
Records in Louisiana Baptist and Southern Baptist Archives indicate Mount Moriah Baptist Church was constituted on October 21, 1839. Prior to the Civil War the church was moved to another location at which time the name was changed to Sandy Creek Baptist Church. The property on which the church is located was provided through land donated on June 2, 1873 by Mrs. Mary Anne Cain.
Pride, Louisiana
A review of available resources reveal conflicting stories on the beginning of the community of Pride. However, in and around 1800 the families of Norwood, Chaney, Craig, Dreher, Forbes, and Kirby began settling in the areas of Pride, Milldale, and Deerford along Sandy Creek, and the Comite and Amite Rivers.
A majority of the families residing in the area where Sandy Creek and the Amite River merged were of the Methodist faith, leading to the establishment of the church that eventually became known as Sandy Creek Baptist Church.
Ministers
Jerry Potts
After earning a B.B.A. degree in management from Northeast
Louisiana University in 1972, I worked in the transportation and
oil and gas industries for over twenty five-years. In the mid-80’s
I became active in leading small group Bible studies, participated
in prison ministries, and spent summer vacations on volunteer foreign
mission trips. In 1996, I surrendered to God’s call on my life to
vocational ministry. I completed a Master’s of Divinity degree in
1998 and a Doctorate of Ministry degree in May of 2007 from New
Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
My home church is First Baptist of Slaughter, LA, where my wife,
Sandra, and I joined in 1980. We raised two sons while at Slaughter;
Eric (32), and Gabriel (28). Presently they live in the Nashville,
TN area. While at Slaughter, I served as Associate Pastor while
attending seminary. My other pastorate was served at Northside Baptist
Church in Baker, LA. I have been at Sandy Creek since June 2007.
Bro. Carey Long
I was born in Slidell, LA to my parents Tom and Kathy Long. My dad has been a youth pastor for nearly 30 years, most of those at the same church. My mother is an elementary music teacher and church pianist. It has been very interesting to see how God has used them and their callings to prepare me for a calling in the same fields. Nearly my entire life I attended FBC Pearl River where my father has served the majority of his ministry. On April 9th 1990. I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior and in the summer of 1998 I felt God calling me in to the ministry.
My wife, Alycia and I met and dated throughout high school and were married in Nov. of 2002. We were blessed with our first child, Carley Beth, in 2006. She has stolen the hearts of us and the rest of our family. Education is very important to me. I have earned a B.A. in religion and a M.A. in church ministries from Liberty University and Theological Seminary and I am currently working on a Phd in ministry to help me better do what God has called me to do. My family and I have been a part of the Sandy Creek family, where I have served as minister of youth and music, since Nov. 2003. We are excited to see what God is and will do in the community in the near future.
Staff Directory
Directory & Location
Facility Map
What We Believe & Practice
1. God
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfection's. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. God reveals Himself to us as God, the Father, who rules over His created universe and controls human history according to His purpose and grace. Jesus, the Son, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the redemption of men from sin through His substitutionary death, was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven where He now offers reconciliation between God and man. He is personally, visibly and bodily returning very soon to reign as Lord. The Holy Spirit inspired the writing of Scripture, convicts mankind of sin, righteousness and judgment, indwells in the believer from the moment of salvation, guaranteeing the believer an eternal home in heaven and guiding him/her in understanding truth.
2. The Bible
The Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. It reveals the principles by which God judges us: and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and religious opinions should be tried.
3. Man
Mankind was created by the special act of God, in His own spiritual image, and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by His Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence; whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin, and as soon as they are capable of moral action become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created us in His own image, and in that Christ died for us; therefore everyone of us possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
4. Salvation
Salvation is God’s free gift to us but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty. When we turn from our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith. This salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone in the finished work of Christ on the cross.
5. Eternal Security
Because God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ, the true believer is secure in that salvation for eternity. If you have been genuinely saved, you cannot “lose” it. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christian. It is the grace and keeping power of God that gives us this security.
6. Eternity
People were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence.
WHAT WE PRACTICE
Beliefs are not worth much unless they are translated into actions. Based on what the Bible teaches we practice the following:
1. The Bible as our sole authority
Since God’s Word is the only completely reliable and truthful authority, we accept the Bible as our manual for living. Our first question when faced with a decision is, “What does the Bible say?” We practice daily Bible reading, Bible study and Bible memorization. The Bible is the basis for all we believe, the basis of our view of the world.
2. Autonomy of the Local Church
Christ is the recognized head of the church, not any person, group or religious organization. While recognizing the value of associating and cooperating with other groups as Christians, we believe that every local church should be self-governing and independent of any denominational control. Each congregation determines its own strategy, structure and style.
3. Priesthood of every Believer
The Bible teaches that every Christian is called to “full time” Christian service, regardless of his/her vocation. We practice the truth that every Believer is a minister by encouraging every member to find a place of service and ministry. Every Believer has direct access to God through prayer and Bible reading.
4. Baptism by immersion
We practice baptism by immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the Believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and resurrected Savior. It symbolizes the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.
5. The Lord’s Supper
We practice the Lord’s Supper as a symbolic act of obedience whereby the members of the church, through partaking of the bread and fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
6. Spirit-Led Living
We believe that the only possible way to live the Christian life is by God’s power within us. So we seek to practice a daily dependence on God’s Spirit to enable us to do what is right in the eyes of God.
7. Tithing
We practice tithing for the support of Christ’s body, the church, as God commands. We recognize that God owns everything but his standard for us is giving 10% of our income. Above and beyond our tithe, we also support many mission endeavors through regularly giving.
How to Become a Member of Our Church Family
We are glad you are visiting our website to today!
If you are interested in joining the fellowship of believers here
at Sandy Creek Baptist Church, here is some information to help
you with your decision. At the close of our Sunday morning service
we offer an invitation for people to come and talk with the pastor
about any decision they have made. Simply come to the front while
we sing our closing song and tell the pastor:
You want to give your life to Jesus Christ and be baptized by immersion, or
You are presenting yourself as a candidate for baptism (You are a Christian, but have not been baptized by immersion), or
You are transferring your membership from another Baptist Church, or
You have already given your life to Jesus Christ and been baptized by immersion in a non-Baptist Church.
If you would prefer to make an appointment with the pastor to discuss any decision you have made please call the church office to make an appointment. Please call 225-654-6590.
