Sierra Baptist Church is a dynamic church located in Newcastle, CA. Our beliefs are based on the Bible and centered on Jesus Christ. Our mission is very simple: to lead people to honor and glorify Jesus Christ. That means we’re not about a building or some complicated religious system, but about helping people from all backgrounds discover the joy that comes from knowing and serving Jesus Christ.
We invite you to visit us this weekend at one of our worship services. We know that going to a new church can be intimidating, so we try to do things in a way where you’ll feel welcome and not like an outsider. When you come, you can participate or just sit back and observe. You’ll discover a warm atmosphere, practical teaching from God’s Word and lots of friendly people pursuing God together. And with an on-site nursery and classes for all ages, your family will love it too!
God made a promise in the Bible that if we seek after Him, we’ll find Him. You are a valued part of God’s creation and His deep desire is to be in a relationship with you. So come and join us as we pursue God together!
Sierra Baptist Church began as a home Bible study in Colfax, CA in 1953. It was started under the leadership of Charles and Hazel Gilbert of Hayward, CA. Charles was a postman and a part-time student at Western Baptist Bible College. Over the next nine years, the Bible study met in a home at Clipper Gap, a home in Auburn, a Seventh Day Adventist Church in Auburn, and then at the Long Valley Grange Hall on Auburn Folsom Road.
The church was organized under the name Bible Baptist Church and was later changed to Sierra Baptist Church. With 18 charter members, Sierra Baptist was officially recognized by the General and California Associations of Regular Baptist Churches on March 23, 1963. It was incorporated under the laws of California on July 1, 1964. The church purchased a five-acre site, on the corner of Auburn Folsom Road and Van Riper Lane in July 1965 for $8,250. The congregation gave over $10,000 toward construction costs and then obtained a construction loan of $43,000 from the Church Buildings Committee of The Fellowship of Baptist for Home Missions. They broke ground for construction of its present facilities on May 25, 1970.
Clarence Jeffers was hired to erect the main building. Over 80% of the remaining work was done by the congregation under the leadership of Dennis Smith. The Baptist Builders Club contributed $2,000 toward the purchase of carpeting and pews. The church moved into its new facilities on February 28, 1971.
Since it’s original inception, the church has gone through many ambitious remodeling and expansion projects to the sanctuary, nursery, classrooms, fellowship hall, playground, and landscaping, just to name a few—all to the betterment of those who attend weekly services. We have come to enjoy increased seating capacity, comfortable chairs, and improved aesthetic and functionality throughout the building. The cost of every project the church has undertaken was entirely paid for by the gifts of God’s people, with no outstanding debt.
Our hearts are filled with gratitude when we see all that God has done to preserve and prosper Sierra Baptist Church. We pray that this church will continue to be a testimony of God’s grace in the Sierra foothills until the Lord returns!
We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God.
We believe there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite Spirit, the Maker and supreme Ruler of Heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption (Exod. 20:2,3; I Cor.8:6; Rev.4:11).
We believe in the absolute and essential deity of our Lord Jesus Christ
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; that He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony; that He teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer (John 14:16,17; Matt.28:19; Heb.9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Gen.1:1-3; John 16:8-11; Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5,6; Eph.1:13,14; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:49; Rom.8:14,16,26,27).
We believe that Adam was divinely created in the image of God
We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who, by the appointment of the Father, voluntarily took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior; that by the shedding of His blood in His death He fully satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin; that His sacrifice consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that having risen from the dead He is now enthroned in Heaven, and uniting in His wonderful person the tender sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and all sufficient Savior. We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. Repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit and is an integral part of saving faith (Jonah 2:9; Eph.2:8; Acts 15:11; Rom.3:24, 25; John 3:16; Matt.18:11; Phil.2:7,8; Heb.2:14-17; Isa.53:4-7; 1 John 4:10; 1 Cor.15:3; 2 Cor.5:21; 1 Pet.2:24).
