what we
Bay Bridge Church is a church of Christ — part of the ICOC family of churches. We're not trying to invent a new Christianity or repackage an old denomination. Our aim is simple: to be the church you read about in the New Testament — Christians only, the Bible only, Jesus as Lord.
The Bible is the inspired, all-sufficient Word of God and our only authority for faith and practice — not creeds, traditions, or church councils (2 Timothy 3:16–17; Matthew 15:9). We aim to speak where the Bible speaks, to call Bible things by Bible names, and to test everything — including everything we teach — against the Scriptures like the Bereans did (Acts 17:11).
There is one God, the Creator of all things (Deuteronomy 6:4). Jesus of Nazareth is His Son — the Christ — who lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins, was buried, rose on the third day, and now reigns at God's right hand as both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4). The Holy Spirit is given to dwell in every baptized believer (Acts 2:38; Romans 8:9–11).
Salvation is by God's grace through the blood of Jesus — no one earns it (Ephesians 2:8–9). And the Bible shows how God calls every person to respond to that grace: hear the word (Romans 10:17), believe that Jesus is the Son of God (Mark 16:16; Hebrews 11:6), repent of sin (Acts 3:19; Luke 13:3), confess Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9–10; Matthew 10:32), and be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38) — then remain faithful to Him for life (Revelation 2:10).
Following the New Testament pattern, we practice the immersion in water of a believing, repentant disciple — not infant baptism or sprinkling. Scripture teaches that baptism is the moment God unites us with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (Romans 6:3–4), washes away our sins (Acts 22:16), saves us through the resurrection (1 Peter 3:21), clothes us with Christ (Galatians 3:26–27), and adds us to His church (Acts 2:41, 47). It isn't a work we perform to earn salvation — it's the surrender of faith where God does the work (Colossians 2:12).
In the New Testament, the pattern is clear: people were called to be disciples of Jesus, and disciples were baptized (Matthew 28:18–20). There was no version of Christianity where Jesus was Savior but not Lord. So we call everyone to count the cost (Luke 14:25–33), deny themselves, take up their cross daily (Luke 9:23), and build honest, one-another relationships where disciples help each other follow Jesus for real (Proverbs 27:17; Hebrews 3:12–13).
The church wasn't man's idea — Jesus promised to build His church (Matthew 16:18), purchased it with His blood (Acts 20:28), and established it in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). The church is not a building or a denomination; it is the community of baptized disciples, devoted to the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer (Acts 2:42–47). Every member is a minister, and we gladly belong to a worldwide family of churches working to make disciples of all nations.
Like the first Christians, we gather every first day of the week (Acts 20:7) to share the Lord's Supper in memory of Jesus' body and blood (1 Corinthians 11:23–26), to sing from the heart (Ephesians 5:19), to pray, to hear the Word preached, and to give cheerfully and sacrificially as we've been prospered (1 Corinthians 16:1–2; 2 Corinthians 9:7). Communion isn't an occasional add-on for us — it's the weekly center of our worship.
Jesus prayed that His followers would be one so the world would believe (John 17:20–23). Division into competing denominations isn't God's dream for His people (1 Corinthians 1:10–13). We don't claim to be the only people who love God — we simply plead for a return to the undenominational Christianity of the New Testament: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one body (Ephesians 4:4–6).
Marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman, instituted by God from the beginning (Matthew 19:4–6) — and the family is God's idea. We're equally convinced the church is God's family for everyone: single, married, young, old (Psalm 68:6).
The gospel is for every nation, every campus, every neighborhood — which is exactly why we're planting in the Bay. We evangelize personally, give generously, and go intentionally, believing God wants disciples made in this generation (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; Acts 8:4).
Jesus is coming back. Every person will stand before God and give an account (2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 9:27), and those who are in Christ will live with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17; Revelation 21:1–4). Until that day, we live ready — with urgency, joy, and hope.
Want to study any of this out from an open Bible? That's our favorite thing to do. Reach out — we'll bring the coffee.
"You don't have to believe to belong. Come as you are — and watch what God can do."