Meet The Pastor
A message from the pastor, Joe Newton
At Arlington Baptist Church we believe our greatest purpose in life is connecting with Jesus Christ through faith. However, we also believe this is only the beginning. Jesus desires that we have a continual walk with Him. At Arlington Baptist Christ we reflect this idea in our connection principles. These three life principles are a simple way to remember the desire of our Lord, let me share them with you:
The first is the principle of worship. Every believer should experience everyday worship in their life. This includes personal times of devotion as well as corporate worship together as a church family. We also believe worship should be sincere with both times of reverence and celebration. This is part of our ongoing connection with Christ.
A second connection value is that of spiritual growth. We encourage all believers to seek to know Christ more each and every day. The heartbeat of our Bible study opportunities on both Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights is seen in the depth at which we desire to know our Lord. We must take the time to get into the word so the word and get into us.
Our third connection value is the sharing of our faith. We want the whole world to know about the grace, love, and joy of Christ. We encourage both corporate and individual experiences of sharing our faith. This is also a part of connecting and living in the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
This is what it means to discover life’s purpose and to be connected with Christ. This is a little bit of who we are, but you will never really know us until you visit our fellowship. I invite you to come and discover the power of purpose in your life, and to discover the joy of a family of faith who will share life with you. I hope you will come and see all that God is doing at Arlington Baptist Church
Information about me
I am a husband and father of five wonderful children. I have served as the Pastor of Arlington Baptist Church since July of 2003. I graduated from Southeastern Baptist Theological College with a B.A. in Biblical Studies. My wife Lori is active in both our church and community. She has worked with troubled teens and is devoted to helping young people find a Godly life direction. My five children are growing everyday into the people God has called them to be, we feel so fortunate to share in their lives. God has richly blessed us in more ways than we deserved. We are thankful for all His gifts and we to take none of them for granted.
Personal Testimony:
I accepted Christ in the summer of my 18th year. I came to Christ as a result of a friend’s personal testimony and dedication to bring me to a bible teaching church. I am forever thankful to this man’s commitment to sharing his faith. About seven years into my walk with Christ I sensed His calling into vocational ministry. My wife, our son, and I left Jacksonville to attend Southeastern where we faithfully studied God’s word for two years. We were then called back to Jacksonville where I served as Pastor of Cedar Hills Baptist Church for 6 years before accepting the call to serve at ABC in 2003. We are thankful to being serving in this fellowship and are looking forward to all that God has for us in this community.