What We Believe

What We Believe

In his great book The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer wrote the following words:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. . . . Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.  For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most [deeply significant] fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. . . . Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God.”

We, too, share this conviction and have written a statement of faith that looks deep into the core beliefs of Sylvania Church.  We pray that God will increasingly conform our affections, minds and lives to the truths in this document, and we pray that He will do the same in your life.  Click here to read these “non-negotiables.”

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Welcome to Sylvania!

Sylvania Church is a Bible-saturated, Gospel-driven, missions-oriented, reformed, Baptist church located on the Loop in Tyler, TX.  The great aim of Sylvania Church is to see the Lord Jesus Christ treasured and enjoyed (Matthew 13:44) not only by the members of Sylvania Church or among the peoples within the confines of Tyler, TX, Smith County, or even the greater East Texas area, but among all peoples of every culture in every nation of the world.

In pursuit of the exaltation of Christ within our local congregation, we prioritize the expository preaching and teaching of Scripture.  In other words, our sermons and Bible studies aim at exposing the meaning of the Bible, often in verse by verse format.  In addition to studying Scripture, Sylvania holds multiple weekly prayer meetings that are aimed at praying in accordance with God’s will as He has revealed it in Scripture.  And in accordance with Scripture, Sylvania “breaks bread” together not only in regular communion, but in a weekly meal together as a church body.  For more about the various ministries of Sylvania Church, see Ministries in the menu above.

In our pursuit of seeing Christ treasured and enjoyed outside the confines of Sylvania Church, Sylvania is actively engaged in evangelistic efforts in Tyler, TX, elsewhere in Smith County, elsewhere in the United States, and even elsewhere in the world.  We’d invite you to check out our missions pages in the menu above to see what Sylvania is doing locally and globally.

Regarding what we believe, though Sylvania Church is Baptist both according to its beliefs and its affiliation with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (part of the Southern Baptist Convention), Sylvania’s commitment to reformed theology causes its doctrinal statement to more closely resemble the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith than the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message (SBTC).  In terms of doctrine, Sylvania’s commitment to reformed theology and its general alignment under the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith make it almost entirely unique among the approximately 60 other Baptist churches in Smith County.  For more about what we believe, check out the About pages in the menu above.

To conclude our little welcome, we want you to know that we’re glad you stopped by our website.  As you look around, please let us know if you have any questions or comments about anything you read here.  Certainly our blog and even some of our pages have comment boxes at the bottom where you can dialogue with us right here on our website.  Or if you’d prefer to talk to one of us by phone, email or in person, all of our contact information may be found (oddly enough) under the “Contact” tab in our menu bar.

We hope to see you at Sylvania Church soon!