Berean Bible Church (BBC) is a Christ focused, Bible centered church located in Goa, India. BBC is completely independent and self-supporting, free from any outside denominational hierarchies or affiliations.
Our church is named after the “more noble” saints that were found in the city of “Berea” – in the hope that we would be as they were:
“And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed…” (Acts 17:10-12)
At BBC, we do our very best to be like the Bereans who were dedicated students of the Scriptures. Rather than follow after the traditions of men, personal preference, opinions, feelings, or even culture, we put the highest priority upon obeying the Holy Scriptures. Bereans only believe after they have ″searched the Scriptures.″ In other words, the Scriptures alone are the final authority in all matters of faith, practice, and moral behavior.
At BBC, we believe the whole New Testament was written exclusively in the context of the church. In other words, the Christian life was never meant to be lived apart from the community of people called the church. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s covenant people on the earth today (i.e. God’s elect). Christians are clearly defined as baptized disciples who are committed members of the church in Acts 11:26. As the Lord’s church, we at BBC, are dedicated to make disciples by administrating water baptism to those that have believed the gospel message and by diligently teaching them to continue in the commands of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38-47).
BBC is wholly devoted to the one gospel that Jesus Christ preached at His first coming and continued to preach after His resurrection, which was ″the gospel of kingdom of God″ (Matthew 4:23; Acts 1:3). It is the gospel, the good news of the kingdom that imparts faith, enlightens the eye’s of understanding, provides hope, instills godly fear and brings encouragement to endure to the end. Thus a special group of people, i.e. the Lord’s church, is prepared to enter into the kingdom and “to obtain salvation” when Christ returns to the earth a second time at the end of this present age (Hebrews 9:28; 2Timothy 2:10; 1Thessalonians 5:9).
Therefore, the emphasis of our teaching and preaching ministry pertains to ″that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ″ (Titus 2:13). It is our desire that all of our members stand approved in that glorious day when Christ returns to resurrect, judge, and establish his kingdom rule on the earth. Our overall priority as a church is to obey what Jesus commanded his disciples; ″…seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness″ (Matthew 6:33) and to walk as the early churches did ″…in the fear of the Lord″ (Acts 9:31).
We at BBC are committed to do our very best to promote an open, honest, accountable, and friendly church fellowship that meets together as often as schedules allow. The church in the New Testament was compared to a family (1Timothy 3:5; Galatians 6:10) rather than a business or political organization (Luke 22:25-27). Our leadership is committed to serve in love and not control the lives of its members. Our desire is to encourage a healthy home life, including a strong commitment to marriage and godly parenting.
We also believe that the church has been given the responsibility to openly share the gospel truth to all those outside the church in the non-Christian world because salvation is only in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
Jesus commanded his church:
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.″ (Mark 16:15-16)
Visitors are always welcome, please come and check us out!