We Are Now Worshiping Onsite and Online

Ancient City Baptist Church has now added an onsite option. We also continue to provide the livestream on our YouTube channel. 
Some Life Groups are meeting onsite with social distancing.

Please read the following details of our beginning plan to determine whether you want to worship onsite or continue to worship online. We ask that you use your good judgment considering your own risk level and comfort level. We encourage you to continue to watch online for as long as you desire. Our Leadership Team has used the input of medical personnel in our own congregation as well as CDC guidelines to inform us as we have put together a plan that we think is appropriate for our own unique situation. Our hope is for everything to be as comfortable and cautious as possible as we resume gathering for worship. Please take seriously social distancing and other precautions as we gather together. 

If you are sick, have some symptoms of COVID-19, or have recently traveled, we ask that you wait two weeks before coming to worship onsite.

• Seating: Our Sanctuary can hold approximately 100 with social distancing. 

Our deacons will act as ushers at the beginning, and they will seat people from the front of the Sanctuary to the back. We will utilize every other pew for now. At the conclusion of the service, we will dismiss by rows, beginning at the rear. If more than capacity come, Fellowship Hall has been prepared as overflow, showing the livestream and configured with seats that are properly spaced. Based on our best guess, we should have adequate capacity in the Sanctuary at the beginning for those who want to attend onsite. 

• Masks: We ask everyone to wear masks until they are seated; at that time they can be removed if desired.

Disposable masks will be provided at the Welcome Center door. Participants can bring their own cloth or disposable mask if desired. We recommend you throw away disposable masks as you leave since they are not needed outdoors. Trash cans will be placed at the exits. Worship leaders will not use masks while on the platform.

• Arriving: We encourage everyone to park in the paved lot (unless it is full) and enter through the Courtyard. 

Greeters will have the Welcome Center doors open and will assist worshipers as they make their way in to be seated by ushers. Greeters will wear masks and ask everyone to wear masks until seated. They will also give directions for picking up a worship program (bulletin) at the entrance to the Sanctuary. Ushers will direct worshipers to seats.

• Cleaning: We are taking precautions to keep everyone safe.

We properly clean our Sanctuary prior to services. Hand sanitizer is available at the entrance to the Sanctuary and at other places. Frequent hand washing is still encouraged. Based on newer information, we do have Bibles, pens, and offering envelopes in the pew racks. Rails leading into the Sanctuary will be wiped down frequently.

• Music: We are adding back limited congregational singing for those who wear masks 

We are asking masks to be worn, in general, while entering and exiting our building. Masks can be removed when seated. However, if you would like to sing, we ask you to put on your mask and sing at a moderate level. If you do not wish to wear a mask during the singing, we ask you to continue to worship through humming and/or interacting with the words in your hearts. (If you do not want to be in the presence of singing with masks, we encourage you to stay home for now and worship through the live stream.)

• Offering and Communication Cards: There will be baskets at the rear of the Sanctuary.

Please place your offering and/or Communication Card into one of the baskets at the exit, as we will not pass offering plates. Alternately,  you can give online through our website, bring or mail your offering to the office, or set up automated giving through your bank. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

• Worship and Life Groups: We will meet for worship at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays, and some Life Groups are now meeting

There will be no preschool childcare for now during worship. You are welcome to bring children of whatever age with you to worship as you desire. Some Life Groups are beginning to meet again with social distancing. Please check with your Life Group leader for meeting opportunities for now. 

• Courtyard Fellowship: After worship is over, we encourage the courtyard as the place to talk and fellowship while social distancing.

WE ARE MODIFYING GUIDELINES AS APPROPRIATE. As times goes by, we are making adjustments. We will do our best to keep you informed! In the event one of our worshipers discovers that he or she was infected without symptoms, we will send out a churchwide email to alert all those who may have worshiped onsite that day. If you are a guest, please complete a Communcation Card with an email address or phone number. 

While this may seem like a lot, it really is not. These are much the same precautions as at other places; yet a worship service is unique in application. We just want to give full details to help you make informed decisions about your attendance. Thanks for your trust.

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Sunday Morning Worship Will Continue to Stream LIVE on YouTube

To watch it on your computer. phone, tablet, or smart TV is fairly simple.

• Click HERE to go to our church channel.
• A few minutes before 11, we will go "live," so one of the videos listed should say, "LIVE." (You may need to refresh the screen if you get on before we go "live.")
• Click or double click on the LIVE video to watch it.

If something doesn't work as expected, click on the "Live Streaming" Menu item above for more information.

Wednesday Midweek Worship Remains Online For Now

For our Wednesday night service of Bible study and prayer, we are using an online meeting tool called Zoom. This tool lets everyone share prayer requests just as if we were in the same room together. You can use either your computer or your smart phone, but you will need to take a few minutes to set it up, though it is as simple for most people as you could hope for.

An "invitation" link is needed to access the meeting. Please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to receive an invitation with the direct link.

(Of course, there will be no TeamKID or choir or other meetings at our facility.)

Call Us if You Need Ministry or Assistance

During this time when we are asked to remain separate, you may feel that you cannot reach out to others. But you can! We are your church, and we are here for you. Whether it is me, deacons, Life Group leaders or members, or others, we are available for you in this crisis for your needs.

Call us! Here are some numbers you can try:

• Church office: (904) 829-3476
• Pastor's answering machine at home: 904-827-7644 (Leave a message!)
• Hopefully, you may know the number of your deacon, who will be glad to help you in whatever way possible
• Call your Life Group leader
• Email me or a staff member by clicking on "About ACBC" and then "Our Staff" from the Menu above

Recheck this page for further updates. 

If you cannot get by the building, you have the option of giving your tithes and offerings online while we cannot meet. You can access that by clicking "Online Giving" from the Menu above.

Let's keep each other in prayer!

New Message Series

The pandemic and other recent challenges have knocked many of our familiar supports out from under us. Life seems different and unfamiliar, perhaps fearful. Some are using this unique time to take a fresh look at what life is all about. And that can be good!

When a computer, program, app, etc., is behaving erratically, we hit the RESET button. We reboot. Sheltering in place has given us time to reflect and meditate. Some things are very wrong and some priorities have become misplaced in our world—and in our own lives. Let's hit the "RESET” button: let’s return to the biblical worldview given to us by God in the very beginning. Genesis takes us back to God’s intention and helps us understand who He is, who we are, what we are to do, the impact of sin, how we are to treat each other, and much more. Let’s RESET… for good!

See "Upcoming Messages" under "Sermons" menu tab for individual messages... 

Everyone Needs a Church...

To answer the questions of life . . .

Questions like, “Who am I?” “What’s my purpose?” “What is God really like?” and “Why do bad things happen?” Jesus Christ and His church are uniquely qualified to answer life’s most basic questions.

To share life’s happiness...

The precious moments of life are meant to be shared: the beginning of new life together in marriage, the birth of a new child, the baptism of new believers... these milestones, plus the joy of simple pleasures, are enhanced by the community of a loving congregation.

To help face tragedies...

Everyone faces trouble in life: sorrows, disappointments, sickness, death. Needed support and comfort flows freely from those who share a common faith. How much we need one another in times like these!

To teach about God and the purposes He has for us...

Survey after survey reveals an overwhelming belief in God. But what is He like? How do we know Him? God has answered those questions through the Bible, the special book that is the guide for the church.

To share God’s message and help those in need...

We can do more together than we can do alone. God has always called together a community of believers to help one another and to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. His message can bring healing to a hurting world. Yes, everyone needs a church, and at Ancient City Church, we would love to be yours!  

Ancient City Baptist Church:
Pursuing Life in Christ with Passion and Purpose

Ancient City Baptist Church:

We are told in Scripture that we belong to each other and are to gather together as the people of God.

Pursuing:

We are on a journey through life; we have not yet arrived! Jesus told us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” We invite you to join us on this wonderful journey to achieve God's plan for our lives, individually and together...

Life in Christ:

Jesus said that he came “that you might have life, and might have it more abundantly.” Jesus was sent that we might have life, abundant and eternal. The abundant life we enjoy here includes what is called the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." He offers what we have been looking for! We do not simply pursue life; we are pursuing life in Christ! Here at Ancient City, we speak of balanced growth in life, growing in "head, heart, hands, and feet." [Here's what we mean.]

Passion:

In the greatest of all the commandments, as identified by Jesus, we are told, first, to love God with "all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength," and second, to "love your neighbor as yourself." The top two commands are both about love. We are to live passionate lives of love!

Purpose:

The Great Commission of Jesus gives us one of our primary purposes as a church: “make disciples of all nations.” We have a purpose, a mission to fulfill. We are to help others discover how to have peace with God and to find the abundant and eternal life in Christ he offers to us!

This is what we are all about—pursuing life in Christ with passion and purpose! We invite you to join hands with us.

Beliefs and Affiliations:

Ancient City Baptist Church stands in the tradition of the basic beliefs uniting all authentic believers in Jesus since he began his church, and we hold specific beliefs that are distinctives of Baptists. We are Christians (or believers in Jesus) first. We use Baptist as an adjective describing how we live out our faith. Thus, we are Baptist Christians.

We believe that there is one true God, Creator of all that exists, who himself reveals himself to us in three distinct personalities: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. This has come to be called the Trinity over the centuries—one God who exists in three persons. This is a mystery but the clear teaching of Scripture.

We believe that the Bible is the God-preserved record of God's revelation of himself to humankind: it tells us who God is and who we are and God's purposes for us. We trust that the Bible is the most sure authority we have for the voice of God, and Jesus himself taught us how to properly understand all of God's Word, both the Old and New Testaments. We evaluate all messages that are claimed to be from God by his Word.

We believe that Jesus is the Son of God who was sent to earth to live a perfect life, die a sacrificial death, and experience a triumphant resurrection by the power of God so that our sins might be forgiven and that we can live the life that God has designed for us—a life "abundant" and "eternal." This forgiveness of sin is called salvation and is received by God's grace through our trusting in Jesus and confessing him as Lord of our lives. Our response also includes repentance, or turning away, from our sin. We cannot work our way to heaven or to rightness with God. It is a gift of grace through faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

We believe that all humankind is made in the image and likeness of God as the crown of his Creation; we are to be faithful stewards of the Creation. However, because of the disobedience of the first man and woman, we fell into sin—and all of us (with the exception of Jesus) have followed into sin, both by nature and by choice. We all are in need of a Savior. Each of us will live forever; those who are believers in Jesus will live forever with him and other believers in the place he has prepared for us. Those who do not receive forgiveness of their sins will be eternally separated from God and his love.

We believe that God desires for each one of us, after placing our faith in Jesus to receive our salvation, to grow in his grace, maturing as believers so that we might become more like Jesus. This growth is the result of our salvation, not the way we receive our salvation. God's Holy Spirit works in our lives to draw us to belief in God, and the Spirit comes into our lives to indwell us when we trust in Jesus, and he leads us into maturity in the faith.

We believe that water baptism is a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and a symbol of our own new life in Christ. As such, we baptize believers by immersion in water. (While we dedicate infants and their parents, we therefore do not baptize people until they decide to trust in Jesus as Lord of their lives.)

We believe that once we authentically trust in Jesus, we are secure in our salvation and cannot lose it. Each person is adopted into God's family when he or she believes in Jesus, and no one will be cast away who has truly believed, and no one can be snatched away from God's hand. We can bask in the security that we belong to God and do not need to have constant fear about our place with him. Our love for God and the work of his Spirit in our lives, though, bring us back to confession of our sins and renewed joy of our fellowship with God when we stray from him and his ways.

We believe that as believers we are to join together in local churches for worship, fellowship, and ministry, and our prime ministry to others is to spread the good news that God is in Christ Jesus, reconciling himself to the world the world to himself. We are to share our faith with others and be a blessing to our communities.

There is much more that we believe, but we hope this gives you a good idea. We are glad to answer other questions about our faith.

We voluntarily partner with other bodies of Christians for fellowship, encouragement, and, most importantly, to share the good news (or gospel) of Jesus with people all around the world. We voluntarily work together with the Southern Baptist Convention, the Florida Baptist Convention, and the St. Johns River Baptist Association. Our church, like all churches who partner with such groups, does not believe that any other group speaks completely for us. We join together by commonality of purpose and agreement in our most basic beliefs. Through these partnerships, we help support thousands of missionaries in our nation and around the world throught the work of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

We also partner with other churches, ministries, and mission organizations as decided upon by our church body.