The Purpose of the Church

  

Shall be to worship God, preach and teach the Word of God, minister in Christian service to the community in which it is located, promote spiritual develment of believers, seek the salvation of lost souls through evangelism and missions at home and abroad.

  

Doctrinal Statement

  

1.  We believe in the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired by God and infalliable in the original writing, and that they are of supreme and final authority of faith and life.

  

2.  We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

  

3.  We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit born of the virgin Mary, and is true God and true man.

  

4.  We believe that man was created in the image of God, but fell into sin.  As a result, all human beings are born with a sinful nature, incurring both physical and spiritual death.

  

5.  We believe the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrfice, and that all who believe in him are justified on the grounds of his shed blood.

  

6.  We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in his ascension into heaven, and in his present life there for us as High Priest and advocate.

  

7.  We believe in the personal bodily, and visible return to the earth of Jesus Christ which will precede the age of universal peace and prevailing righteousness, foretold in the scriptures.

  

8.  We believe that all who receiveby faith the Lord Jesus Christ, are born again of the Holy Spirit, and thereby become children of God.

  

9.  We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust.  The everlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost.

  

  

How to Be Saved

For some people who read the Bible this may seem simple and almost self explanatory but for those that do not quite grasp the concept of salvation we will look at what Jesus Christ has to say about it. Many times we hear of someone becoming born again and we can see the change that has taken place in their life, but unless we understand salvation we may not know that we need it ourselves.

  

In the book of John Chapter 3, Jesus told Nicodemus that, “unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” He then went on to explain that this process of new birth only comes from the spirit not the flesh. Man has tried to redeem himself at times and has tried to be a good person but as Jesus told the young man in Matthew Chapter 19 it takes more than following the commandments and doing good to those around us to get to Heaven. Christ’s death on the cross would be in vain if our own righteousness was sufficient but the scripture tells us in Isaiah 64:6 that our righteousness is as filthy rags.

  

The word saved means exactly that. If you were in a house that was burning and the fire department came and rescued you from loss of life in the fire we could say they saved your life. What God does through the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Christ on the cross is the same but he saves your soul. Because of man’s sin in the Garden of Eden death came and the only way to receive eternal life and a soul that has been restored to the Garden condition is to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Romans 3:23 & 24 says that, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” If it was not for the grace of God and his forgiveness of our sins we could never experience salvation.

  

It is important for us to know that salvation is a gift from God to a lost and dying world. Many times people look at God in the Old Testament and say that he was a mean tyrant but Jesus said that he, “So loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” That doesn’t sound like a heartless God to me but rather a loving caring God that saw the pain that would be inflicted by sin and sent us a remedy. In chapter 28 of the book of Matthew Jesus also told his disciples before he ascended back to his Father to “teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” To be baptized without repentance of sin first is to simply become wet but baptism after repentance shows that you have chosen to bury the old man and walk in the newness of life.

 

Our Pastor
George and Family at Graduation

George Vastine is the pastor of the Lombardsville Community Church in McDermott, Ohio. George was born in Portsmouth, Ohio the son of Wayne and Betty Vastine and was raised in McDermott, Ohio were he attended Northwest High School and the Scioto County Joint Vocational School in Lucasville, Ohio graduating in 1986.

 

He met his wife Teressa Evans, the daughter of Robert and Bessie Evans of Otway, Ohio while in high school and they were married after graduation. George and Teressa were saved in November of 1986 and celebrated the birth of their daughter Tiffany Dawn on April 6th 1987. On October 19th 1989 their son was born and given the name Paul Wayne Vastine in honor of his grandfather.

 

In 1991 while attending the Community Bible Church in Lucasville, Ohio where his uncle Dave Vastine was the pastor George felt the call from God to preach. After a period of emotional struggle and fear he preached his first message on Sunday November 19th 1991. After two years of evangelizing and being ordained in the Community Bible Church, he took his first pastorate at the Big Run Community Church in Lucasville, Ohio on October 13th 1993 and was there for five and a half years. There was a great deal of growth in the church and many souls were saved during this period but he felt led to resign his position in May of 1999 and once again returned to the Community Bible Church where he would serve as an evangelist.

 

In December of 1999 George and his wife Teressa were called to come to the Lombardsville Community Church were he spent the month preaching to a congregation of about twenty people. On Sunday, January 30th 2000 George was voted in as pastor. The Church has since gone through many transformations and has changed its appearance inside and out. Many souls have been saved and added and some of the congregation from years passed have returned to join in the fellowship.

In October of 2003 George stepped away from his occupation with the Sheet Metal Workers International and took on the position of full time Pastor. George also graduated from Ohio Christian University in Circleville, Ohio in May of 2009 with a BA in Leadership & Ministry and is currently finishing an online MA in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. Since 2007 he has been blessed to be the Spiritual Care Coordinator (Chaplain) for Heartland Hospice in Portsmouth, OH. as well.