Get to Know Us
Learn More About Harvest
Four short videos to help you understand who we are, what we believe, and what we do.
01 — Foundation
What is the Gospel?
02 — Community
What is a Church?
03 — Polity
Why are we Baptist?
04 — Sunday
We are a church rooted in Gospel proclamation, Bible teaching, and Christian love. Our aim is to know Christ, and to make Him known in our county and around the world.
Learn MoreGet to Know Us
Four short videos to help you understand who we are, what we believe, and what we do.
Who We Are
A summary of the core beliefs that shape who we are as a church.
We believe the Bible is God's inspired, inerrant Word — the only sufficient rule for faith and life.
Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone — not by our works or merit.
We hold that the Bible interpreted in its historical and grammatical context leads to a premillennial, dispensational view of the last things.
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally and plenarily inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed and, therefore, are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official and only English language translation used by the church.
2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21
We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man's responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations — the law, the church, and the kingdom — are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture.
Gen. 1:28; 1 Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24-25, 27; Rev. 20:2-6
We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.
Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; John 14:10, 26; 2 Cor. 13:14
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate.
Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14; 2 Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8; Acts 2:18-36; Rom. 3:24-25; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Pet. 1:3-5; Acts 1:9-10; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God; but that in Adam's sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature and became alienated from God. Man is of himself utterly unable to remedy his lost condition.
Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to all mankind by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe that all sins, except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, are forgivable.
Matt. 12:31-32; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:9
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever.
We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh.
John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Pet. 1:4-5; Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15
We believe in that blessed hope, the personal, imminent return of Christ, Who will rapture His church prior to the seven-year tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints, to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom which was promised to the nation of Israel.
Ps. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zech. 14:4-11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.
We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord.
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment.
Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13; Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6; Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15
Meet Pastor Nathan, our primary teacher and administrator.
Nathan has served as the pastor of Harvest Baptist Church since 2024. He and his wife, Sarah, live in Villa Ridge with their children. Nathan has a deep love for expository preaching and a desire to see churches strengthened by knowing God through His word. His love for Jesus is the foundation of his commitment to pastoring, and he counts it a privilege to serve our congregation.
Nathan grew up in a ministry family and placed his faith in Jesus Christ at an early age. At twenty, he began to develop a love for the Scriptures and a desire to help strengthen churches. He went on to complete a pastoral apprenticeship at Bible Baptist Church in Mattoon, Illinois with pastor Ryan Hayden before accepting the call to pastor at HBC. Nathan and Sarah have been married since 2021.
Come See Us
We would love to welcome you at one of our services. Here are some answers to common questions you may have.
There is no dress code — wear anything that is comfortable and appropriate. While you'll find our pastor wearing a suit most Sundays, the congregation will be wearing everything from work jeans to Sunday dresses. Come as you are. We are not here to impress anyone.
We have a nursery for children under 3 and a mother's room available for nursing or tending to little ones. Older kids remain in the main service with their families. Don't let unruly kids keep you away; we're glad to have them, and no one will mind if they wiggle. They will fit right in!
Our Sunday mornings are centered around learning from God's Word. We will read the Bible, preach the Bible, sing hymns, and pray. The service will last around an hour. We are usually teaching in a series through a book of the Bible. You will often find that people stick around to fellowship with one another. Other gatherings are less formal, with more time dedicated to prayer and/or systematic Bible Study.