Youth Ministries
It is our goal to help each young person grow in their relationship with God.
We believe that every part of the body of Christ is valuable, and we are grateful for the ministry of our youth among us. These are crucial years when young people are beginning to formulate their own thoughts and beliefs and we desire our youth to fully embrace God’s call on their lives to be disciple-makers. It is not the role of the Church to replace or step-in for parents but it is to equip and walk alongside them as they raise our youth up in the Lord.
For this reason, our youth ministries are designed for our youth to thrive within our five core commitments:
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We make disciples of all peoples.
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God’s word is enough.
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The gospel changes everything
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The Spirit works actively today.
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We need each other.
Please join us for a time of fun, worship, and serious study of the Word of God.
What Matters the Most​
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The Good News of Jesus Christ The message of Jesus is the most important message we have to offer. It’s central to what we believe and is at the heart of what we do as a church. The message is good news, as it tells us how God has made us, how we’ve rebelled against him and how he has rescued us from the destruction that we deserve. This good news calls out for a response as it gives us the choice about how we want to live our lives.
Who We Are
We are a diverse group of people coming from a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and nationalities united through a common faith in Jesus. We come from in and around the town of Carrigaline, which is located in County Cork, Ireland. Through our shared desire to follow Jesus, we look to help each other, not just on Sundays but every day of the week!
What to Expect
Walking into a church for the first time can be daunting—so we want you to know what to expect when you visit.
We have first-time visitors nearly every Sunday, and whether you come just to look or want to worship with us, we hope you'll feel welcome.
What to Wear
Come as you are. People wear what they feel comfortable in for coming to church and there is no set expectation.
Children
We are thankful to have a church with many children of different ages. We encourage whole families to worship together as part of our Sunday service. We provide a creche for pre-school children and a Sunday School for primary school children (up to about the age of 12). Both creche and Sunday School are available after the first 30 minutes of the service.
Service Format
Our service is intentional - in that it follows a deliberate order of worship - but it is not formal in style. We have an introduction, followed by an opening song and a prayer. Usually, we then have a focused time of singing and Scripture reading. Afterwards, we take up an offering for those that wish to freely give financially to the work of the church and some announcements. The children will then leave and we'll continue with prayer, Scripture reading, and a sermon. Every second Sunday we also celebrate the Lord's Table. Our service usually finished at around 12.30 pm.
Sermon
Preaching at is generally expositional, meaning that it seeks to systematically work through passages of Scripture, declaring the point of a particular Biblical passage, with practical application rooted in the redemptive story of Scripture. Sermons usually last around 30 minutes and are packed with material for reflection. Our sermon series regularly alternate between the Old and New Testaments. All preaching is driven by the Gospel, the Bible’s main message of God saving sinners through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Music
​​We sing a blend of lyrically rich songs both recent and historic. Those of us who are comfortable with music from one particular era have discovered that we come to enjoy other songs we had not previously encountered.
We strongly prefer congregational singing, which emphasizes the gathered body enthusiastically singing praise to God with one voice. Our singing is usually accompanied by guitar, drums, flute and violin.
Meet Our Pastor
Jonny Grant
Living and serving in Carrigaline is a joy and privilege. Having studied in Belfast and worked as an assistant Pastor in Dublin, we came to Carrigaline Baptist Church in 2002. Growing up as the son of a pastor I always vowed I would never be one! Well, all that changed when God opened up my spiritual blind eyes to help me see my desperate need of him, in all of life. To keep fresh I love to walk the hills, do a bit of DIY and when able, watch, play, talk sport and even better with friends over food. Jonny is married to Kirsty (a Belfast girl) and has two adult children who enjoy laughing at his bald head and protruding belly!
What We Believe
We Believe in one God, expressed in the unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our dependence is on God and his Word, our dependence is on Jesus and his Death and our dependence is on the Holy Spirit and his work.
We are Bible Based
Our faith and practise are focused and founded on God’s spoken Word. The wonderful story of the bible is that God who made our world and made us has made himself known to us. God has taken the initiative to make himself known and he has done this by speaking to us through human authors. This does not mean that God dictated mechanically to the authors rather God spoke his words through their words using their different personalities and style in such a way that their words were simultaneously his. These writings preserved for us in what we call Scripture, is God's means of communicating to us about himself ourselves and the world in which we live. Because the bible is God’s Word written down it is different to every other book. It is completely true and trustworthy and is, therefore, the full and final authority on all matters of belief and behaviour.
We are Gospel-Centered
Our lives and message are driven and shaped by the Gospel. The word Gospel means ‘Good News’. The Good news is all about God’s Son Jesus Christ, his life, death, and resurrection. The bible tells us that God the Father sent Jesus his Son into the world. Jesus was God’s Word in human form living with and among mankind. The reason Jesus came is because he is the only means by which we human beings can know God personally.
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His Life. Jesus lived his life in complete obedience to his Father, he never rebelled in word or thought or action. In fact, He lived the kind of life that God expects from each one of us. As we look at the perfect life of Jesus we see that we are more like rebels than friends of God.
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His Death. Jesus’ obedient life led him to a cruel execution. He was crucified when his hands and feet were nailed to a wooden cross. The Bible explains why this happened. Although innocent of any crime Jesus death was God’s means of reconciling the world and mankind to himself. Jesus' death was a substitution, he died in the place of you and me so that rebels like you and me might be forgiven. Jesus who always said no to sin said yes to judgement so that we who always say yes to sin might escape God’s judgement.
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His Resurrection. Now that Jesus has been raised from the dead he has the power to give us life, and God’s promise to us is that whoever puts all their confidence in Jesus will be forgiven and will have eternal life. Today Jesus Rules in heaven and one day he will return as the Rescuing Judge. Those who reject God’s Son Jesus Christ will suffer eternal punishment while those who accept Jesus will escape punishment and will live forever in God’s new heaven and new earth where evil suffering and death will be excluded forever.
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This Gospel is what we are dependant on and it is the good news that we must tell.
We are Spirit Dependent
Our new life and mission are dependant on the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son was active in creating all things and is active in sustaining all things. Specifically, he is God’s agent in giving new life and a fresh start to the individual and he is God’s agent equipping the Church to fulfil her mission in this world until Jesus returns.
The Holy Spirit is like a light that shines into the darkness of our lives opening up our minds and giving us understanding about what Jesus has done and our absolute dependence upon him. He cleans us up on the inside bringing forgiveness transforming our lives and giving us a new heart, to love God and obey his word.
As the Spirit changes us he unites us to those who have also been transformed so that we become one people (the church), a family serving each other and those around us. The Holy Spirit equips us individually and corporately so that we can build each other up to be more like Jesus and to share the good news of Jesus with every people group and nation.
Without him we cannot live the life God calls us to and we cannot convince people of their need of Jesus.
We seek to be Word-driven and Christ-centered.
The Word of God governs our life, and we believe the Bible points to Jesus Christ. The Bible is God's written Word—His communication to us of who He is, what He does, and what He expects of us. The Bible alone holds the authoritative answers to the questions of life and eternity.
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The written Word is a reflection of the Living Word, Jesus Christ. It is our reliable, sufficient rule for faith and practice.
We seek to be timeless in our message.
Because we believe the gospel is central and that our church life should be governed by the Word of God, we practice expository, Christ-centered preaching. We strive to make our message accessible to everyone, while still preaching the full counsel of God.
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Our message is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We seek to share this message compassionately with the hurting to make a difference in our community, while also engaging in committed missions efforts throughout the world.
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We hold to historical Baptist distinctives and find much in common with The 1689 London Baptist Confession.
We seek to be relevant in our vision.
We believe that the Bible is relevant and contains everything we need to face the problems of life today. We are ordinary people who submit to the work of God in our hearts to change us to become more like His Son, Jesus. We desire to change, not because we thereby gain favor with God, but because we desire to grow in our love for Him.