ABOUT US.

Our Story. God's Glory.

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    Pastor Roger Sebrell & wife, Francine Sebrell

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Hampton Roads Independent Baptist Church (HRIBC) which now meets at 714 E. Pembroke Avenue, Hampton, Virginia, held its first service on April 5, 1998 in the Sebrell's home in Hampton, Virginia with 15 people in attendance, including Roger and Francine Sebrell and their four children, Solomon, Benjamin, Leah, and Jonathan.


The following week, and for the next six months, services of HRIBC were held in the facilities of Victory Baptist Church, located at 445 Shelton Road, Hampton, Virginia. On September 20, 1998, the church rented a meeting space at the Sarah Bonwell Hudgins Center located at 1 Singleton Drive, Hampton, Virginia. By the end of 1998, the church had grown to 21 members and was supporting seven missionary families and two mission agencies. At the end of 1999, the membership had increased to 45 members and up to 50 members by the end of 2000. HRIBC was organized on May 6, 2001 with 59 charter members.

HRIBC is a New Testament Baptist church with a heart for people and world evangelization. We simultaneously recognize our burden for our "kinsmen according to the flesh" and our responsibility to maintain God's focus on "all nations. To this end we are involved in a worldwide evangelistic ministry. Our services are open to all. Our purpose is to glorify God by being involved in fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). We seek to produce spiritually maturing Christians for the purpose of ministering to others (Ephesians 4:12). Our objectives are to evangelize sinners, baptize saints, catechize servants and mobilize soldiers in the work of the ministry.

On November 23, 2004, HRIBC purchased an office building to use as a church operational facility. After submission of renovation drawings, the church received final renovation approval from the City of Hampton on November 15, 2005. From January 2006 until September 2006 we renovated the interior of the building. We moved into the facility and held our first service on Sunday, September 17, 2006. We baptized 19 new members and our membership increased from 81 to 100 in the first couple of months of occupying the renovated facility. The church continued to grow over the thirteen years at that location. In September 2018, the Lord opened an opportunity for HRIBC to purchase a 9,100 square feet church building. Miraculously, we were able to sell the renovated facility on August 15, 2019, and purchased a church building on August 19, 2019 located at 714 E. Pembroke Avenue,

Hampton, Virginia.

From its inception, HRIBC has been involved in supporting evangelists/missionaries and church-planters, locally, nationally, and globally. In its history, the church's mission commitment has steadily increased annually from its first year of $7,200 up to a commitment of over $100,000 at times for world evangelization.

One of the great blessings God has bestowed upon the ministry of HRIBC is for the Holy Spirit to separate unto Himself a man from among us for the work of church planting. On November 13, 2011, the church ordained Brent Givens and sent him and his family to New Orleans, Louisiana to plant the Crescent Baptist Church. The church held its first service in April 2012 and was organized and chartered on April 22, 2018 with 62 people in attendance and 17 charter members.

What We Believe...

  • ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES

    We believe that God's Word is inerrant, infallible (John 17:17), and that the writings of the Old and New Testaments were verbally and plenarily inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Peter 1:19-21). God is the actual author of the Bible (Hebrews 12:2). We believe that God in His sovereignty preserved His Word and words for all generations (Genesis 1:3; Psalm 12:7; Denteronomy 29:29; Luke 5:1; Mark 7:13; Hebrews 4:12). Therefore we have absolute confidence in the Greek testament known as the Textus Receptus from which our English Bible the King James Version was translated. The Bible is our only authoritative rule of faith and practice.


    "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” -Matthew 28:18-20

  • ABOUT GOD

    There is only one God who exists as three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 44:6; Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19-20; Corinthians 13:14). Each person of the Godhead is identical in nature, eternal in being, equal in power, and possesses the same divine attributes (John 4:24; 1:1-2; 5:21, 23; 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6). He is the self-existent source of life and creator of all that exists (Exodus 3:14; Jeremiah 32:17; John 5:26; Colossians 1:16-17). God is absolutely holy. He is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and immutable (Levitieus 11:44-45; Psalm 139:7-10; Proverbs 15:3; John 3:20; Job 42:2; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). 


    "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7

  • ABOUT JESUS CHRIST

    Jesus Christ is God (John 10:30; 20:31). He is eternal and was manifest in the flesh (John 1:1, 14). He is the second person of the Godhead and was not created, having neither beginning nor end (Micah 5:2). He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:20-23). He lived a sinless life on earth in the form of a man, and died voluntary, substitutionary, sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary to atone for the sins of mankind (Hebrews 4:15; Isaiah 53:4-6; 1 Peter 2:24).

  • ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT

    The Holy Spirit is God. Existing eternally as the third person of the Godhead. He ie equal in essence with both God the Father and God the son (John 4:24; Acts 5:3-4; Matthew 25:19). The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is that if indwelling, sealing, empowering, guiding, teaching, and filling (Romans 8:9, 11, 16; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 1:13, 14; Acts 1:8; John 16:13; John 14:26; Ephesians 5:18). The Holy Spirit reproves the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement (John 16:8). He sovereignly bestows spiritual gift(s) to every believer for the edifying of the body of Christ (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-11; Ephesians 4:11-12. The temporary sign gifts of the Holy Spirit are not applicable to believers today since we have the completed written revelation of God's Word (Mark 16:17-20; 2 Peter 1:20).

  • ABOUT ANGELS

    We believe that God created a perfect host of angelic beings known as angels or "sons of God" (Job 38:4-7; Psalm 148:2; Genesis 1:31). The holy angels are ministering spirits who protect, guide, and deliver God's people (Hebrews 1:13-14; Genesis 19:11, 15-16; Psalm 91:11; Acts 8:26; 27:23-24; Danile3:28). They will carry the believers home after physical death and will be used as God's agents of judgment during the tribulation period (Luke 16:22; Revelation 7:2, 16:1). We believe that Satan, who was created as part of the perfect angelic host of angels was an exalted angel. Because of his pride, he rebelled against God's authority and was cast from heaven (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:12-19). Satan is a real, personal, evil spirit being who is the father of all lies, and the god of this world. He blinds the minds of unbelievers and is destined for eternal punishment in the lake of fire (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:7-10). In his rebellion, he led a third part of the angels with him. These fallen angels are now demons which cooperate with Satan in his efforts to hinder and destroy God's people and God's work (Revelation 12:4; Ephesians 6:12).

  • ABOUT MAN

    The creation of man was a direct act of God on the sixth 24-hour day of God's creation as recorded in Genesis 1 and 2. God took the dust of the ground, formed Adam, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, therefore man's origin is not the result of an evolution process (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7). Man was created in the image of God possessing a moral not a physical likeness to God (Genesis 1:26) and in a state of innocence, but willfully sinned by disobeying God's command (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:6) . As a result of this single act of sin all humanity became subject to sin and death, therefore all men are sinners, born with a sin nature, condemned, and without excuse (Romans 3:10, 23; 5:12, 19; Psalm 51:5; John 3:19; Romans 1:20).

  • ABOUT SIN

    Sin is the transgression of God's law (1 john 3:4). It is the innability to conform to God's standard (Romans 5:6). It is a "missing of the mark" (Romans 3:23). Every human being is born with an inherited sin nature as a result of Adam's disobedience in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6; Romans 5:12), therefore making all men sinners. All men are condemned to death (physical, spiritual, eternal) because of this sin nature (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:11, 15).

  • ABOUT SALVATION

    Salvation is a free gift of God that cannot be merited on any basis of good works (Romans 6:23b; Titus 3:5). It is wholly by God's grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) on the merit of the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24-26). The elements of salvation are repentance and faith (Acts 2:38; 20:21). Once an individual turns from his sins to God and places his faith in Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:9), he is eternally secured and can never lose his salvation (John 3:16, 36; Ephesians 1:13; 1 John 5:11-13). At the point of salvation a believer is justified (Romans 5:1). He is sanctified positionally (Hebrews 10:10), and he is sanctified progressively as he continues to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Peter 3:18).

  • ABOUT HELL

    Hell is a literal place of everlasting punishment. It was prepared for the Devil and his angels, but all those who reject the salvation offered through Christ will spend their eternity in Hell (Matthew 25:41, 46; Luke 16:19-31 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8). Man will suffer in hell according to the evil he has done in his present world (Luke 12:47-48).

  • ABOUT HEAVEN

    Heaven is an actual place where God dwells (Matthew 6:9). The Lord Jesus Christ is presently preparing it for all who have put their faith in Him for salvation (John 14:1-3). Heaven is the place from which Christ descended and to which, after the completion of His earthly ministry, He ascended after His resurrection. He now sits in Heaven at the right hand of God the Father where He makes intercession for the saints. All believers immediately go to God's presence in Heaven upon death (Mark 16:19; Acts 1:11 Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1, 2:2 Corinthians 5:8).

  • ABOUT THE CHURCH

    The church that Jesus established is a local, organized, sovereign assembly of regenerated, baptized believers (Acts 18:8), voluntarily united together for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-20


    The Ordinances Of The Church

    Believer's baptism is by immersion in water under the authority of the local church (Acts 8:36-39). Baptism is an outward expression of the believer's identification with Christ's death, burial and resurrection (Romans 6:4-5; 1 Peter 3:21), and unites that believer to the particular local church in which he is baptized (Acts 2:41, 47).


    The Lord's Supper (Communion) is a memorial picturing the broken body of Christ that was sacrificed on the cross and his blood that was shed to pay for man's sin (1 Corinthians 11:23-30). Acts 2:41-42 sets a pattern for those eligible to partake of the Lord's Supper, i.e., those who believed, were baptized, and belonged to the church.


    The Offices Of The Church

    The offices of the church are pastor and deacons. The qualifications for these offices are clearly defined in the Scriptures (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:6-9; Acts 6:1-7).


    About The Organization Of The Church

    The church is an autonomous, self-governing, self-propagating, self-supporting organism with Jesus Christ as its Head (Matthew 18:15-17; Acts 13:13; 15:23-28; Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:1, 18). No hierarchy of individuals or organizations, religious or political, either within or outside of the church, has any authority over the local church (Matthew 22:1-21).

  • ABOUT THE LAST THINGS

    We believe in the imminent, visible, bodily return of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:11; John 14:1-3). Jesus' return will be to receive unto Himself all those who have trusted in His shed blood to wash away their sins (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 1:5). Christ's return will be followed by seven years of tribulation (Daniel 9:27; Revelation 13:5), at which time Jesus will return to earth to destroy all wickedness (Revelation 19:21). A thousand year reign of Jesus Christ will follow this event which will terminate with the destruction of Satan and all his evil forces (Revelation 20:4, 10). At the end of the thousand year reign, all lost sinners will be judged at the Great White Throne judgement (Revelation 20:12-15). The new heaven and the new earth will be prepared for God's saints for all eternity (Revelation 21).