Our Pastor
Will Buttermore is the pastor of Beth Haven Church. He began his ministry here in October 2014. He and his wife, Sarah, have three daughters, Leanna Lower, Serenity Ohlsen, and Kayla Thew. His goals, as well as those of Beth Haven Church, are to proclaim the gospel message and build up believers in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Approach
God’s Word is powerful and able to equip believers to perform the things written in it (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The cornerstone of our ministry is to “proclaim the word” (2 Timothy 4:1-4). A verse-by-verse study of the Bible, in its entirety over time, will equip believers to apply the teachings of the Bible in their own lives as befitting their royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).
Our History
Beth Haven Church was founded in 1960 by Chester McCalley. He served as pastor for forty years until his death in May 2000.
His biblical teachings can be found online at the Word of Truth website, www.wordoftruthkc.org.
The Bible is exactly what it claims to be — the Word of God, the revelation of God’s grace and truth to man. The Holy Spirit guided the human authors of Scripture to ensure that it was recorded without error in the original manuscripts (1 Corinthians 2:10).
The Need for Salvation
The need for salvation is based on two issues — man’s condition and God’s character.
Man’s condition: all men are sinners. Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The penalty for sin is separation from God, making the unbeliever spiritually dead. Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death.” The apostle Paul tells the Ephesians that they were “dead in their trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
God’s character: God is holy and must separate Himself from sin (Psalm 97:2). God’s perfect justice demands that sin must be punished (Romans 6:23).
God’s Answer to Man’s Need
Motivated by His infinite love for us, God solved the sin problem. He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to be our substitute (1 John 4:10). When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He paid the penalty for our sins, past, present, and future, and God’s justice was satisfied (Romans 3:21-26).
Salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Man contributes nothing to nor does anything to deserve salvation. Man is saved by believing the simple gospel message: “… that Christ died for our sins, according to scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures; And that he was seen…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).
The Christian Life
The Christian life is a walk by faith rather than by sight (Galatians 3). Christians mature by allowing the Holy Spirit to transform their minds through the regular intake, belief, and application of God’s Word (Romans 12:1-2). God deals with man, both in salvation and in the Christian life, on a grace basis. Grace is God’s boundless gifts to man. It is motivated by His infinite love and is totally devoid of our merit.
The Church
Ephesians 1:22-23 describes the church as the body of Christ. The church is neither a building nor an organization. It is a living organism, an assembly of believers, with Christ as the head.
The purpose of the church in eternity is to demonstrate the grace of God (Ephesians 2:7); the purpose of the church in time is to present every believer complete in Christ (Colossians 1:28). In other words, it is to promote the growth of individual believers. Growth is achieved by the intake of Bible doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16-17) through the systematic teaching of God’s word.
Each believer has a God-given place, a God-appointed gift, and a responsibility to the local church.