Our Purpose

Knowing God

One of the wonderful things about the Christian faith is the opportunity to establish a relationship with God through Christ Jesus. Each worship service and Bible study is designed to help the Christian know God personally. The preaching from the pulpit of Franklin Road combined with the discipleship ministry will help you develop your relationship with our great God.

Growing Together

We believe the church should be a constant source of growth in the life of every Christian. You can experience spiritual growth at Franklin Road through our LifeStage Bible classes, our Wednesdays in the Word Bible study, and many other fellowship opportunities. Our desire is to see every Christian faithfully growing in their walk with God through the fellowship of the local church.

Showing Others

The result of spiritual growth is a desire to share the Gospel with others. One of the last commands Christ gave His disciples was to take the Gospel to the whole world. We encourage our members to share the Gospel through our weekly outreach and ministry opportunities, outreach events, and our world-wide missions giving. We believe serving others and sharing the Gospel should be the primary focus of the church and its members

Our Beliefs

The Bible

We believe the Bible to be the revealed Word of God, fully and verbally inspired of God. We believe the Scriptures to be the inerrant, infallible Word of God, as found within the 66 books from Genesis to Revelation. We believe God not only inspired every word, but has preserved them through the ages. We believe the King James Version is the preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people.(Psalm 12:6-7; II Timothy 3:15-17; I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:19-21).

God

We believe in one God, who is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable. We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance, yet manifests Himself to man in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; I Timothy 1:17; James 1:17; I John 4:4).

Jesus Christ

We believe Jesus Christ to be the one and only Saviour of mankind. We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born, that He was God incarnate, and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem men, and to rule over God’s kingdom. We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His Deity, but merely veiled them. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for man’s sin. This sacrifice was a just payment to God for the forgiveness of sin. It was activated by His death through the shedding of His blood on the Cross and was accepted by God upon His resurrection. We believe He ascended into Heaven after His resurrection to be seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the time of receiving His church at the Rapture, and returning seven years later to earth to rule and reign as King for 1,000 years (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 43:11; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 1:3, 14, 18, 29; Romans 3:19-25; Romans 5:6-15; Philippians 2:5-11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 2:5; I Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:10-15; Hebrews 7:26, 9:24-28; I Peter 1:19, 2:2; I John 1:3; Revelation 20:1-6).

The Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit of God is a person who has personality and all the attributes of Deity. We believe the Holy Spirit has always been involved in the affairs of mankind. However, we believe He has a special ministry which began at Pentecost and will continue until the Rapture. This ministry includes convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit was also sent to regenerate, sanctify, seal, and fill all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:5-6; John 14:16; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:15; I Corinthians 3:16; I Corinthians 6:19-20; I Corinthians 12:13).

Salvation

We believe all men were born with an inherited sin nature received from our common ancestor, Adam. We believe that because of his nature, man is a sinner by choice, and he is totally incapable of reforming himself or ceasing from his sin by his own power. We believe the only hope of deliverance for man is a total change of mind concerning his sinful condition and inability to change it, and a turning to Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. We believe that only through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the Cross can a man be delivered from his sin. We believe that all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Saviour are already condemned to an eternity in the Lake of Fire (Genesis 5:1-5; Acts 4:19; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:6-12; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; Revelation 20:11-14).

The Church

We believe the church began with the calling out of the twelve apostles by Jesus Christ and was empowered on the day of Pentecost. We believe the local church is God’s only institution to carry out His work today. We believe the local church is composed of members who have been saved and baptized according to the command of Christ, and have voluntarily united together for the purposes of worship, fellowship, service, and the Lord’s Table. We believe all true believers will be taken up at the Rapture, just prior to the Tribulation (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:15; Acts 2:41-43; Acts 11:15; Acts 20:28; I Corinthians 15: 51-58; Ephesians 1:12-14; Ephesians 5:25-30; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 3:4-15).

The Last Days

We believe in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures in their grammatical and historical context. We believe in the pre-tribulational Rapture of the church saints, followed by the seven-year Tribulation. We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ to the earth and His literal rule of one thousand years. Following this one thousand years is the Great White Throne judgment and then the new Heaven and new earth (I Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Thessalonians 5:1-9; Revelation 19-22).

Have a Relationship with Jesus

Realize God loves you. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Realize everyone is a sinner. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

Realize sin has a price that must be paid. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

Realize Jesus died and rose again to pay for your sin. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Pray and ask Jesus Christ to be your Saviour and claim His promise of eternal life. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9

If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, please contact us and let us assist you in taking your next step.

Our Heritage

On Sunday, July 18, 1954, a group of Christians met in the old, abandoned, one-room schoolhouse on Kingwood Lane for the purpose of organizing a Baptist church on the west side of Murfreesboro.

After meeting there for about a year, the county sold the schoolhouse. Desiring to move closer to town, the small congregation decided to purchase two acres on Franklin Road, thus becoming the Franklin Road Baptist Church. The original concrete block building was completed in 1955.

In 1960, the church auditorium was built twenty-five feet from the original building. A bus ministry soon began in 1963. The first bus known as “The Old Blue Goose,” was donated to the church and fixed up by the first bus captain. In 1964, the two buildings were joined and restrooms, a nursery, and baptistry were added. The Lord blessed with increased attendance, and soon the church had outgrown another building.

In the summer of 1967, an additional five acres of adjacent land was purchased and plans were made to build a 500-seat auditorium. That October, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the new brick building.

In 1969, Dr. Bob Kelley was called to be the pastor. With an active soul-winning ministry, bus ministry, and missions program, the church began to grow substantially. On Halloween night in 1970, the church completely burned to the ground. The growing congregation began to make plans to rebuild while services were held off-site for a month. During those thirty days, families still continued to join the ministry. Meanwhile, a small metal building was constructed on the church property for services to be held while the other building was being rebuilt.

The new church building was completed in 1972, and church attendance grew from 230 to nearly 600. It was during this time that Bro. Kelley and church leaders decided to pursue the idea of establishing a Christian school. During the planning stages, Pastor Kelley answered God’s call to enter evangelism. Plans for the school were given to the next pastor, and Franklin Road Christian School opened its doors in 1974 with 125 students.

On Christmas Day in 1975, the church building was completely destroyed by fire once again. During this time, church services were held in the school gymnasium. Amid plans to rebuild the church building, the church began the search for a new pastor. After seeking the advice of other pastors, and after much prayer, the deacons asked Bro. Bob Kelley if he would be willing to return and pastor FRBC once again. After prayerful consideration, Bro. Kelley accepted. During the next several years, Franklin Road saw much growth and increase. As the church began to grow, Bro. Kelley’s health began to fail. He resigned in 1991, and the church called Dr. Tom Wallace to be the pastor. In 1995, a 14,000 square foot education building was added onto to the existing church auditorium.

On January 1, 1999, the church called Dr. Mike Norris to serve as pastor. Under the direction of Dr. Norris, the church has grown to its largest point in history in both attendance as well as property. In early 2009, the church finished construction on its newest building project. This new building houses state-of-the-art nurseries, a beautiful lobby for the future auditorium, a bookstore, a coffee shop, as well as the high school of Franklin Road Christian School. Pastor Norris has a Bible-based vision for Franklin Road Baptist Church. He continually encourages members to share the Gospel with others through the weekly outreach programs, as well as the worldwide missions program and Bible-printing ministry.

Franklin Road Baptist Church has a rich history, but it is also has a bright future. Currently, Pastor Norris is leading the church through a multi-million dollar campus expansion known as Vision 20/20. This projects consists of a new education expansion, a new auditorium, and a debt retirement plan to prepare Franklin Road to be able to minister to future generations for years to come.

Come Visit Us

The best way to truly experience Franklin Road is to visit one of our services. During each service, you will be encouraged by the worship through song and the preaching of the Word of God. We offer nurseries for infants to toddlers and a variety of classes for children through twelve years old as well as teens and young adults. We look forward to seeing you at our next service!