Our Story

In 2016, shortly after completing his enlistment with the United States Navy, Michael Barber surrendered his life to the gospel preaching ministry. During that time, God began developing in his heart a burden for inner-city church planting.

After graduating from Bible college, Michael accepted a full-time staff position as an associate pastor in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It was there, in the fall of 2023, that Michael and his wife, Megan, surrendered to God’s call and leading to start a new church in the inner city of Nashville, Tennessee.

About TSBC

What Makes TSBC Different?

Tri-Star Baptist Church is a Fundamental, Independent Baptist Church. Let’s help define these terms:

Fundamental

We are fundamental, meaning that we firmly believe and stand upon the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith as taught in Scripture. The word fundamental is sometimes viewed negatively, particularly when used in a religious context. However, the word itself simply refers to that which is foundational or essential. Everyone has fundamental beliefs—the important question is whether those beliefs are founded upon truth.

Fundamentalism becomes dangerous when a person is firmly committed to error. As Christians, we are fundamental because we believe the foundational truths of our faith are not based upon man made religion, human tradition, changing culture, or personal opinion, but upon the truth of God's Word.

Therefore, when we call ourselves Fundamental Baptists, we mean that we are committed to standing without compromise upon the fundamental truths of Scripture. We believe the Bible is the inspired and authoritative Word of God; Jesus Christ is God the Son; He was born of a virgin, died as our substitute for sin, bodily rose from the grave, and is coming again; and salvation is by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Independent

We are independent, meaning that our church is autonomous and accountable directly to the Lord. The word independent describes an important distinction about our church. Tri-Star Baptist Church is not part of a denomination, convention, or ecclesiastical hierarchy. We believe that the biblical local church is autonomous under the authority of Jesus Christ and accountable to Him through His Word.

The term “Independent Fundamental Baptist,” or “IFB,” is sometimes used as though it identifies a denomination or organization. It does not. There is no governing IFB headquarters, denominational leadership, or ecclesiastical body exercising authority over all churches that use this description. Independent Baptist churches may share similar beliefs and voluntarily fellowship or cooperate with one another, but each church remains a distinct and self-governing congregation.

Independence, however, should never mean an absence of accountability. We believe every local church is responsible before God to conduct its ministry with biblical integrity, to establish proper safeguards and accountability, and to address wrongdoing rather than conceal or excuse it.

At Tri-Star Baptist Church, our ultimate authority is not a movement, personality, institution, or tradition. It is Jesus Christ and His Word.

Baptist

We are Baptist, meaning that we hold to the biblical convictions historically identified with Baptist churches. First and foremost, we are Christians—children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We are not Christians because we are Baptists, nor do we believe that being a Baptist saves anyone. Our identity is found in Christ. The name Baptist simply and broadly identifies the body of biblical doctrine and practice to which we hold and helps others understand where we stand.

Today, the term Baptist is used rather loosely. Churches bearing the Baptist name can differ significantly in doctrine, practice, worship, and even their understanding of Scripture. For that reason, the name alone does not tell you everything we believe. Historically, however, Baptists have been characterized by a commitment to biblical authority and doctrines that would later be identified with historic Christian fundamentalism—the inspiration and authority of Scripture, the deity of Christ, His virgin birth, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, salvation by grace through faith, and His promised return. We interpret Scripture according to a literal, grammatical, and historical method of interpretation.

We believe doctrine matters. Biblical doctrine is not merely the concern of pastors, theologians, or Bible colleges; every Christian should desire to know what he believes and why he believes it. The Bible commands us to study, discern, and faithfully hold to sound doctrine. Therefore, our doctrinal convictions are not adopted merely because they are Baptist traditions. They should be the result of careful, studious examination of the Word of God.

When we identify ourselves as Baptists, we are communicating our conviction that the Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice and that its teachings lead us to distinct biblical positions concerning salvation, believer's baptism by immersion, the autonomy of the local church, the priesthood of every believer, religious liberty, and other doctrines historically associated with Baptists.

We are Christians by faith in Christ and Fundamental Baptists by doctrinal conviction - Bible Believing Christians. Names do not replace our identity in Christ; it helps others understand what we believe the Scriptures teach.

TSBC

Our desire is to be a church the way church ought to be— without blemish, grounded in timeless biblical truth rather than passing cultural trends. The word of God is Gods means of sanctifying and cleansing His church. Paul described this kind of church in Ephesians: “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

Our services are designed to be both reverent and vibrant, featuring hymn based, Christ-honoring music, reverent worship, genuine fellowship, and powerful, Bible-centered preaching.

The vision of TSBC is driven by a commitment towards fulfilling the Great Commission by actively reaching our community and the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, all for the glory of God.

We warmly invite you to join us as we move forward by faith, seeking to see lives transformed through the power of God's Word and the saving message of Jesus Christ. We would be honored to welcome you to one of our services.

Doctrine

  • The word of God is central to our faith. Tri-Star Baptist Church rejects the confusion created by the proliferation of modern Bible versions and stands firmly against attacks on the authority of God's Word. We believe God's promise to preserve His Word perfectly and without error, and we affirm that God is not the author of confusion.

    Furthermore, we believe the Bible teaches that God has supernaturally preserved His Word throughout all generations. Therefore, we recognize the King James Bible as the preserved and inerrant Word of God for English-speaking people.

    Because we believe the King James Bible is without error, we do not seek to correct, revise, or critically evaluate its text. Rather, we receive it by faith as God's perfectly preserved Word and submit ourselves to its authority, trusting and obeying it as God's holy revelation to mankind.

  • We believe the Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God. We believe the writings of the Old and New Testaments are fully God-breathed to the extent that the very words were chosen by God from the human writers vocabulary so that the Bible is the very word of God, inerrant in all its assertions and teachings. The Bible is therefore the only infallible authority for both doctrine and life. Since this is true, it is the special revelation of God to man and the only basis for true Christian unity. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Matthew 5:18; Acts 1:16; Mark 12:36; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Hebrews 4:12; John 10:35;16:12,13;17:17)

  • We believe God is supreme in His Person, eternal in His being, absolute in His attributes, and glorious in His Perfection. We believe in the Trinity. We believe in one Triune God, the creator of heaven and earth. We believe that in the unity of the Godhead there are three distinct persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory. God is personal, spirit, omniscient, sovereign, perfect, immutable, eternal in His being, holiness, love, wisdom, and power. We believe that God is absolutely separate and above the world as its creator, yet every where present in the world as the sustainer of all things. God is self-existent and self-revealing in His relationship with His creation. (Genesis 1:1; Matthew 28:19; Deuteronomy 4:35; 6:4; 1 Corinthian 8:6; John 1:1-3; Romans 1:2-4; Ephesians 4:3-6)

  • We believe in the virgin birth of Christ, His Deity, and sinless life, His vicarious death, along with His bodily resurrection and ascension, and in His personal, pre-millennial return. We believe the Lord Jesus Christ is the second person of the Godhead, God in the flesh, virgin born as no other man has ever been born nor ever will be born. He lived an absolutely sinless life and became the sinner's voluntary substitute on the Cross by His vicarious death for man's sin. Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day, giving eternal assurance of redemption's full payment and the satisfaction of God's righteous indignation toward sin. He ascended bodily into heaven and he will come to rapture His saints to be with Himself. His coming for His saints is imminent and will be personal, pre-tribulational, and pre-millennial. (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18; John 1:1; 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Luke 1:35; 1 Peter 2:22; 3:18)

  • We believe the Holy Spirit is the executive of the Godhead. We believe that He executes the Plan of God for our conviction and salvation. Christians are partakers of the Holy Spirit and empowered for service by Him. We believe the Holy Spirit is a person possessing all the attributes of Deity. He convicts the unbelieving world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He regenerates, seals, indwells, fills the believer and bestows gifts upon believers for service. He teaches the believer and sets him apart for a holy life. We believe the Bible repudiates the charismatic emphasis upon the experiential oriented tongues and ecumenical practices as any ministry of the Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit is the Commander-in-Chief of missions and that His testimony is not of Himself but Jesus Christ and the redemptive truths centered in Christ. (John 14:16,17; 16:8; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Acts 5:3,4; Ephesians 1:13,14; Romans 8:9)

  • We believe that man was created in the image of God and by choice fell into sin and death. Hence, every person is sinful and under condemnation to eternal judgment. We believe that man was created by a direct act of God in the image and likeness of his Creator. By disobedience to the revealed will of God, man forfeited his reign over the earth and fell from his created state and standing with God. Therefore, all men are universally sinful both by nature and choice, and are void of the righteousness of God. All men are thus alienated from the life and family of God, without excuse, under the righteous judgment and wrath of God, and have within themselves no possible means of salvation. (Genesis 1:27; Romans 3:23; 5:12-19; Isaiah 53:6; Ephesians 2:1-3).

  • We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of Grace, and that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. We believe in the salvation of man by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. We believe that salvation is the free gift of God, neither merited nor secured in part nor in whole by any virtue or work of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom all true believers have as a present possession the gift of eternal life, a perfectly righteous standing, sonship in the family of God by a new birth. We believe that the cross of Christ is redemptive, substitutionary, propitiatory and the only basis of reconciliation for all lost men who believe and that there is no possible salvation outside of Jesus Christ and His shed blood. (John 3:3-6, 16;10:28-29; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 Timothy 2:5,6; 1 Peter 1:18-23).

  • We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free by the Gospel, that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the Gospel. We believe that salvation was accomplished on the cross by Jesus Christ and is extended to all men as a gift to be received by faith. The basis of this salvation is totally the grace that provided the cross. Although all men are responsible to receive the gift of salvation in Christ, only those who respond to the ministry of the Spirit of God in the presentation of the Gospel will be saved. Salvation is the free and completed gift of God to all who will believe. (John 1:12; 3:16; 5:24; 12:46; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:11-13).

  • We believe that those who receive Jesus Christ as Savior are eternally secure. Our security rests on the finished work of Jesus Christ. As a result, we have assurance. We believe that the true believer is forever secure as a redeemed possession of God. This security is founded on the full payment of the believer’s sin by the cross of Christ in His substitutionary atonement and God’s proof of receipt of that payment in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The sole condition of salvation is faith in Jesus Christ and His redemptive work. This positive expression of faith has as its negative side repentance and rejection of any other basis of salvation. Therefore, the security of the believer is not conditioned upon his circumstances nor emotional experiences nor strength but it is an acceptance of that basis of reconciliation which has already been accepted by God. The believer is in the possession of God, which is the opposite of lost. He is secure because God has taken the responsibility for His own. (John 10:27-30; 1 John 2:1-2; Romans 8:31-34, 38-39; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Hebrews 2:10).

  • We believe that the local church is a congregation of baptized believers, practicing New Testament principles, believing its doctrines, observing its ordinances, and exercising its autonomy. We believe that a local church is an organized body of believers immersed upon credible confession of faith in Jesus Christ, recognizing only two offices (filled by pastor and deacon), sovereign in polity, and bonded together for work, worship, mutual edification, observance of the ordinances and the worldwide proclamation of the Gospel. The church is distinct from Israel in the Old Testament, autonomous, with Christ as its head. (Matthew 28:19-20; Ephesians 1:22,23; Acts 2:41-47; Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Corinthians 12).

  • We believe in the eternal blessedness of the saved in Heaven and the eternal punishment of the lost in Hell. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and lost, secured by the bodily resurrection of Christ. The spirits of the saved at death go immediately to be with Christ in heaven, their lives and works shall be evaluated at the Judgment Seat of Christ for the determination of rewards which will take place when Christ comes for His own in the rapture. They will experience the blessedness of God’s presence for all eternity. The spirits of the unsaved at death descend immediately into Hades where they are kept under punishment until the Great White Throne Judgment. At this time, their bodies shall be raised from the grave and be cast into the eternal lake of fire, the place of final and everlasting punishment. (John 5:28,29; 14:2; Revelation 20:14,15; 21:4; Matthew 25:46).