Justin Paslay and Family

First Baptist Church of Pacific Beach

• Contact: 4747 Soledad Mountain Road, San Diego 858-273-8888 www.firstpb.org
• Membership: 112
• Pastor: Justin Paslay
• Age: 37
• Born: Fort Worth, TX
• Formation: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR; Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY
• Years Ordained: 13

San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon?

Pastor Justin Paslay: I average 25-30 hours a week, and they are expositional sermons, explicated verse to verse.

SDR: What’s your favorite sermon on which to preach?

PP: Justification by faith alone and Christ alone. I think it’s the bedrock of the Christian faith. It is an essential doctrine by which the Church exists and lives out its mission.

SDR: What is your main concern as a member of the clergy?

PP: My main concern is insuring that our aim is to make the name of Jesus known above all, and to make sure everything we do as a congregation is centered on the gospels of Jesus Christ. We are striving to be a healthy church, and in order to achieve the healthiness that would honor the Lord and reflect the commands of Christ to his church, we want to gather regularly to sit under the word preached and see the word demonstrated through the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper. We want to do all those things which the Lord uses to conform us to the image of Jesus. Out of the empathy we have for Christ, through regular intake of prayer and through striving and fighting for holiness, we believe that out of the overflow of the intimacy we have with God we will be able to love people in a way that Jesus asked us to, reflected in sacrificial living and opening our homes, practicing generous giving and welcoming hospitality, and to truly be there for the neighbors we’re called to love.

SDR: What is the mission of your church?

PP: First PC exists to display the glory of God, declare the good news of Christ Jesus, and make disciples of all nations. We have a three-part strategy. We carry out the mission of the church in light of the gospel; and in light of the gospel we worship, we experience gospel community; and we are faithful to the mission of making disciples.

SDR: What book has had the most impact on your ministry?

PP: The Valley of Vision (edited by Arthur Bennett) which is a collection of Puritan prayers. It’s always encouraging in the Christian walk to hear from the dead men who lived for Christ well, and to pray with them. In this book, your reading prayers that were written by men deeply devoted to God and experienced the same struggles we now face in pastoring. It’s a bit like getting in the huddle and crying out to God together. It’s been a really helpful tool for my soul in ministry.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PP: Death is a fork in the road, and for those who have placed their faith and trust in Christ, they experience his glorified presence, and then they await the reuniting of the glorified body which will be raised from the dead upon his second coming. But the fork in the road for those who have not experienced faith in Jesus Christ is a path of condemnation, of eternal separation. So I do hold to the Christian orthodox view – no waiting game, no purgatory, no crossing your fingers. It’s either you experience his holy presence or you exist in external separation where his presence his withheld.