What are we all about here at Grace Bible Church? Let me sum up our vision statement in this sentence: In order to have a Christ-centered, multi-generational ministry, we need to connect to God, others, ministry, and the lost.
Allow me break down each part:
- DESTINATION: Christ-centered
- God’s goal for us is to be conformed to the image of Christ. (Romans 8:28-29; Hebrews 12:2; Ephesians 4:13, 15; Revelation 1:8; Colossians 3:4; I Peter 2:4-5)
- DURATION: Multi-generational
- God desires to build a body of believers that continues until Christ returns (Matthew 16:18). So we need to have an appropriate, balanced focus on every generation. We are all a link in the chain that continues until Christ returns! (II Timothy 2:2; Titus 2:4, 6; cf. Psalm 128:5-6; Isaiah 59:21; Psalm 78:4-8; Malachi 4:6) No generation is expendable at Grace Bible Church.
- STEP 1: Connect to God
- Every individual is encouraged to get into God’s Word for themselves. While gathering together in a public way (i.e. church service) can be a part of this – it is not the entirety! In order to accomplish other steps effectively, this first step provides the basis. No one can skip step 1 for other steps. Each of the following steps builds on the previous.
- STEP 2: Connect to others
- Every individual is encouraged to be involved in a small group Bible study time where they can fellowship and connect to others.
- STEP 3: Connect to ministry
- Every individual gets plugged into an area of ministry where they can serve others and with others.
- STEP 4: Connect to the lost
- Every individual is actively reaching out to a lost person and communicating what God is doing in their lives.
- This process continues as a lost person comes to Christ and you take them through that same connection process with you (called “discipleship” – Matthew 28:19-20; II Timothy 2:2).
