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GRACE BIBLE CHURCH - CANAL WINCHESTER, OHIOAbout UsIntroductionService TimesLocation / DirectionsContact InformationA History of GracePastoral StaffWhat is Grace Church all About?Constitution & By LawsHow Can I have Eternal Life?GRACE BIBLE CHURCH - CANAL WINCHESTER, OHIO |
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What kind of a church are we? What kind of a church are we? |
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We Are... Non-denominational and independent. We believe the cross should unite believers rather than divide, so we have organized this church independent of any denominational ties. This has been a wonderful blessing to see a church come together that is made up of people from every religious (and non-religious) background that you could ever imagine. God centered in our worship. We seek to exalt the Lord together through God-centered worship that magnifies Him. We value the gathering of our church family together on the Lord's Day to delight in the beauty of our God (Psalm 27:4). Our worship is based upon truth and offered with sincerity of heart (John 4:23-24). Our worship will be lively and celebrative at times, and it will be warm and reflective at times. And at all times we desire for our worship to bring glory to Christ. Committed to relevant Bible exposition. We believe that God's Word is capable of radically changing our lives when we teach it thoroughly and apply it to our lives. Strong Bible exposition and application will be trademarks of Grace Bible Church. Because we believe that the Bible is both timeless and sufficient to meet the real needs of all people, we value communicating it by clearly expositing it so that it is allowed to speak for itself. The Word, not our opinions or traditions, is what equips and encourages the saints and convicts the sinner. We value the fact that Christians need to know the Word of God in order to grow. They need to be taught it regularly, read it regularly, and practice it always. Family oriented. We certainly have a heart for families, especially in an age when families come in all shapes and sizes. Our programs and Bible studies are designed to help your family be a success as God has intended it to be. Mission-focused. Some churches are "tradition-driven," and as important as traditions can be, our church seeks to not let that drive us. Instead, we are driven by the purposes and missions which God has established for the church: Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Service, and Evangelism. Committed to community based discipleship. The church is not just a service. It is a real life community of believers who hold one another accountable to apply the Word. Through Christian fellowship and mutual admonition, our church body ministers to itself in its progressive transformation toward Christlikeness and maturity (Eph. 4: 11-16). We value meeting regularly, not only to engage in corporate worship and to listen to the preaching of the Word of God, but to "consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near" (Hebrews 10:24, 25). Relationships within the body must be close enough to allow for "real life" interaction where spiritual and physical needs are met, people are challenged to serve others, the body is built up and Christ's character is displayed. Edification takes place when the mature of the flock sacrificially invest their lives in the less mature, and in turn, the less mature humbly submit themselves to the wisdom of their mentors. The manifold result, as Paul describes in Eph. 4:11-16, is the overall growth of the body as seen in its unity, knowledge of Christ, completeness, discernment, bold proclamation, and love. If the church is to be effective in glorifying God and evangelizing the lost, it must be stimulating one another to become more like our Lord. Children-Loving. We take children very seriously at Grace. Our programs are designed to give children the best church experience they could possibly have during their formative years. Our desire is to build a generation that loves God with all their hearts. |
What is our mission? Why do we exist? What is our mission? Why do we exist? |
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The mission of Grace Bible Church is to bring honor and glory to God, by building one another up to spiritual maturity and Christlikeness and by clearly communicating the gospel to the entire world. Or to put it simply; we worship God by making more and better disciples of Him. In that statement, there are three spiritual relationships to be cultivated as priorities in our ministry. We exist to worship God: "We believe that the purpose of the Church is to bring honor and glory to God..." God's ultimate glory must be the purpose of everything that we do (1 Corinthians 10:31). It was for this purpose that we were created (Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11). The goal of God Himself is to preserve and display His glory (Isaiah 48:11). If this is God's goal, and this is the purpose why we as creatures exist, it must also be our goal as an organized body of Christ. Therefore, our ministry will have an upward focus: worship. Worship involves both attitudes (awe, reverence, respect) and actions (bowing, praising, singing, serving, obeying). God is to be worshiped "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:25). To worship God in spirit is to worship Him with a genuine heart. God despises hypocritical worship. Jesus said, "These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me..." (Matthew 15:8-9). This genuine attitude of worship (worshiping in spirit) can only be attained by worshiping in truth. To worship God in truth is to worship Him according to His Word. Jesus prayed that God would "sanctify them in the truth; Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17). We exist to work at serving others: "...by building one another up into spiritual maturity and Christlikeness..." This is what we mean when we say that our mission is to make "better disciples." God is glorified when the church fulfills its command to build up and establish itself. Christ commanded that disciples, not simply converts, be made of all nations (Matthew 28:19). Therefore, there is an inward focus of ministry: edification. The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:11-16 that God gave the church leaders... ... for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. A biblical ministry must foster edification between believers. The goal of the pastor and the leaders of the church should be to generate proper spiritual attitudes in the hearts of the people. Godly actions will spring from godly attitudes. The following is a list of some of the dominant areas in which believers should edify one another:
We exist to witness to the lost: "...and by clearly communicating the gospel to the entire world." We must share His saving grace with others and, in turn, make "more disciples." Therefore, ministry is to have an outward focus: evangelism. Jesus told His twelve disciples that they were to go "and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Disciples are to be made of the lost by being "witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Our responsibility starts at home and spreads throughout the world. Our task is to reproduce ourselves by proclaiming Christ to every person in order to be faithful to Christ's commission and to bring every person to the knowledge of the Savior. This involves a compassion for the lost condition of those around us, a clear communication of the gospel to them, and a persuading and pleading with all to embrace Christ. We believe that it is God's desire that all men come to a saving knowledge of Himself (2 Peter 3:9). Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). The church serves a purpose in God's program to share that saving message with others. |
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| Grace Bible Church | Site Last Updated: September 12, 2007 - 11:18 am |