The Blog

CHBC Connect for June 21, 2024

God’s Vision for CHBC: 3 Piers, 3 Pillars, and 3 Purposes
3 Purposes: Equipping Believers; Exalting Christ; and Extending the Gospel

 ^“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;” (Eph. 4:11-12)

God desires that His church be equipped for the good works He saved us for (Eph. 2:10). He desires for the body of Christ to be built up, to be maturing, to be deepening its faith, and growing in its reach. How do we know this is His desire? The full story of Scripture could be called upon in its testimony of God’s purposes for His people. But all we need to do is see what is said in Ephesians 4:11-12, printed for you above.

We know God’s desire to equip believers and build the church because He has given gifts to the church for that very purpose. He places individuals in the church who have been gifted themselves for the purpose of helping the whole church deepen its understanding of who God is, what His purpose is in our lives, and how best to live for Him. He has also given people who are gifted to show us all how to be daily witnesses to the mercies of Christ’s forgiving love.

When we think about the purpose of CHBC it can seem overwhelming. But God has not told us to do something for which He is not actively providing the means to the fulfillment of His desires. This is how we equip believers to the glory of God. We do it so that He receives glory, and we do it by His power, therefore He receives glory.

By His Grace and For His Glory,

Pastor Mark

CHBC Connect for June 14, 2024

God’s Vision for CHBC: 3 Piers, 3 Pillars, and 3 Purposes
3 Pillars: Biblically-Modeled; Mission-Minded; and Multi-Cultural

And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You
were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people
and nation.’” (Rev. 5:9)

The local church is a visible representation of the universal and heavenly church. This is why we
desire to be as culturally diverse as is reasonable for our community or context. In South OKC
that means we should be a church that contains people of many different ages, different socio-
economic brackets, and different ethnic backgrounds.
While the church may be made up of people with distinct cultural backgrounds, the church also
forms one new culture in Christ. We should see a transcendent unity in the midst of our
diversity. That is what the New Testament church looked like, and that is what we strive for as
well. We are convicted to pursue life as one body in Christ where, as Paul said, “There is neither
Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are
all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28) All one, yet many tribes, tongues, people, and nations. It does
not get much more beautiful than that.

By His Grace and For His Glory,

Pastor Mark