The Blog

CHBC Connect for August 30, 2024

Equipping, Exalting and Extending for the Glory of God:
God’s Mission for CHBC: CHBC seeks to Equip Believers, Exalt Christ, and Extend the Gospel

The mission of the church is the same in all places and all times. A church on mission is figuring out how best in its context to fulfill God’s ultimate mission. His mission for the church is that lost people are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and brought into a relationship with Him whereby they love and treasure the Son, are taught to obey all His commands, and become ambassadors for the Kingdom of God to bring more worshippers out of sin into new life in Christ, and the process goes on and on and on.

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:18-21)

As a church, CHBC expresses this mission with three intentional and memorable statements: to Equip Believers, to Exalt Christ, and to Extend the Gospel. These are not steps or stages, but an ongoing intertwined process. The members of CHBC are those who have trusted in Christ as Lord and been baptized. They are on the journey of sanctification so that they are growing in their love and worship of Christ, are increasing in their knowledge of God, His Word, and His providential work in the world, and are witnesses of His redeeming work through personal testimony, and participatory giving for the spread of gospel across the state, nation, and world.

In other words, we are equipping and helping to equip others in the process of spiritual growth. We personally live in such a way to exalt the name of Christ, and faithfully gather with the body of Christ to corporately exalt Jesus as Lord. And we pray for and look for ways to share our faith with our neighbors, and are willing participants in praying, giving, and going to the nations until the gospel is extended to the ends of the earth.

This is our mission. If you are part of CHBC this is your mission. If you are a guest of CHBC, we are inviting you to do something bigger than yourself and join us on this exciting mission quest of growing, gathering, and going to His glory.

By His Grace and For His Glory,

Pastor Mark

CHBC Connect for August 23, 2024

Being a Church that Exists for the Glory of God:

God’s Purpose for CHBC: To be a Church that Exists for the Glory of God

When I speak about CHBC I talk about our purpose, our mission, our vision, and our core values. Nothing of consequence happens without purpose. The wisest man in the world, Solomon, sought for purpose in life and discovered it is absolute futility to seek meaning and purpose in this life only. His concluding comments on his search are these: Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, discovered the futility of life when it is lived only for this world. He gives these concluding remarks in the book of Ecclesiastes: "Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

Fearing God and keeping His commandments is another way to say live for His glory. We glorify God by enjoying Him, loving Him, trusting Him, and obeying His will, His Word, and His commandments (The New City Catechism, Question 6). True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7). The ability to discover purpose or meaning begins with reverential awe of God. To see His beauty in the world, in the way He works, in the wisdom of His commands, and in the glorious nature of the gospel is necessary for wisdom. Wisdom is necessary to find purpose. And our purpose is to bring Him glory.

The search for purpose is the life of glorying in God. This is our purpose as human beings, and it is our purpose as a church. We glorify God as a church when we enjoy God, love God, trust God, and obey His will, His word, and His commands. Therefore, we are wise to give attention to the gathered worship, the Sunday School, and every other ministry of the church to make much of God, to learn His Word, to study His ways in our world, and to press one another toward obedience to Him. That is wise living. And that not only gives us purpose but fulfills His purpose for the church.

By His Grace and For His Glory,

Pastor Mark