CHBC Connect for November 15, 2024
Practical Action in Fulfilling the Mission of CHBC:
Capitol Hill Baptist Church exists to glorify God by equipping believers, exalting Christ, and extending the gospel to our neighbors and the nations. That might be just a phrase you hear. But I want it to be a reality you embrace. This is not the mission statement of the staff of CHBC. It is not a slogan to put on letterhead, social media, or church merch.
It is intended to be a rally cry around which the church, the people of CHBC, find focus and purpose. It is intended to put meaning in your daily routine. This calling is meant to give your work a larger purpose. These words are a call for students to see beyond homework and sports to their own spiritual life and to the need of their friends to hear the gospel. Moms who are caring for children are to see past the diapers and dirty house to the evangelism and discipleship of their precious children.
Phrases and mottos need practical action if they are to take on life. How can you practically embrace the mission of the church?
- Being a believer who is being equipped includes personally committing to daily Bible reading; attending faithfully a Sunday School class; engaging mentally in the sermon each Sunday; reading theologically sound books; and developing a relationship of accountable discipleship with others who actively desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Being a believer who exalts Christ means pursuing your own personal, practical holiness, and engaging mentally and emotionally in gathered public worship with your church family. In a personal way you are not just studying the Bible and theological truths, but you are applying the truths you learn to your daily life. You are bearing fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt. 3:8); you are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-24); and you bear the marks of one who is gradually becoming more like Christ (Heb. 10:14). Publicly, exaltation means you are present physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually with the church on a weekly basis. You are present not just to consume a product the church is offering, but to serve the Lord and His people by your presence, by your gifts, and by your willing sacrifice of life to God (Rom. 12:1-2).
- Being a believer who extends the gospel to our neighbors and the nations involves giving personal witness to the good news of Jesus Christ, and actively engaging in prayer and giving for the cause of the gospel to be spread across the city, the state, the nation, and the world. You are sharing Christ in your home, in your workplace, in your neighborhood, and with anyone who God places in your path. You actively pray for missionaries and mission efforts around the world, knowing that Christ will return once the gospel has been proclaimed to the nations (Mark 16:15).
I am encouraging you today to consider where you are in personally applying the mission to equip, exalt, and extend. Do not look at these thoughts and feel defeated or limited. If you are not engaged in any of these ways yet, pick a starting point and begin. Christ is at work in you through the Holy Spirit. There is no condemnation (Rom. 8:1). So, by His gospel grace, begin. But do not feel limited by these ideas either. You may be engaged in all these ways already. You have not arrived. God is urging you to pursue Him more deeply, worship Him more profoundly, and share the gospel more broadly. The goal is to embrace the mission of CHBC. This is our church; therefore, this is our mission to fulfill together. I cannot wait to meet with you on Sunday to hear how this is happening for you, and to encourage those who are fainthearted on the journey.
By His Grace, and For His Glory,
Pastor Mark
