Our Plan To Help Our Members Grow
Every church, as led by the Elders of that body, has the responsibility of determining how they are going to strive to fulfill God’s calling to “shepherd the flock” which has been entrusted to their authority and care. The ordained Elders of God’s local churches are tasked with the responsibility not only to watch over, protect, and defend God’s flock, but also to diligently “equip the saints for the work of ministry.” This means we are striving to help you grow up to full maturity in Christ. We do so in order that your life may be progressively renewed in every part according to the grace of God which has been promised to all who believe. God’s gracious, merciful, and sovereign love for us in the gospel is the ever-flowing fountain from which all true Christian obedience springs forth.
In our desire as Elders to faithfully care for you according to God’s will and design, we have prayerfully determined a general approach to ministry which we believe will encourage the spiritual health of our church. We are not striving to cultivate a church of people who merely show up to a particular building on Sunday mornings, but rather a real Christ-centered community of people living on mission for God in the midst of the ordinary moments of their everyday lives. We want to help you know God truly, and love God fully. We believe that cultural or Sunday-only Christianity is not only unhealthy, but also unwise, often artificial, and ultimately contrary to God’s holy design. With love, understanding, tenderness and patience, and yet also a fervent devotion to the good of your soul, we want to be a church in which our members are joyfully pursuing a full and flourishing walk with God.
As you consider making Covenant Grace Church your home, we want to cast a vision for you of what healthy membership looks like in our eyes. We know that life is full of twists and turns, that we are in different places in our spiritual growth, and that circumstances are not always easy to navigate. Nevertheless, our desire and expectation for our members is that they are doing their best to pursue full participation in the following aspects of the life of our church: Growing together, Gathering together, and Going together. We encourage and expect this for two primary reasons:
We believe that your participation in these things is in your best interests as a Christian.
We have been entrusted with the care of our member’s souls by the almighty God. We will be required to give an account of how we have been faithful in (1) pointing them to Christ and (2) in helping them respond in faithful obedience to the whole counsel of God’s Word.
1. Growing Together In Christ
Lord’s Day Worship (Sunday)
Midweek Discipleship (Wednesday)
Personal Pursuit of Christ Through God’s Word & Prayer (Daily)
Our primary discipleship ministries are Lord’s Day Worship and Midweek Discipleship. Through these ministries we are striving to faithfully minister the Word of God to our flock for their progress and joy in Christ. This includes encouragement, instruction, counsel, practical application, and even correction when needed. All of these facets of the ministry of God’s Word are given to God’s children for their benefit and blessing. To use a helpful metaphor, through each of these times of being together to grow under the ministry of the Word, the Elders of Covenant Grace are prayerfully preparing a rich spiritual meal to serve to our beloved congregation. This spiritual feast is intended by God to nourish, satisfy, strengthen, and sustain your soul as you walk by faith through all of life. In addition to our private personal pursuit of Christ, we encourage and expect the members of our church to make these events a priority in their lives, to participate regularly, and even to reorganize their schedules as needed to pursue these opportunities for continued growth together in Christ.
2. Gathering Together In Christ
Pursuing meaningful relationships with “one another”
Fellowshipping together and encouraging “one another” in Christ
Praying for, supporting, and bearing “one another’s” burdens in love
A very significant, (yet often overlooked), aspect of the Christian life is our call to live in authentic and meaningfully-connected relationships with “one another” as children of God. The New Testament is filled with verses which identify the manifold aspects of this calling. As Elders, we desire to both model and cultivate this kind of genuine community life among those who call our church home. We desire our flock to be actively connecting with each other both inside and outside of our formal gatherings by praying for one another, checking in over the phone, sharing burdens and struggles, hosting times of fellowship with others, and spurring one another on toward faithfulness in Christ. By so doing, much of the burdens and needs which we all face in life, will no longer be faced in isolation, or attempted to be carried alone. Rather, we will be able to link arms with one another, have trusted friends to confide in, find the encouragement and support that we need, and be able to offer the same things to others as they face trials of their own. Living for the glory of God is never easy, but doing it alone is almost impossible.
3. Going Together In Christ
Living evangelistically in the midst of everyday life
Seeking opportunities to share your faith with others
Cultivating relationships with those who do not know Christ
Inviting others into the life of our church
It is no secret that God intends to call men, women, and children from every neighborhood and every nation to be His chosen possession for all eternity. However, the way that God has designed to do this is through His ordinary people—like you and me!—living out their faith in public view, sharing Christ with others, pursuing the lost, and inviting those who are dead in their sins to receive the free gift of salvation in Christ. There are certainly special callings in this regard, such as pastors, missionaries, and evangelists. But God’s primary way is not through special events hosted by the church, but through ordinary saints living on mission for Christ in the midst of their everyday lives. We encourage and expect our members to be prayerfully pursuing relationships with those who are outside of Christ, sharing their faith often, and inviting others into the life of our church. There are innumerable ways that this might look in our lives, but all of us have been called to “Go and make disciples…”
A Persistent, Steady, & Faithful Pursuit
While there are other events and opportunities that will come up from time to time, this is the ordinary approach we are encouraging our church body to faithfully pursue each week. There is nothing flashy or glamorous about it, but we believe that these ordinary means are what God has appointed for His precious church to flourish for His glory throughout the world. Little by little, through a persistent, steady, and faithful pursuit of Christ, you will not only grow strong, assured, and fruitful in your own faith, but we also believe God will use you to pour into the lives of others. By his strength, God will use his ordinary people to help others come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, receive His free grace, unite to His local church, and to be spent for His everlasting glory.