aboutus

“Dyersburg does not need another church,” I told some friends a couple of years ago.  Today, after living, working, and raising our family here, I would say that Dyersburg definitely needs a new faith community, but one that doesn’t reproduce anything that’s already here.

So, what does this mean?

First, Jesus is the big idea of the Bible, the big idea of the church, and the big idea accomplishing our salvation.  We don’t partner with Jesus for our salvation and there’s nothing we can do to add to His work on the cross!  Peter, one of Jesus’ guys, tells us that we were not bought/saved/ransomed with perishable things such as silver and gold, but the with the imperishable blood of the Lamb, of Christ!  Salvation is all about Jesus!  Jonah made it real plain: “Salvation belongs to the Lord.”

God’s salvation for us isn’t tied to externals like things we eat or drink, clothes we wear, or the good lives we falsely believe we’re living.  God’s salvation is all about the perfect life Jesus lived, the sacrificial death only He could die, and the amazing resurrection that only the power of God could produce.

Secondly, Who is the Holy Spirit?  Is the Holy Spirit some sort of thing that makes you flop on the floor like a fish and say stuff that nobody on the planet understands or is the Holy Spirit the One who convicts of sin, illuminates the Scriptures, and provides the absolutely necessary help to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus?!  We go with the second one; the Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Guide, and the One who opens our eyes!  The old song goes, “I once was blind, but now I see.”  It was the Holy Spirit who opened the eyes of the guy who wrote this antique tune.

Third: Who leads the church?  To put it plainly, Jesus is the CEO and the top Man on the organizational chart.  Under Jesus, God appoints men as pastors who are called, qualified, and trained to serve in interpreting Biblical doctrines, preaching God’s Word, and the executive functions of the church.  Next, it takes an army of men and woman who are called, qualified, and trained to serve the endless needs of the church from childcare to tech to cleaning up the mess that left behind after worship.  These folks are called servants or deacons.

Those who are called to serve as deacons are vital to the day to day functionality of Jesus’ church.  You really have to have a heart like Jesus to want to serve in a position that will receive very little, if any, public recognition and mostly does work that most people would pay someone else to do.

Fourth – what Jesus started way back in the Bible is a movement, not a monument that needs to be erected or a museum that needs to be preserved.  The Bible defines those who believe in Christ as people who have come from darkness to light, living stones, and a people who have been made truly alive!  So what does this mean for the church?   When you’ve been made alive in Christ, it’s something you can’t keep to yourself!  If you’ve ever experienced guilt, shame, failure, or have been let down then you’ve felt the pain, hurt, and regret that sin brings.  The Bible tells us that, “We’ve all sinned and fell short of God’s glory.”  We’re also taught that while we were actually God’s enemies, Christ died on the cross, in our place for our sin.  That’s a big deal!  When you’ve experienced the grace that only Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross can bring, then it’s time to share that with those around you!  This is called being on mission for Jesus.