Church Is Essential

Church is Essential 2023

The last few years of ministry during the COVID-19 pandemic have been some of the most tumultuous and stressful that many of us have ever experienced. Vacillating pandemic restrictions that affected not just churches but all of society, created major challenges for us as pastors as we sought to care for the flock. But despite these recent trials, it is clear that God has sovereignly used the pandemic to disrupt the status quo. We are now forced to answer tough questions that reveal our fundamental assumptions about the nature of church and ministry. Is a hybrid schedule of part-time online and part-time in-person worship permissible for church members? Are my church’s programs truly equipping disciples for spiritual warfare and radical obedience to Jesus? Or have they served as a breeding ground for self-serving, consumeristic Christianity? If our government passes legislation that impinges on our freedom or ability to teach, preach, or gather, is our theology regarding the church and ministry sufficiently strong that we will have conviction to know where, when, and how to stand?

A conversation with Rob Godard & Mark Jones

A conversation with Rob Godard & Sam Chua

In a culture that is radically individualistic and continues to march in a moral direction that is diametrically opposed to the Christian worldview, we are compelled to engage with these thorny questions head-on for the sake of the holiness and purity of the church of the living God. We believe that the Bible teaches that the church is not a mere building made of brick and wood, but a spiritual house made up of living stones. We believe that the Bible teaches that the church is a pillar and a buttress of the truth. We believe that the Bible teaches that the church is God’s chosen instrument through which he proclaims the precious Gospel of Jesus Christ. The church is Plan A and there is no Plan B.

It is our hope that at this year’s TGC BC Conference 2023, we would have the opportunity to be mutually encouraged and sharpened as we consider our conference theme—The Church Is Essential. May God bless the work of our hands as we seek to lift up the name of Jesus Christ! Soli Deo Gloria!