Our awesome God has blessed the purpose. That purpose is couched within the words of Paul’s doxology of Ephesians 3:21, “To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” That statement reveals to us the fact that the supreme purpose for the Lord’s Church upon this earth is to glorify God. We should also observe the words of Philippians 2:9-11).
In light of the foregoing purpose, I am pleased and highly blessed to have received the noble calling to serve as the minister of the Eastside Church of Christ in Garland, Texas. The Lord has blessed that church with six faithful elders: Myself, Bro. Ben Foster, Sr., Brother Gregory Allmon, Brother Roy Foster, Sr., Brother James Perry, Sr., and Bro. David Woods, Sr. The sixth elder was Bro. James Bradford who was funeralized in August, 2013. These brethren have a passion for doing the work of the Lord, and I look forward to continue to work with them, along with the three deacons and with the whole church.
I bring to the working force forty-six years of preaching experience, while forty-one of those years having been coupled with my being a professor of Bible and Religious Education at Southwestern Christian College in Terrell, Texas.
While the overarching mission of the church is to glorify God, specific ramifications of that mission are provided for us in Ephesians 4:11-13:
It was he who gave
Some to be apostles,
Some to be prophets,
Some to be evangelists,
And some to be pastors
And teachers, to prepare God’s people
For works of service,
So that the body of Christ
May be guilt up until we reach unity in the faith
And in the knowledge of the Son of God
And become mature, attaining to
The whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (NIV)
That passage provides three essential dynamics of the mission of the church. All of these dynamics are unique ways that the church will use to "Glorify God".
The first dynamic purports that the various functionaries are positioned in the church “To prepare God’s people for works of service.” This means that our primary purpose will be to equip the saints with the preparation and development to do the work of the ministry. That work is manifested through the perimeters of evangelism, benevolence, and edification.
The second dynamic challenges us to build up the body of Christ. This is done by maturing the saints to work the ministry of the church. This dynamic will be activated through programs for building up the church from within the body, and through programs that will minister to the community of Garland and abroad.
Thirdly, this mission involves equipping the saints to reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God by becoming mature and by equipping them to attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
What a mission we have before us in the church today! In other words, the whole church is challenged to take the whole gospel to the whole world.
I close this web page article with the words of Paul in Romans 8:31, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
