Pea Ridge Baptist Church

I am excited about our mission and vision as a church! We have been called to make disciples. It is the very heart of what the church is to be and do. Matthew’s gospel records the commissioning words of Jesus… “go and make disciples of all nations “ (Matt. 28: 19). Jesus is our model and he came “to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). He came not “to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10: 45). He held back nothing to reach those he loved.

Our vision is about a process of discipleship…that a disciple of Jesus Christ will Know Christ Completely…Grow in Maturity…Serve Wholeheartedly…Share God Personally.

What does it mean to know Christ? The Bible has much for us to learn about what it means to know Christ…and we really want to know him completely…that is our goal. I believe that knowing Christ completely will begin as we acknowledge Christ’s presence around us daily and in corporate setting such as prayer meetings and worship. It is in these setting that we really begin to experience Christ’s presence and then come to a deeper understanding of all the Jesus has done for us. We must come of some understanding or knowing about some of these things. Let the truth of God’s word carry this future…
“We KNOW that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin”
(Romans 6:6, ESV)

“Formerly, when you did not KNOW God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
But now that you have come to KNOW God, or rather to be KNOWN by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world,
whose slaves you want to be once more?”
(Galatians 4:8-9, ESV)

“For I decided to KNOW nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified”
(1 Corinthians 2:2, ESV)

And more than just knowing about who Jesus Christ is for us…we are confident that he is present with us daily. The apostle Paul wrote, “And we KNOW that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, ESV). The more we know Christ completely…the more we will understand is good and perfect plan for our lives.

So we know what Christ have done for us…we know that he is with us to work in our lives…and we know that know that through his power and love, we can ultimately be made some complete in Him. A verse that has been in my heart and mind so much lately is from Ephesians. Paul writes these words as a his prayer for the saints at Ephesus… “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to KNOW the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19, ESV).

Knowing Christ is about loving Christ…Knowing Christ is about being KNOWN by Christ…Knowing Christ is about understanding God’s gift and acts of grace in our lives every day. Let’s strive to KNOW Christ completely as a church!

Pastor Greg