The East Brainerd Church of Christ is a family of saved sinners, redeemed by the grace of God, cleansed by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, and united in His love by the power of His Holy Spirit. We are adopted sons and daughters of God, disciples of the Master Teacher, servants of the Lord of Lords, subjects of the King of kings. We are ordinary Christians seeking the heart of an extraordinary God.

As shepherds of the East Brainerd family, we pray that this church will discern and obey God’s will for our lives and our collective ministries, that we will recognize and achieve his plans and purposes for the East Brainerd church.

This summary of "Ministry Directions" briefly describes what we believe God wants this church to be and what He is calling this church to accomplish in His Name at the outset of the twenty-first century. From these very broad statements of direction, our deacons, ministers, and other members will develop detailed ministry goals and plans to address the works that God has prepared for us to do. These ministry directions will influence decisions about our organized programs of work, staffing, facilities, sermon topics, Bible class curricula, etc.

We believe that good stewardship of God’s resources and the gifts He has given us requires us to focus our organized efforts in a relatively few areas of ministry, rather than trying to take on more than we can effectively achieve. As we continue to grow, other ministry opportunities will undoubtedly emerge, and we will remain open to God’s leading in those areas. Please continue in prayer that we as a body will have the wisdom, faith, and love needed to shine God’s light in our community and around the world. Please pray that God will show you your place in this body and that He will use you personally in a powerful way to glorify Himself. We urge you "…in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:1-2, NIV)

In the love and service of the Master,

Your Shepherds

"… it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life..." (Philippians 2:13-16, NIV)

"… Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." (Ephesians 5:25-27, NIV)

"And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." (Ephesians 1:22-23, NIV)

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV)

Our dream for the East Brainerd church is to be what God wants us to be—to seek and embrace God’s vision for our lives. Realizing that God wants us to shine His light and to be filled to overflowing with His love and power, we seek individually and collectively to glorify Him by our daily walk with Jesus.

Seeking and embracing God’s vision for our lives—glorifying God through His power in our daily walk with Jesus

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Corinthians 4:7, NIV)

"For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all…"(2 Corinthians 5:14, NIV)

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."(2 Corinthians 5:17-20, NIV)

"…preaching a baptism of changed hearts and lives for the forgiveness of sins…" (Mark 1:4, NCV)

"But most important, love each other. Love is the thing that holds you all together in perfect unity." (Colossians 3:14, ETRV)

"To the people that are weak, I became weak so I could help save them. I have become all things to all people. I did this so that I could save people in any way possible." (I Corinthians 9:22, ETRV)

We are by our nature "jars of clay"—weak, imperfect, uncomely. But empowered by God and compelled by the love of Jesus, we seek to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation given to us by God. As His ambassadors, we are changing lives by sharing the love of Jesus and the good news of His saving grace—face to face, heart to heart—through:

• Evangelism of the lost
• Edification and encouragement of the saved
• Service in the name of Christ

Changing lives by sharing the love of Jesus and the good news of His saving grace—face to face, heart to heart

We ask God to consecrate our lives and our church family to His plans and purposes, as we strive by His grace and power to glorify Him. We commit ourselves to these ministry directions and life goals, if God wills:

• To maintain our focus on Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God and Savior of the world. (John 3:16)
• To be people of the Word—growing individually in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, as students of the Bible and disciples of the Master Teacher. (Ephesians 4:14-16)
• To be people of prayer—growing in faith, earnestly trusting in God, and leaving more and more room for His wisdom and power in our decisions and our day-to-day walk. (I Timothy 2:1-4; Luke 18:1)
• To live lives of worship—recognizing that worship of God is not confined to praise in a public assembly, that every facet of a Christian’s life should manifest reverence, awe, commitment, obedience, thanksgiving, and love toward God. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—which is your spiritual worship." (Romans 12:1)
• To be a family of encouragers—practicing love, kindness, and hospitality.
• To be good neighbors with servant hearts, wisely and generously sharing God’s blessings with people in need—from our common treasury as well as our personal resources. (Matthew 22:37-39)
• To encourage and promote development of deeper spiritual relationships: (1) Personal intimacy with God. (2) Close, supportive relationships within small groups. (3) Fellowship with the East Brainerd congregation as a whole. (4) Identification with and love for Christ’s church universal (across the city and around the world). (Mark 16:15-16; Philippians 4:4-7)
• To practice the Biblical model of older, more mature Christians teaching the less mature—providing opportunities for development of cross-generational relationships that encourage and facilitate this.
• To continue restoring the doctrine, spirit, and fellowship of New Testament Christianity in our lives—reviving the restoration plea for unity and purity. (John 17:2-21) The Bible, God’s inspired Word, is our standard. We will respect tradition without being bound to it. We do not seek change for change’s sake, but we will consider new ministry techniques and worship styles if they meet a need and do not conflict with scripture.
• To live in harmony with one another, so the God of love and peace will be with us. (II Corinthians 13:11) We will not argue or fight over matters of opinion; rather, we will "submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." (Ephesians 5:21)
• To become more diligent in and more effective at personal evangelism—magnifying Christ and spreading the gospel by our lives and our message. (II Corinthians 5:17-20; Colossians 1:3-6)
• To establish and maintain an effective Family Ministry, helping to:strengthen, save, and restore marriages; support and strengthen parent-child relationships; support and encourage single and spiritually single parents; provide divorce recovery counseling and support.
• To sustain vibrant ministries to children and teens, helping to: teach them about God; lead them to Christ; and fulfill the promise of Psalm 22:30-31—"…future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn…"
• To be a "mustard seed" fellowship, a growing body—recognizing continued growth of the kingdom as our destiny. (Matthew 13:31-32)
• To function as a many-membered body—with every member bringing glory to God through involvement in the life and work of the church. (Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 4:16; Hebrews 12:2)
• To set ministry priorities and plans based on people’s needs, sincere prayer, and Biblical principles—evaluating each opportunity with these questions: (1) Is it scriptural? (2) Does it meet a need? (3) Is God leading us to take on this work as a part of our organized congregational ministry?
• To financially support evangelists,ministers, counselors, secretaries, custodians, and other staff as appropriate to serve as our co-laborers, as resource and support personnel for the elders, deacons, and other members—to help us be more effective in accomplishing God’s purposes.
• To use our property and facilities wisely and productively as TOOLS OF MINISTRY—developing and maintaining facilities that are most practical and beneficial for our ministries and assemblies.