Community Church is celebrating fifty two years of ministry this year. The first thirty two years flourished under the leadership of Pastor Rudolph Smith. God gave him the vision for this ministry as he valiantly labored to expand the Kingdom of God. Integrity has been a core value of this church because Pastor Rudolph’s theme was for us to live a righteous life. Many of us would hear him quote “Righteousness will exalt a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34) His desire was to have a ministry based on love and service in the community.
Twenty years ago God sent Pastor Michael Allan Smith to become the second pastor of this growing church. His desire for the church was to expand service to the community as a reflection of God’s love to us. Continuing the legacy of his father, the strength of his leadership is pastoral care, Christian education and church administration. Building on a solid foundation Pastor Michael has diligently sought to lead the church into twenty first century ministry.
The message of the church has not changed, but methodologies of communicating the message are constantly changing. The basic Christian message is love and forgiveness which should transform our lives. Acknowledging God’s love that changes our sinful nature to a spiritual nature is the beginning of new life in Christ. When we are radically transformed by the power of Jesus Christ, our enthusiasm should be so contagious that we desire to see other lives saved by His power divine. This is called evangelism which is converting people to become Christians.
We must remember that we are saved to serve. Serving is executing the ministry that our Lord has assigned you. We serve Christ in the following three ways: A. Evangelism which is bringing people to Christ. B. Discipleship which is developing believers to become mature Christians. C. Compassionate ministries which is serving or meeting the needs or people in the community, especially those who are experiencing brokenness. We serve so that people can move from brokenness to blessedness and experience the power of Jesus Christ.
In the year of 2018 let us continue to celebrate our legacy of love and service.
– Pastor Michael