Church Update 07/19/23   

Dear Church Family,  

On Sunday, we made the following announcements;  

• Our June attendance was follows:  
  • Average weekly attendance – 77  
• Joe Engler was announced as our new Church Treasurer.  Joe has a deep background in accounting and finance and we are fortunate to have him on our team.  He and his wife Ginny have been with the church for many years and are also regular participants in the CBS Bible studies on Tuesdays in the winter months.  

The Copperopolis Community Food Pantry will be holding their monthly distribution to the public this Thursday from 1-4pm at the church.  Please spread the word to anyone you may know who is in need of groceries.  

We held our first Church Business Meeting after the service on Sunday where we reviewed the results of the all church survey held in May.  Some key takeaways from the presentation were:

• Our membership (and the community) view us as a Biblically sound church.
• Our reputation is as a friendly and welcoming church with a member demographic on the older side.
• Our Bible focused ministry brings people in and you, our congregation keeps them coming with your welcoming attitude.
• There was a strong desire expressed for young families with children to return to the church.   

A special note to our newer families with children;  “There was considerable desire expressed to see God bring younger families with children into our assembly and I hope you feel good about that.  You are not here by accident.  Your arrival has been prayed for over and over for a long time and our congregation is thrilled to have you a part of our church.  Please be encouraged and rejoice in that!  

• In general, the church believes we are on the right track for the future.  
• There are some opportunities to provide better education and communication on what it means to be a “Bible church” and where our church stands on certain elements and some of this effort is currently taking place with Pastor Toby’s sermons from James and now Titus which talk about “the church”.  

 The committee also provided copies of our updated “Mission Statement” and “Statement of Faith” which are shown below.  Your input is welcomed regarding these, we will finalize them next week subject to any suggestions from you.  
MISSION STATEMENT

Our purpose is to build a healthy Christ-centered church based on fulfilling the Great Commission in evangelism, discipleship and worship.   We will do this by knowing Christ and making Him known.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

• We believe:  in all the basic doctrines of historic Christianity.
• We believe:  in the inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New Testaments are the inspired, infallible Word of God
• We believe:  that God is eternally existent in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• We believe:  that God is the personal, transcendent, and sovereign Creator of all things.
• We believe:  that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins by His substitutionary death on the cross, was bodily raised from the dead, ascended back to the right hand of the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us.
• We believe:  in the personal, visible, and pre-tribulation rapture of the church and the pre-millennial second coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. He will return with His saints and set up His millennial kingdom to reign for 1,000 years, after which the eternal kingdom will be established.
• We believe:  in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost: they who are saved unto the resurrection of life, and they who are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
• We believe:  that after Jesus ascended to Heaven, He poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers, enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the Gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by all believers today.
• We believe:  that all people are, by nature, sinners separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• We believe:  that when a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save, that person is immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person becomes a child of God, destined to spend eternity with the Lord.
• We believe:  in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures, and that they are valid for today if they are exercised within the scriptural guidelines. We as believers are to desire the best gifts, seeking to exercise them in love that the whole Body of Christ might be edified.
• We believe:  that love is more important than the most desired gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.
• We believe:   it is important to the Scriptural practices of the early church. Therefore, we hold to the practice of water baptism, by immersion, and to the regular taking of Communion. We do not believe that either of these practices are essential for salvation, but that they serve as a demonstration of our living faith in Jesus Christ.

Have a blessed week!

 Mark