Church Update
January 28, 2025
Dear Church of the Open Bible,
A lesson I’ve been recently learning over the past twenty years is the importance of communication in relationships. I’m sure the lesson will continue. But when it comes to COB, we as leaders would like to grow in our communication with you. To that end, we’d like to share with you some of our direction as we begin 2026. First, let’s revisit the constants:
The Purpose of COB is to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ, through the proclamation of the gospel, and building them up to maturity in Him.
How we do that is caught up in our specific Mission at COB of being a family-oriented, small-town church, committed to God’s Word and making disciples of Jesus Christ.
We hope to live out our purpose and accomplish our mission in 2026 by emphasizing three distinct areas: Declaring, Discipling, and Developing.
Declaring the Gospel - We want to expand our declaration of the gospel in our community. One way we will pursue this is by creating an Outreach Ministry Team to help organize: personal evangelism training & opportunities as well as community evangelism events (e.g., Church free sale, Family Christmas Outreach).
Discipling One Another - We want to grow in our commitment to provide opportunity for intentional, committed relationships of pursuing Christ with each other. One way we seek to see this happen is by making discipleship an expectation of our current leadership and provide tools to equip those relationships (e.g., Course of Your Life Groups).
Developing Leaders - While this is tied to discipleship, we want to be intentional in training and equipping our leaders and volunteers at COB, from youth helpers at Awana to music leaders and Board members. One way we anticipate this is by offering a full-time, pastoral internship to Nic Cooper who has been serving with us in a variety of ministries.
Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 2 Timothy 1:13-14
In Christ,
Pastor Jeremy