In our world, it is easy to preach behavioral change: “Do this! Don’t do that! Go here! Don’t go there!” However, Paul lays out clearly in Colossians 1:28-29 that it is Christ who is to be preached. He states, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

Why is proclaiming Christ the core of our calling? Because He is the only One who satisfies the deep desires of the heart. Christ discusses this in Matthew 22:37-38 when He stated, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” What does Christ mean by this word “love?” He is discussing the concept of treasuring, delighting in, savoring, being satisfied in, finding one’s identity in…the Lord. The question is not, “Do you live a moral life?” The ultimate question is, “Do you treasure Christ? Is He the number one affection of your soul?”

When we are deeply rooted in a love relationship with Christ, it will bring forth fruit of obedience. This can be seen in John 14:15 where Christ states, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” This is teaching that authentic life change and obedience comes from deep roots of being satisfied in Christ. Our hope is to foster an environment for our people where this truth is available to them and moves to the glorification of Christ.

So, how do we do this at Springs of Life Bible Church?

We believe that Acts 2:42 gives a pretty amazing picture at how the people of God interacted with one another in the early church. It states, “And they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and the fellowship, breaking of bread and the prayers.” From this devotion to these things, came some amazing effects. Things like unity (vs. 44), care for one another’s needs (vs. 45), Worship of God, ministry with those outside the body and growth of the body (vs. 47). The early church didn’t seem to force this to happen. It occurred naturally after the Holy Spirit made them new creatures in Christ (Acts 2:1-41). If we want to see this take place, it is right to devote ourselves to those things in verse 42 as well. Therefore, at Springs of Life Bible Church we seek to devote ourselves to…

1. The Word of God – We do this through Sunday School, Corporate Worship, Small Group studies, and our Men’s, Women’s, and Youth Ministries.
2. Fellowship – This word does not mean just hanging out. We want our fellowship to be driven by people interacting with one another in an authentic way. We want to foster an environment where people can share their life situations and do so with an understanding that we are here to help bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:1-2). Another aspect of true fellowship is service.
3. Gospel Centrality – This comes from the fact that in in Acts 2:42 the early church was devoted to “the breaking of bread”. This phrase was not just speaking of eating together. It points to the concept of the Lord’s Supper, yes, but it also means that the early church was constantly being reminded of the substitutionary work of Christ on the Cross in all that they did. We hope to create an environment in which the Cross is brought up often and cherished greatly.
4. Prayer – As Colossians 1:28-29 states, we know that it is the power of Christ that works through us to toil in the proclamation of His name. This can only be done by relying on the work of the Holy Spirit through prayer. To make this true, we have a time of prayer primarily during our small groups in which we seek to share our concerns with one another and pray for the Holy Spirit to change us more into the image of Christ.

In all of this, we hope the Lord will do what He did in Acts and add to the church more individuals who come to see, savor and show Christ. We long for this to be done so that more people will find the source of ultimate satisfaction and that the Lord will receive most glory.