Grace Bible Church: How Important Is a Name?

How Important Is a Name?
Jesus’ name means Yahweh is salvation, Nehemiah means Yahweh comforts, and Melchizedek means King of Righteousness. Our name is Grace Bible Church, and that says a lot about us. These three words (grace, Bible, and church) describe three foundational truths that characterize who we are and what God is calling us to be as a church.
What We Believe About Grace:
In a real sense, the Kingdom of God operates on an economy of grace. Christ is building His kingdom by the gospel of grace. Every citizen of Christ’s Kingdom received entrance by an invitation of His grace. Grace is God’s unearned favor and blessing of everything that is good, true, and beautiful. In Christ, God extends His grace to sinful humanity, providing forgiveness and reconciliation that are not deserved, while withholding, in mercy, the judgment that is deserved. Knowing, loving, and believing in Christ for salvation is God’s specific grace that accomplishes His purpose of salvation. This grace is given to those whom God chooses to save.
God also extends common grace universally, blessing humanity with physical sustenance, pleasure, learning, and beauty. Everything delightful to the eyes, like colors, stars, and a baby’s smile, is a gift of God’s grace. Delicious food, satisfying drinks, and pleasurable scents are all gifts to us. The sound of music, the rustling of wind, and the melody of a lark are graces found in the God of nature. Imagination, history, and story are experiences and abilities that uniquely come from the God of grace.
Grace is a distinctive feature of who we are as Christians. It sets us apart from all other religions in the world. It characterizes everything we do. Because God’s grace is unmerited, unearned, and undeserved, our salvation is nothing short of amazing, and only possible by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We extend God’s amazing invitation of grace to everyone, understanding that none of us deserves it.