Jeremiah Robinson is a member of the Renewal Team and an elder candidate. Read his thoughtful answers to questions about the work he is doing as part of the Renewal Team.
Q. You were involved in church planting in the past. From your experience, why do you think it's so important for a church to have well-established values and a mission statement?
A. The values and mission statement give direction to a body of believers as a whole. They answer the questions, "What are we about," and "Why are we about this?". It goes without saying that every church body has been given The Great Commission to “...make disciples of all nations..." (Matt 28:19), but what does that mean specifically for the body of believers at Sound City Bible Church?
Many ministry opportunities are out there for Sound City to serve in the name of Jesus, but in order to direct the resources we have as a church, we need to understand who God has called us to be. Clarity of mission also serves the important purpose of bringing us together in unity. The unlikely coming together of a diverse group of people into one local church is testimony that we serve the Living God.
“Clarity of mission serves the important purpose of bringing us together in unity. The unlikely coming together of a diverse group of people into one local church is testimony that we serve the Living God.”
Q. One of the reasons you were nominated for this team, (not to mention as an elder candidate,) has to do with your heart for walking with people in one-on-one or small group discipleship relationships. Can you talk a little bit about that as a passion of yours?
A. As a new believer, (way back in the early 90's - wow!) I was fortunate to have more mature believers care enough to spend time helping me grow spiritually. The small group of men I was walking with was varied enough that I was able to see the love of Jesus expressed in many ways. I saw believers who were young and single and others who were married with children. As a young man who grew up in a broken home, these experiences were formative for me. It was not just about coming together and studying the Bible, although we certainly did that, we also spent time just living life together. Through this I witnessed real people who were flawed but walking in redemption and renewal. When we studied the Word together I learned the importance of proper scriptural exegesis. I learned to see God as he really is through what was written down in scripture, versus operating under preconceived ideas that sometimes get passed down but aren’t necessarily biblical.
The tremendous blessings I received back then continue to serve me to this day, and I have a strong desire to pass this along to others. Every gift we receive from Jesus has its ultimate value when we give it away to others. 1 Peter 4:10, "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace..."
Q. What is something that you are enjoying most about the Renewal Team project, or what are you excited about working on with the team?
A. Being part of the Renewal Team has been an opportunity to watch the Lord work through godly men and women to do what will ultimately be very important and impactful work. I am astounded at the wisdom of God who brought people together from various walks of life to create a council of wisdom and experience to achieve this goal. This committee sincerely cares about the body at Sound City as we intentionally and prayerfully press toward the goal of expressing what we believe the Lord is doing in our church. I am humbled by the scope of the task and think a lot about what it will do to empower and unite believers to serve in love and lift up the name of Jesus in our community. I even believe that the values, mission, and vision we are working on now could serve future church plants and the next generation of Christians!
Sound City, please continue praying for our Renewal Team as they thoughtfully and prayerfully work, in partnership with the elders, to seek direction for our church body in the future!