Grace Bible Church, Holden, Maine

The new year started off with announcement from Pastor Greg that he is “retiring” from Grace Bible Church and take the pastorate at a church in Seattle, Washington. Rather than trying to type out his words, you can hear his announcement below:

At Grace, we are a community of those seeking to follow Christ in His grace and truth. This is a short sentence, but it means so much! First, we want all to understand that we see ourselves as a community. We have people in our midst from virtually every walk of life, every economic level, and many different towns. We also have people in our midst who are investigating what a relationship with Jesus is all about and some folks that have been walking in relationship with Jesus for 80 years. Yet, even with these differences, we seek to be a community that loves one another well. This includes the first-time visitor as well as anyone who is a long-time attendee. This includes respecting our visitors enough to allow them to explore Christianity without pressure or guilt.

Why do we think this way? Well, we say it often that Grace is not about making a group of “Spiritual super-achievers;” but rather, a community of folks that are seeking and learning how to follow Christ in His grace and truth. In other words, we believe and we recognize that God is pursuing us all. Without His pursuit of us, we would have no interest in knowing Christ. We also recognize that all of us daily, no minute-by-minute, need God’s grace and love found in a living relationship with Christ. We confess freely that we are a group of sinners that have found love and freedom in a relationship with Christ. We believe that truth growth in the gospel or grace means that we learn how to humbly rest in God’s grace as His spirit transforms our hearts.

Thus, we believe that the gospel promotes authentic humility and true character transformation. All of us, from the person exploring the claims of Christ to a long-time believer, need to hear and believe the reality of this message. This reality is what binds us together as a community. It also is the central thought behind all we do and all we are at Grace.