3BC - Much more than a catchy motto

"Belonging, Believing, Becoming in Christ" (3BC). 

That's our church motto at Central Baptist Oakville. You will find it in our church constitution, on our worship bulletins, our pastoral staff’s business cards, our website, our Facebook page, etc. It serves as a tag line wherever we can find a place to put it. 

It’s our church motto, but it is far more than that. It also serves as our vision and process statement. “Belonging, Believing, Becoming in Christ” or 3BC proclaims to the world: “This is how we do church.” We exist and long to help people find their place, faith and calling in Christ.

Belonging: We want to help people find their place of belonging among us. If you can find your place among us, we are doing well. Jesus welcomed everyone into his presence: the lepers, the beggars, the sinners, the Roman, the Jew, the Samaritan, the tax-collector, the religious leaders, men, women, and children: Everyone! They could all find their place of belonging in Christ’s prescence. Likewise we are also constantly learning and teaching each other how to better foster “belonging” among us in Christ.

Believing: We also want to help people find their faith in Christ. Now, that is a courageous statement on our part for it means we must be willing to admit that we won’t always share the same understanding of the faith. We differ on many issues of Biblical and theological interpretation and application, but that is O.K. for you see, we are not here to teach you what to believe but to help you come to faith. Believing is a lifelong journey of exploring what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ. As I’ve often said, as a preacher my goal is to get you to struggle and interact with the Biblical text. I’m not asking for you to always agree but rather to seek discernment through the Holy Spirit.

Becoming: Finally, we long to help people find their calling - their purpose in life. Why are we here and what does God have in mind for us? What is our unique calling in Christ? Surely, it is far more than merely going to church and reciting a list of mandated beliefs. Here at Central we believe we can help people discover what being a Christian, a Christ-follower, means amidst day to day life.

And thus 3BC (Belonging, Believing, Becoming in Christ) is not a trite motto to adorn our literature, but a proclamation of the way we long to “do” and “be” the Church in Christ here in Oakville.

Reprinted from Inside Central (May 2014)

Two Table Resolutions for the New Year

“When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.” (Luke 24:30–31b)

I must confess that I’m not a big New Year’s resolutions practitioner. I’m not sure why, but it probably has to do with my reluctance to be uncompromisingly bound to any personal resolution. I’m humbly aware that even a good resolution, made with the best of intentions, might need to be adapted, modified, or even abandoned as God draws my attention to something more divinely important. With that said, I’ve nevertheless decided to reveal to you two New Year’s resolutions I have set for myself for 2014. I’ll call them Table Resolutions. They are not grandiose resolutions but they do lead me forward in my desire to bridge the gaps that so often keep us apart.

Table Resolution #1

My first table resolution is to learn the Portuguese portions of our monthly English-Portuguese Communion liturgy at Central Baptist Oakville (The portion my colleague Diné speaks).  It is such an honour for me each month to share in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (Ceia do Senhor) with a combined English/Portuguese language liturgy. Together each month, we gather as Portuguese and English speaking brothers and sisters in Christ and demonstrate to one another and the world that language need not be a barrier for those united in Christ. I am also humbled by my church’s willingness to overcome linguistic challenges for the sake of the ministry we do together in Christ’s name. Learning our Communion liturgy in Portuguese is one way in which I resolve to honour the relationship we share in Christ around the Lord’s Table in 2014.

Table Resolution #2

My second table resolution is inspired by something I read in David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw’s book Prodigal Christianity (2013). Geoff speaks of the church flyer which led him to choose Life on the Vine Christian Community in Long Grove, Illinois as his home church. The flyer in question described “Evangelism” as “Inviting someone over for a meal”. WOW! What a great way to describe evangelism - as an act of table hospitality motivated in Christ. What a great way of bridging the gap between neighbours, strangers, colleagues, Portuguese and English-speaking siblings in Christ, rich and poor, sinners and saints, young and old, etc. And thus, over the next 12 months I resolve to “invite someone over for a meal” on at least 4 occasions. If the disciples were able to recognize the presence of the Risen Christ around a dinner table, then I’m guessing it is probably a pretty good reason to make it a resolution for 2014.

Happy New Year!. Feliz Ano Novo!

Reprinted from Inside Central (January 2014)