(Originally posted 1/23/2017)

I have pondered the question of why we are planting a new church here in Gainesville. There are many churches here, so why do we need another? I believe the answer to that question lies in the Scriptures.

Jesus promised that He would build His church (Matt 1:18), and He is faithful to His promises. He will build His church, and His work will be accomplished! As such, we want to be a part of Christ’s work in building His church in Gainesville.

But, that doesn’t fully answer the question at hand, therefore we offer four reasons why we are planting GBC Gainesville.

The Harvest is full!

We realize that there are faithful churches in this area, but we also believe there are many men and women in this city who have not been reached by the Gospel. Our Lord said, “Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest” (John 4:35). We believe the fields are white for harvest, and the people are distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd (Matt 9:36).

God has His people in this city, and He is sending us out to set the captives free! At GBC, we are excited to be a part of this great work.

The workers are few!

Many have sown the seeds of the Gospel in Gainesville, and many continue to sow the seed. We are thankful for their faithful work both in the past and in the future.  According to Jesus, “Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal…” (John 4:36).

In other words, many have come to know the Jesus, and have received life eternal through the ministry of reconciliation of the many faithful brothers and sisters who have come before and are here now. But, there is room for more faithful ministers of the Gospel, “because the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matt 9:37). Put simply, there are many churches in Gainesville, yet there are just a few workers. At GBC, we desire to make more faithful workers to send them out into the harvest.

God gets the glory!

Jesus went on to say that when people come to know the Lord and bear the fruit of repentance, “he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together (John 4:36). We want to rejoice with those who have been faithful in sowing the seeds of the Gospel. We pray that the we would see many come to Christ here in Gainesville. And, we pray that God would get all the glory! The saying is true, “One sows and another reaps,” but God gets all the glory! At GBC, we desire to give God all the glory for His increase!

God blesses faithful preaching!

You might ask, “What makes GBC different?” That’s a good question. We have a passion to systematically preach and teach the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27), and instill a passion in our members for the word of God. We want to share a passion for the word of God through verse by verse expository preaching which does not lose sight of the broader context of Scripture. Put simply, we want to study the bible to understand it as it was written, then explain it, and encourage one another to apply it in our lives.

We believe this type of preaching has been ordained by God as the way He leads His people (cf. Nehemiah 8); therefore, this type of preaching is life changing in a world that is full of difficulty. We believe that we have exactly what the unbeliever needs–the life-giving Gospel. And, we believe that we have exactly what Christian men and women need to navigate in this world—the word of God explained. At GBC, we want to faithfully share the Gospel and explain God’s word, so that His people would grow in godliness.

We understand that some of you will consider joining us, but many of you will not be able to. In any case, we ask that you join us in praying for this exciting new work. We are amazed at all the Lord is doing here at GBC Gainesville.