What makes us the church that we are
Churches come in all shapes and sizes. They have personality, habits, culture, philosophy, and even idiosyncrasies. A church in any given community can do many things well and will do some things poorly. After all, there has never been a perfect church. Those imperfections often stand out to an unbelieving and skeptical world that is looking for reasons to dislike the church. This becomes a compelling reason for Christians to be the truest version of the church that they can be, and to have the world reject (or accept them) for the right reasons.
The church was birthed in an upper room by the power of the Holy Spirit and by that same power expanded rapidly throughout the Roman world and beyond as the first believers sought to fulfill Jesus’ mandate to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. Running side by side through the New Testament are the themes of “here’s how to do it,” “here’s what you’re doing well,” and “here’s how you messed it up.” There’s no hiding the struggle that it is to be what God intends in a world that is often hostile to what we are doing and who we are. Through it all, good and bad, Jesus remains the head of the church and believers are compelled to work hard at being the church.
As far as this local church is concerned, we are Harvest. It is not a boast but an aspiration. This series is specific to what we believe God has called Harvest Bible Chapel Barrie to be. We will look at the universal and foundational truths that should transfer to any New Testament church, but we will also look at the distinctive identity markers, vision, and values that are particular to our context in an effort to be true to what God has called us to be in this city and beyond.