Welcome
Dear Fellow Believer,
The church has traveled far down a strange path which is absent of historic biblical truth. What a dire need there is for today’s professing church to rediscover sound doctrine. Because we have lost our doctrinal moorings, the glory of God has been diminished within the church. Ours is a tragic crisis because the local church is foundational to the glory of God, and the glory of God is everything. This is why we must be willing to lay down our lives for the church (Ephesians 3:21, 1 John 3:16).
What is a true church and how is it to be built? Jesus said that He would build His church (Matthew 16:18), and He has chosen to build it through the faithful ministry of earthly disciples, primarily through the preaching of the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20, Romans 10:14-17). A true understanding of the Gospel must include a sound understanding of the wonderful grace of repentance and the courage to preach it with spiritual power. Nothing is more foundational to the Gospel, conversion, and church health than a biblically healthy understanding of repentance.
As a student of the Gospel, I am still learning and marveling over all that is involved in a sovereign God’s granting of repentance (Acts 11:18). In recent years we have seen a revival of repentance in our congregation, yet I am continually striving to understand more of what it means to faithfully preach repentance. In this day of weak churches and powerless preaching, nothing is more needed than a good refresher on this essential doctrine.
This year’s True Church Conference is designed to do just that. I pray we will not only learn more of the doctrine but more deeply experience its reality. If you share my passion for the building of true churches for the glory of God, then join us February 19-22, 2009, and pray that God will allow us to dive into His Word examining and experiencing the wonderful grace of repentance. Repentance is not a doctrine of which to be fearful but one for which we should be deeply grateful! After all, receiving grace to turn from darkness, condemnation, and despair to find light, justification, and hope is not a bad thing but a wondrously good thing!
Striving not to build great churches but true churches…for the glory of God,
Jeff Noblit
Senior Pastor-Teacher of Grace Life Church of the Shoals
Founder and President of Anchored in Truth Ministries
