David is responsible for the preaching ministry of Christ Baptist Church. He is a native of middle Tennessee, a graduate of the University of North Alabama with a BS degree in Nursing, and a 1994 graduate of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary with a Masters of Religious Education. Prior to entering the ministry, David worked as a Registered Nurse in Emergency/Trauma, Cardiac Care, and Neonatal Intensive Care. He and his wife Lisa, have two children, Anna and Austin. David has served on staff at Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church since July 2000 as associate pastor overseeing administration, education, missions, senior adults, and children. He is the founder of Divide-The-Truth Ministries that has served over 100 churches in the last 16 years with Sunday School notes that “rightly divide the word of truth.” In view of starting Christ Baptist Church, he discontinued this ministry in May 2017 so he could focus his attention on the new church.

Update from Pastor David Brown (December 2023)

Greetings from Christ Baptist Church of Rutherford County.

As I write this newsletter, I realize it has been longer than I normally go without writing one. Looking back on the last one we were about to depart for CBC’s first oversees mission journey to Bydgoszcz, Poland. Now we are deep in the planning for 2024 and what a year it looks to be. In June I will be leading a team to Scotland (first time there) and conducting our first VBS with the help of Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church. In July we will be headed back to Poland.

International mission journeys are a big deal for a small church! I have been asked why are we, considering our small size, going so far way? I can answer this with one biblical word, “Go.” Go means go! There are no excuses for not going!

As I said in July, I want missions to be in the DNA of our church.

Since my last newsletter I have recovered from my surgeries. My neck and arm are better than they have been in many years. However, the lower back surgery did not alleviate my leg pain. It appears this will be something I will have to live with. I guess this will be my thorn in the flesh. Like the Apostle Paul, I have pleaded with the Lord, but more than three times, that it might depart from me. And like him, I have decided that God’s grace is sufficient and I will “most gladly boast in my infirmities.”

2023 has been a challenging year. We have lost a family that has been with us for two years. Losses seem to be part of the gains of church planting, but knowing this does not make it any easier. However, one of the families we gained this past April is very active with us.

Another challenge this entire year has been our finances. It is the first time I can recall in all my years of ministry of being so badly short of the budget. We have not met budget one month this year and have had several negative months with our expenses. Yet in preparing the 2024 budget, our men refused to cut salaries for Zach and me. I am thankful for their faith for I know how this would have gone in most Baptist churches, but I don’t serve in one of those Baptist churches.

In March 2024 we will be six years old. My, how time flies by. In all six years the Lord has been faithful to meet all our needs and then some. It has been a journey of faith unlike any time in our lives. To God be the Glory!

With Christmas less than 20 days away, Lisa and I want to wish you a most blessed Christmas season. We will be travelling to Arkansas the week after Christmas to spend time with family. This year we are taking a new son-in-law with us. I hope he gets to see 100,000+ ducks and geese on the ground like in previous years. It’s a sight and sound unheard of here. We are looking forward to this Christmas with family.

Thank you for your support,

David and Lisa