Sunday, November 11, 2018
Church at The Cross commemorates 42 years of God’s sustaining Grace
The Lord loves His church, He shed His blood and died for His church. We are His bride in eternity and the object of His affection and love. It is through the church that He works to accomplish His will. By God’s grace and perfect design, He is building His church!
We will have a special worship service Sunday, November 11, 2018 @ 9:30 a.m. Christian recording artist, David Koblish will be with us and minister to the hearts of God’s people through his beautiful music.
How we began. . .
We began as Pioneer Baptist Church. Her birth process began in the spring of 1976 and Reverend Loren Eastman, then General Director of the Conservative Baptist Association of Northern California, began meeting with interested people in the Pioneer/Pine Grove area to ascertain the Lord’s direction in the founding of a new Conservative Baptist Church in Amador County.
The first service was held in the Pioneer School with 24 people in attendance. The Church was formally founded on September 1, 1976. The State of California recognized it as an official church body on January 25, 1977. Pioneer Baptist was able to purchase five acres at the corner of Highway 88 and Homestead Road. With the support of a sister church in Sacramento, plans were made for construction of a building.
Pastor Kent Thielen was called as the church’s first full-time minister, and remained for 14 years. On October 27, 1991 the church extended a call to Jim Tillman to pastor Pioneer Baptist Church. Pastor Tillman began ministry on January 1, 1992. Following the departure of Pastor Tillman in August, 1995, Pastor Culwell was invited to interim again. After 18 months of searching for another pastor, Pastor Charles Teagle accepted the call November, 1996. In November, 2018, he and his wife, Lin will mark 22 years of faithful ministry to this local church body.
In 2005 the awareness of our purpose was heightened. Our identity to believers, as well as the world, should not be perceived by a denomination, but by the preaching of the Gospel. In a spirit of unity, we desired a name that represented the finished work upon the cross by our Savior, Jesus Christ. This necessitated the name change to CHURCH AT THE CROSS.
Where we are. . .
The New Testament teaches that every believer is to be under the protection and nurture of the leadership of the local church. Our Shepherd, Pastor Chuck has a love for the Lord Jesus Christ that is evidenced by 48 years in the ministry. His obedience to God’s calling upon his life to “preach the Word” is a gift to all that sit under his teaching. There’s nothing more humbling than serving others and it is a great joy to do this for the sole purpose of glorifying Christ Jesus.
Decades of the past, church’s used to post memos in the Sunday Bulletin listing the number of people attended that last week, how many people made a profession of their faith, there were numbers attached to everything. But the church isn’t about numbers – it’s about purity. A spiritually pure body of believers is a sweet aroma to God and the greatest testimony to the unbelieving world.
In every age, there is a threat upon the truth, and churches have attempted to present the message of the Gospel in a package that pleases listeners, rather than convicts them. With the ever-growing trend of “instant gratification” and access to information, many have substituted going to church with whatever they can download. You can pick and choose what you listen to and there’s no accountability. Not only is this dangerous, it is in direct disobedience to scripture (Hebrews 10:23-25).
The idea of believers living independently of the church is completely foreign to the New Testament, and cuts you off from the authority the Lord established through His church. Active involvement in and submission to a local church body is crucial if we’re going to live up to God’s plan and pattern for the church. Your commitment to and identification with your local congregation speaks volumes about who you are and what matters most to you, in addition to setting an example to young believers.
The future. . .
Church at The Cross presses forward in the proclamation of the Gospel until Jesus Christ comes for His bride. By God’s Grace, our Divine Helper – the Holy Spirit, and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross, we will remain a light in the world.