Community Bible Church

06/23/2026

“In Christ”

Ephesians 1:3–14 lists spiritual blessings God pours out to believers. These verses make it clear these blessings are found only “in Christ”. The phrase “in Christ” can be understood in two different ways.

One way treats Christ as a dispensing machine. He is the possessor of the spiritual blessings and hands them out like commodities. If you want eternal life, you simply ask Christ, and He gives you a ticket to heaven. The analogy is like going to a grocery store to purchase pain medicine for a headache. As the consumer, you don’t need a relationship with the store or ownership in it, you simply obtain what you need and move on.

However, the Apostle Paul is conveying something different. The spiritual blessings of election, adoption, redemption, forgiveness, and eternal inheritance are not obtained as a commodity that exists apart from Christ. Rather, they are found only in Him. When a person repents and places their faith in Christ as their Savior, they are united to Him. The spiritual blessings are not found outside Him; they only exist within Him. Thus, believers receive these blessings because they are joined to Christ in whom the blessings reside.

The difference between these two understandings is crucial. Some would prefer a one-time transactional shopping cart approach to obtain spiritual blessings. But scripture teaches us we obtain spiritual blessings through a lifelong union with Christ that transforms our identity, our desires, and our destiny through the work of the Holy Spirit. This union results in a relationship with Christ whereby we become partakers of His life. It produces a life of obedience, not as an added requirement for salvation, but as the natural fruit of salvation itself. Christ’s spiritual blessings become ours because His life becomes ours. To paraphrase Colossians 3:4, Christ does not merely give us life – He is our life!

Ultimately, salvation is not about obtaining blessings from Christ as though they were commodities. It is about being united to Christ Himself. It is not so much our commitment to Him as it is His commitment to us. Because we are united to Him, all that belongs to Him becomes ours, and He transforms us into His likeness.

Joel Jundt, Elder

06/20/2026

06/18/2026

Ecclesiastes 3

Solomon’s main reason for writing Ecclesiastes is to bring people back to a place of “fearing God”. We need to remember that we belong to a sovereign God, a God of providence that enters every part of our lives. In chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes, Solomon lists 14 pairs of contrast covering all the seasons of life. Solomon teaches that every human activity operates within divinely appointed seasons. God has arranged everything beautifully within its proper time. God has authority over circumstances that we cannot control.

We are part of God’s plan, and we should be eager to search for the good works that He has planned for us in advance. (Ephesians 2:10) God wishes for us to find happiness and enjoy life’s fruits as gifts from Him. The work we join in is to be enjoyed but our focus is to always be on our creator. Our goal should always be to glorify God.

Life comes with seasons of highs and lows, joys and sorrows, successes and failures. At times, we may not understand why we find ourselves in certain circumstances, but we can trust that God is working all things together for good. Verse 11 says, “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” Solomon encourages us to rejoice and enjoy the gifts God has given us while we are able. We should be thankful for our work and for our lives, recognizing that both are gifts from God.

So as believers at CBC we need to find out where God is working, join in His work. We need to be in His Word, we need to be in prayer, and we need to be in fellowship with other Christian believers, Trust God. Amen

Kim Kahler, Elder

06/12/2026

Imagine this situation. It’s Sunday morning, and you really don’t want to go to church. It’s been a long week. You’re tired, stressed, and your back even hurts. “Man!” you think to yourself, “It sure would be nice to stay home this morning.” A brother in Christ recently found himself in that exact spot. Yet he still came to church. What persuaded him to get up & gather with the saints? He told me he used the “Fishing Test.” This is how it goes. He asked himself, “Do I feel good enough to go fishing?” If the answer is yes—that he would jump at the chance to go fishing—then he knew he should go to church. The “Fishing Test” can easily become the “Hobby Test.” Do I feel good enough to go fishing/hunting/golfing/running/driving/camping/ hiking/biking/whatever? If so, then I need to be at church.

The “Fishing Test” is a great way to highlight the issues of our heart and church attendance. There are as many “reasons” to not attend church on a Sunday morning as there are hobbies. The “Fishing Test” shows us whether our reasons for non-attendance are legitimate or just excuses. I don’t believe church attendance in the Sunday morning gathering is an absolute commandment. There are valid reasons to not attend—sickness, health challenges, hazardous weather, etc. However, not attending church on Sunday morning simply because “we don’t feel like it” isn’t an option for Christians. The Sunday morning gathering is key (Acts 2:42–47; 1 Cor 11:17; Heb 10:25).

I’m thankful for my brother in Christ, for his attendance when he didn’t feel like it, and his “Fishing Test” that proves so helpful. It greatly encourages me when I see saints like him (and you!) participate in the Sunday morning gathering. Christianity is certainly more than weekly church attendance, but it’s not less than that. We are strongest as Christians when we gather together on the Lord’s Day to celebrate the crucified and risen Christ. That’s way better than fishing!

Pastor Chance

06/09/2026

“The Bride Is Beautiful”

We just finished up VBS on Friday. It’s my favorite week of the year. It’s busy, chaotic, loud, tiring, and wonderful. The Lord brought many children here. Each day we had about 170 children attending. The Lord also provided lots of volunteers to help—about 60, in fact. Laughter, fun, biblical teaching—these experiences make me realize how much Christ loves our church, and how beautiful she is in His eyes. It’s easy to be pessimistic. We shouldn’t be. Christ is at work at CBC, purifying and beautifying her.

One story from this week provided a vivid example of Christ's work among us. A brother shared with me that he volunteered to help the kids grow in their walk with Christ. What he found surprised him. He realized that God was using the children to grow him in his love for Christ. That’s Christ at work. Through serving he gained; he didn’t lose. What’s true for him is true for our entire church. As we serve through VBS, AWANA, Sunday school, greeting, nursery, audio/visual, music, small groups, ushering, men’s group, women’s ministry, etc., Christ shows up and makes us beautiful together. The mechanism is the Word of God preached, taught, and believed (Eph 5:26).

Beloved church family, thank you for serving the children. Thank you for using your time, resources, and energy for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 8:35). Thank you for making this last week as awesome as it was. The Spirit uses you to show me how precious and lovely we are together in the sight of Christ who shed His blood for us. Our beloved church is the glorious bride of Christ “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing” (Eph 5:27).

Pastor Chance Sumner

06/04/2026

The Next Guy

I went to a pastor’s conference recently. It was great. Many godly pastors shared and spoke. One lesson that stood out to me was this: every senior pastor needs to prepare their church for the next senior pastor. That struck me and stuck with me. Here me out: I’m not planning on leaving. Whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me right now. Haha. However, sooner or later, CBC will have another Senior Pastor. He won’t be me. You will have another Associate Pastor. He won’t be Phil. Whether we die, move away, get sick, retire, or something else, your pastors are temporary. At some point, new men will pick up the mantle of leadership, and that is God’s plan.

This means that the unity and foundation of CBC cannot be the pastors—their personalities, their gifts, or their charisma. Many churches focus their “brand” on the personality of the pastor. That’s sad. That church will be effective so long as that pastor is around—hence, only for a short amount of time. Healthy churches build their identity on that which endures—the preaching of the gospel, sound doctrine, biblical fellowship, vibrant membership, and passionate outreach. Leaders come and go; the gospel remains.

There is only one chief shepherd, and his name is not Chance, Phil, Rick, Ron, Kim, or Joel. His name is Jesus Christ (1 Pet 5:4). Therefore, our fellowship must be built around Christ’s enduring plan, not personal preferences. We must avoid all forms of focusing on the specific personality of any preacher. Instead, we should share leadership, raise up other preachers, celebrate a plurality of elders, disciple others, share the burden of shepherding, recognize others’ gifts, and love the local church. Only Christ endures, all others are sinking sand.

Pastor Chance
Pastor Chance

06/03/2026

One of the sweetest parts of our new parking lot project happened before the concrete fully set. We invited some of our children to leave their handprints behind—a small reminder that the next generation is an important part of our church family.

Years from now, those handprints will still be there, telling the story of young lives growing up in our church and leaving their mark on this place. We are grateful for every child God has entrusted to us and excited to see how He will use them in the years ahead.

"Let the little children come to me..." — Matthew 19:14