Our Mission
Grace Church of the Black Hills exists to glorify God by:
Edifying Believers in the Word
Exalting God in Worship
Evangelizing the Lost in the World
Edification: Word
At Grace, we believe the first functional priority of church ministry is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph 4:12-16) and that God gifts the Church with those called to this purpose (Rom 12:6-8). Equipping is done primarily through corporate instruction in the Bible using the various teaching ministries in our local body. Verse by verse, expositional instruction of the Scripture is our primary method. However, we do utilize thematic and theological instruction as appropriate. We place an emphasis on reading the text, explaining the text, and applying the text in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Responsibility for this duty is placed on elders, pastors and teachers in the church. Edification also occurs through discipleship, biblical counseling, Christian fellowship and the ongoing ministry of the "one-anothers." The ultimate goal of edification is promoting overall Christlikeness in believers (Col 1:28).
Exaltation: Worship
Sound biblical instruction will naturally manifest genuine worship that is not of the flesh (Phil 3:3) and done in spirit and truth (John 4:21-24). Worship will be misguided without the truth of God’s written Word constantly directing and energizing it. Musically, we seek to have corporate worship represented in a variety of musical instruments (Psalm 150) and a variety of musical forms (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16) as God enables the church. We value the many God-centered contributions to Christian music through the eras when done excellently and to the Glory of God (Psalm 33:1-3). However, worship at Grace is never viewed merely as music or singing. It includes many components such as spiritual instruction, prayer, scripture reading, meditations, sacrificial giving, testimonies and more. Worship also extends into the believer’s entire life including obedience, holiness and service to God. It also includes regular corporate celebrations of the ordinances of Believer’s Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Communion).
Evangelism: World
When the church body has been built up in the faith and has responded in a life of obedience and dedicated worship, it becomes ready and equipped to call others to the same. This allows the Church to step out from a position of spiritual strength in calling people to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, the forgiveness of sins. As an equipped body of true worshipers, the Church then scatters, rendering a compelling call to the lost, effectively evangelizing our world. We believe carrying out the Great Commission is the responsibility of every believer (Matt 28.18-20), but it is also a corporate responsibility of the Church as a whole. The gospel mission starts with witnessing in our own "Jerusalem" moves to our "Judea-Samaria" and extends into "the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8). By God’s grace, new church plants can then sprout and grow, with the threefold priorities of ministry being repeated afresh.