Don’t Forget Series | Don’t Forget Who We're Supposed To Be | Understanding the Church

Part 1: Who is the Church?

1. The Church is made up of sinners saved by grace (Ephesians 2:1-10; Luke 5:27-32; John 8:2-11)
   
2. The Church is made up of Christians throughout history (Heb. 11:4-40)

Part 2: Where is the Church?

1. Church Universal (Gal. 1:13; Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18)
   
2. Church Local (Acts 13:1; Romans 16:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2) 

Understanding Baptism:

• Jesus & disciples commanded baptism (Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:38)
  
• It is not necessary for salvation (Gal. 5:1-12)

Purpose Of Baptism: 

• symbolize regeneration or spiritual rebirth; 
• commitment to the local Church; 
• witness to the world

Uniqueness of CBC


History of CBC:

• Begin with 25 people in a small Sunday school class at First Baptist Church on May 5, 1940
• As the attendance grew to 75, First Baptist Church gave some money to start a new Chinese mission to build a new building in April 30, 1950. 
• Rev. Travis Key and Dr. Hong C. Sit were the co-pastors of this independent Baptist Church with Dr. Paul Fan, George Bo-Linn, Yee Leo, Tommy Ligh, and J.B. Dott as elected deacons. 
• In 1959, Rev. Lok-Tin Cheung moved from El-Paso to become the pastor at CBC and served for 30 years and saw 781 saved and baptized. 
• In Nov. 1970, the church sold the church on 1823 Lamar and purchased 900 Brogden in April 1975. 
• 2 Churches branched out: Houston Chinese Church (started by our Cantonese Chinese student Bible Study Fellowship in Jan. 1972) and Southwest Chinese Baptist Church in August 1980. 

Pastors:

• Mr. T. K. Eng (1960); Marvin Raley (1969); Jimmy Leo Woo (1971-1974); Miss Terri LIgh (1980-1983)
• Dr. Victor Wong (1989); Rev. Coleman Chong; Rev. James Wong; Rev. Frank Jenkins.
• 1995: Sabrina Li; Rev. Johnny Jones; Steve Wei (1996); Dr. George Lim (1997); Albert Yeung ; Ivan Chung (1999); Rev. Ricky Leung (1999); Rev. David Eng; Ben Pun (2003); Kai Yuen (2008); Justin Wong (2008)

Part 3: Why the Church?

• What is the purpose of the Church? (2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Col. 3:16; Eph. 4:12-13)
• Worship God (as a continued response to the Gospel)
• Equip the Saints (personal and corporate growth)
• Cultivate the world (missions and sacrifice)

What is the purpose of our Church? 

• Celebrate the King
• Become Like Christ
• Connect the Lost

Expectations as members:

• Join in its vision
• Support the church (tithe & serve)
• Build community
• Be involved (meetings, functions, and missions)

Common thoughts about the church:

• “But there are people that I want to punch in the face that go to my church”
• “There’s no way for me to go to all the church events!”
• “But church is boring”