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Church Mission & Vision

Our Foundation

Grace Bible Church has pursued the Great Commission for over 55 years, guided by four foundational pillars that shape our mission, vision, and values (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 5:37).

Mission Statement

We help people find and follow Jesus.

This simple yet profound mission statement captures our commitment to both evangelism and discipleship (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 6:14). We help people find Jesus by preaching the gospel and sharing the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead, offering eternal life to all who believe. We help people follow Jesus by teaching God's Word and making disciples who will, in turn, make more disciples.

Our mission flows directly from Jesus' Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, where Jesus commands his disciples to "go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you" (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 7:32).

Four Foundational Values

1. The Gospel of Grace

Grace is the first word in our church name, reflecting our foundational commitment to preaching that salvation is a free gift of God given by grace through faith (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 13:43). We enthusiastically proclaim that eternal life cannot be earned through any human effort—it is entirely God's unmerited favor toward us in Jesus Christ.

This commitment to grace runs so deep in our church's DNA that Grace Bible Church was actually founded in 1965 around this very issue. The church began when a group separated from another congregation over how boldly and clearly to proclaim the free and undefiled grace of God (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 14:45).

At the heart of our gospel message is the incredible story of God's love: out of infinite power, wisdom, and love, God created men and women to know Him, to enjoy Him, and to reflect His beauty on earth. Even when we rebelled and ran from God, He loved us and pursued us, sending His own son, Jesus, to become one of us, to die for our sins, and rise from the dead. Because of Him we have life—as a free gift (Every Knee, 0:11). This is the story of God's grace in Jesus Christ, and it is also the story of Grace Bible Church.

2. The Word of God

The "Bible" in our name reflects our commitment to standing under God's Word as our authoritative guide (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 15:15). We believe the Bible is God's primary revelation of who Jesus is—inerrant and authoritative. Rather than reacting to cultural trends, we begin with Scripture to understand who God wants us to be in Jesus Christ, allowing His Spirit to shape how we think, speak, and act.

This is why our Bible studies focus on studying the Bible itself, and our preaching is expository—working through God's Word systematically to understand His heart and will (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 17:04). Our commitment to accurately teaching Scripture has had global impact—our sermons have over 50,000 views in more than 150 countries, and our Bible studies are used by thousands of people around the world (Every Knee, 2:13).

We believe that the Word of God is living and active and powerful, that it in and of itself is transformative (To be continued..., 1:17). We teach the Word, we study the Bible throughout because we believe that the Spirit uses the Bible to genuinely change people from the inside out.

3. Students and Families Together

Located in a university town, we've always recognized the strategic impact of college students who will become future leaders around the world (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 17:42). We intentionally bring students and families together for mutual benefit—students gain from the maturity and wisdom of those ahead of them, while families are energized by the joy and enthusiasm students bring to following Jesus.

Today, 70,000 students attend Texas A&M and Blinn College—students who will shape the future of our nation and world. Currently, 2,500 of these college students enter our doors every Sunday. We want them to leave changed by the Gospel and motivated to share the name of Jesus wherever God takes them next (Every Knee, 3:01).

From the very beginning, we've been a church focused on the next generation, particularly college students and graduate students, but also families who come into this town, stay for a short period of time, get equipped, and then get sent out. We want to be a church that's continuously equipping and sending and thinking of the next generation (To be continued..., 2:22).

4. World Missions

Our commitment to the Great Commission extends globally. From the very beginning of our church, it was affirmed that we would not exist for our own comfort, but instead so that the nations could hear the good news of Jesus (Every Knee, 3:32). Before our congregation was even able to pay a full salary to the senior pastor, the church stepped out in faith to sacrificially support 4 missionaries at $10 per month.

Currently, Grace Bible Church supports approximately 100 full-time missionaries around the world, with the vast majority being former college students who found Jesus or learned to walk with Him during their time at Grace (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 19:14). God has honored that courageous commitment and allowed our missionaries to plant over 1,600 churches worldwide, growing our missions budget from $40 per month to more than $500,000 every year (Every Knee, 3:56).

Remarkably, Grace Bible Church sends more students to Dallas Theological Seminary than any other church in the country, demonstrating our impact on vocational ministry preparation (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 19:55).

Vision: Every Knee

Our vision is captured in the "Every Knee Initiative," drawn from Isaiah 45:22-23 and Philippians 2:10-11. God declares His heart for all nations: "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other... to me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance" (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 21:13).

We want to be part of seeing people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation come to know Jesus. This vision encompasses three key areas:

  • Every Day: Continuing our ongoing ministries and discipleship
  • Every Neighbor: Reaching our local community, including facilities like our Creekside campus
  • Every Nation: Planting churches both domestically and internationally

Strategic Direction

Our primary goal is 100% engagement in this mission—experiencing the joy of generously giving all that we have and all that we are to Jesus (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 22:15). This begins with worship, recognizing that everything we have belongs to God and flows from our desire to honor Christ, not from organizational need.

Grace Bible Church began in 1965 with just 10 families, and now, over 50 years later, we are a thriving, multi-site congregation numbering more than 5,000 people (Every Knee, 4:30). Throughout our entire history, every time we have taken courageous steps of faith, God has rewarded our obedience by empowering us to tell even more people about His grace.

Multi-Site Growth

God has led us through strategic expansion to reach more people for Christ:

  • 1965: Founded in Bryan with 10 families
  • 1974: Moved to Anderson campus (To be continued..., 2:44)
  • 1995: Built our current Anderson facility
  • 2008: Launched Southwood campus (The Mission Continues, 3:05)
  • 2015: Opened Creekside campus, which now serves about 450 people weekly and has already sent their first 2 international missions teams

The church has continuously grown and expanded. At Southwood, for example, we saw God's faithfulness every step of the way. The congregation grew rapidly and began to make an impact for Jesus both in our community and around the world (Southwood 10th Year Anniversary, 0:40). Today, two-thirds of the Southwood congregation are college students, and God has used Southwood to reach and raise up countless students who've taken the good news of Jesus all over the world (Southwood 10th Year Anniversary, 3:56).

Future Church Plants

We believe God is calling us to yet another step of courageous faith. We are working on preparing for more church plants both in the United States and throughout the world, including:

  • A church planting residency program launching next year (To be continued..., 10:25)
  • Scouting trips to university towns similar to College Station
  • The potential Bryan Midtown campus, directly across the street from where Grace Bible Church was first planted 52 years ago (The Mission Continues, 6:21)

The church planting residency program will bring potential church planters into our congregation and train them to go out and plant churches. We're planning to launch our first group as a pilot program with three men and their wives internally who have interest in maybe planting (To be continued..., 10:35).

The Ultimate Vision

The ultimate vision is captured in Revelation 7:9-10, where John sees "a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes... crying out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb'" (Where We've Been and Where We're Going, 10:15).

This is where Jesus is taking all of history—to a moment where there's a multinational, multi-generational group of men and women worshiping at His throne. We believe we should never stop taking steps of courageous faith, boldly sharing the gospel and making disciples until the day our Lord Jesus returns: until the day when Every Knee in heaven and on earth will bow to Jesus Christ (Every Knee, 6:22).

The book of Acts is the story of the unstoppable progress of God's kingdom through the church—it's our story because we are the church, and every day we're writing a new chapter (To be continued..., 14:40). Grace Bible Church exists to play our part in making that vision a reality, continuing the work that Jesus began, through His chosen witnesses, by His Spirit's power, until He returns.