Community Bible Church offers counseling for men and women of all ages.
Our Counseling ministry exists to bring hope, healing and reconciliation through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who are struggling with the affects of sin in this broken world.
Core Values:
• Christ-Centered (Colossians 1:15-20) – We believe the answer to life’s
questions is Jesus. Therefore, our counseling is focused around the person of
Christ, the gift of his life given to us.
• Biblically-Grounded with Truth and Grace (John 1:14) – Grace and Truth
always go together. We get principles for life and godliness from the Bible
and we want to give counsel that is a blend of both truth and grace.
• Spirit-Led (John 6:63) – Our world makes no sense without God. The ultimate
counselor is God who meets us through his Spirit. We want to be careful to
give heed to his guidance and not simply let our experience dominate the
direction for our counsel.
• Prayer-Saturated (Colossians 4:2) – Only broken people can become Christ
followers. Humility (brokenness) and dependence on God are shown most
clearly through prayer. We want to practice and model both humility and
dependence throughout the counseling process.
• “Whole-Person” Oriented (Proverbs 12:15; 18:13) – Growth and change are
lifelong pursuits. Effective counseling requires gathering all of the pertinent
data, listening with compassion, coordinating and cooperating with other
disciplines, in order to encourage growth in Christ-likeness in all areas of life.
(Other disciplines may include: medical professionals, Licensed
professionals, or similar resources)
• Community-Based (Hebrews 10:24-25) – People matter eternally – God calls
us to live life in the context of his people. Care, encouragement, exhortation,
and healing happen most fruitfully in the church community.
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17 – 21 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Philosophy of Ministry:
• Biblical Counseling is the process where the Bible, God’s Word, is related individually to a person or persons who are struggling under the weight of personal sin and/or the difficulties with suffering, so that he or she might genuinely change in the inner person to be pleasing to God by becoming more like Jesus.
This definition is based on three important beliefs:
◦ First, we believe that the Bible, given by God, is sufficient for life in
that, when properly interpreted, it reveals to the believer all the data
necessary for one to understand his need for Christ, how he can please
the Lord, and how to live in a god-honoring way regardless of the
circumstances whether comfortable or oppressive.
◦ Second, the Bible is also the authoritative source with which all truth
claims–including claims made by science and history–must be
evaluated. As a result, we reject all counseling theories that use
presuppositions, principles, and/or methodologies that are
inconsistent with the proper interpretation of the biblical text.
◦ Third, we believe that genuine heart change is totally dependent on
the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, our view of counseling practice includes the importance of prayer,
dependence on God, a thorough knowledge of the Word of God, and an
understanding of ministering to people.
Want to know more? Contact Jay Harlan: jharlan@mycbc.net