Do we want to share the Gospel with a lost family member? His Word equips us for that. Prepare to become a pastor? Serve our families? Rejoice with those who rejoice? Weep with those who weep? Endure persecution? Give up our very lives for the Gospel? His Word equips us for all of that and so much more. What amazes me about that text is how many different types of good works the Bible is sufficient to equip us for. Do we want to share the Gospel with a lost family member? His Word equips us for that. Prepare to become a pastor? Serve our families? Rejoice with those who rejoice? Weep with those who weep? Endure persecution? Give up our very lives for the Gospel? His Word equips us for all of that and so much more. One of my joys in serving at Cedarville is seeing God’s Word prepare our students for so many good works that they cannot all be named. We take that assignment as a high calling in the School of Biblical and Theological Studies. Attend any lecture on the doctrine of special revelation, and 2 Timothy 3:16–17 will be at the heart of the presentation. It is impossible to write about all the good works Cedarville students are prepared for and are now carrying out across the world. But I reached out to a handful of current students, faculty, and alumni to learn how time at Cedarville equips students for every good work. Here are just a few of the stories they told. KNOW, GROW, AND GO When the pastoral staff of Grace Baptist Church in Troy, Ohio, led the church through the development of a new logo, they knew from the start it had to prominently feature the Bible. That’s how Grace Baptist does everything. Drop in on a Sunday morning for worship, and you’ll find the songs are Wordcentric. Listen in to the sermon or attend Sunday School week after week, and you’ll hear whole books of the Bible covered from start to finish. So in the end, they decided on a logo that shows a flourishing tree rooted in the Bible with the words, “know. grow. go.” “It’s the Word of God that transforms lives, not our human strength,” say pastors Chuck Pausley (MMin ’24), Jeff Kliewer (MMin ’22), and Luke Brittan (BA and MDiv ’21). Although their educational journeys differed, each one was equipped at Cedarville for ministry through the Bible. For Brittan, the text-driven curriculum had the greatest impact. For Kliewer, it was learning about the sufficiency of Scripture for counseling, and for Pausley, seeing how God empowers the leaders of His church made the biggest difference. All three find strength for the challenges of ministry in 2 Corinthians 3:5, “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.” THE WORD DOES THE WORK Right across the street from Liberty Park in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, is a place where many have found true liberty: Gospel Grace Church. Believers and unbelievers alike are drawn to the church as a beacon of light in a dark place. “Christians deeply feel the need for fellow believers in underreached areas,” says Chris Hile (BA and BS ’21, MDiv ’24). “The initial excitement of being a part of a church plant can soon wear off, and we desperately need each other so we don’t grow weary in doing good.” 20
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