Dustin Ray—Church Planter and Pastor
Dustin Ray grew up in the Springfield area, attending Nixa, Parkview, and Rogersville schools, as well as graduating from Evangel University, where he met and married his godly bride, Debbie. After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, he and Debbie returned to Springfield to begin pastoral ministry. Dustin has pastored in Southwest MO since 2017, and he looks forward to this new chapter of planting in Springfield, MO.
Values & Vision
WE ARE:
GOSPEL FOCUSED
This is the Gospel: “but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). We are focused on the Gospel because it is “the power of God for salvation” (Rom 1:16). God is at work saving His people from the power of sin, and He does so through the power of the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ.
CHRIST CENTERED
We center our whole lives on Christ, saying, “we wish to see Jesus” (John 12:21) because He is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). We exist to proclaim the Gospel of this Christ who is at work to restore fellowship with us, a fellowship that we broke! As Gospel Fellowship remains Christ Centered, we will delight in walking in God’s commandments (Mark 12:29-31) and in His mission (Matt 28:18-20).
BIBLICALLY FAITHFUL
The Bible alone is the authoritative Word of God because only it can give us the knowledge of God that leads to salvation (2 Tim 3:15-17; John 20:31). Paul tells Timothy to “teach what accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1), and to “have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness” (1 Tim 4:7). When we are faithful to Scripture, we can know and follow God rightly.
PRESBYTERIAN
“Presbyterianism” is a form of church government where the church is shepherded by its elders (called the “session”), and those elders are accountable to and in fellowship with other elders nearby (Titus 1:5). A Church’s elders are to oversee, teach, and care for its local congregation (Acts 20:28). This form of church leadership helps prevent an imbalance in authority among individuals, the session, and the congregation.
REFORMED
“Reformed” means that our theology reflects the monumental work done by the church during the Reformation, where faithful pastor-theologians re-examined and overhauled the teaching of the church to become faithful to Scripture and sound in doctrine. This theological framework is summarized by the “Five Solas,” the “Five points of Calvinism,” and is further explained in the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
WE WILL SEEK TO:
FAITHFULLY PREACH THE BIBLE
Qualified men will ordinarily preach through books or large sections of the Bible verse by verse, passage by passage. Gospel Fellowship seeks to herald the whole counsel of God, for all Scripture points us to Christ (Luke 24:27, 44-47).
WORSHIP REVERENTLY
The Scriptures tell us how God desires and requires us to worship Him; we don’t have to make it up on our own! Worship according to God’s design glorifies Him and fills our hearts with joy (Psalms 16:11; 100). Our worship is filled with singing, praying, and reading the Scriptures. All ages worship together, making joyful noises as we all learn, pray, and sing.
PLANT PCA CHURCHES
We seek to be a faithful church which plants faithful churches. Southwest, MO has only two PCA churches, and we pray the Lord will begin a planting movement that will fill our region with faithful and healthy PCA churches. We will train people to know the Gospel (Rom 10:14-15), to lead and serve in the work of the ministry (Eph 4:11-12), and step out in church planting (1 Cor 3:5-7).
TRAIN & TEACH
The Gospel is simple enough for a child to understand and believe, yet God calls His children to study His Word and its doctrine broadly and deeply. We support this worthy pursuit through Sunday school classes and seminars, as well as in family worship. We seek to equip everyone to study the Scriptures with others so that we may grow into a rich knowledge of God our Savior (Col 1:9; Eph 4:13).
SHARE THE GOSPEL
Since God saved us when we were far from Him (Eph 2:1-2), we are inspired to help our friends, family, and neighbors come to know Christ as well (Eph 2:17-22). We seek to share the Gospel with those whom we do not yet know, while also inviting those in our immediate circles into our lives and homes for deeper, ongoing gospel conversations.
ENGAGE IN LOCAL MINISTRY
Many in our own communities struggle with basic needs. We seek to equip our members to discover and meet the physical and spiritual needs of those with whom we live, work, and play so that scores of people would see the love and grace of God.
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