It was nearly five years ago, August 13, 1995, that we began meeting together for worship as the Shreveport Grace Church, in Kilpatrick auditorium, on the Centenary College campus. The Lord has abundantly blessed us as a congregation to meet in a number of different temporary dwellings, to worship Him in the Gospel of His dear Son. Now He has brought us on this marvelous journey of grace to another milestone- meeting for the first time in this building that we may call "our own" only by permission. All things are the Lord's, and to Him we give the praise.
A lot has changed in the past five years, but one issue, I pray, has not changed, except it is that we are stronger today for it. That is the Gospel of God. The following is an excerpt from our very first bulletin as we began meetings five years ago. It remains true today.
"Why are we called Shreveport Grace Church? It is a name that identifies us as a body of believers and very simply expresses who we are and what we believe. Shreveport, is where we meet as a body of believers. In the New Testament, the churches were identified by the different towns in which they met... There is no greater blessing for a city or region than that God raise up a Gospel preaching church there.
Grace is the reason for our meeting together to worship God. There are only two religions in this world. People are either endeavoring to come to God through their works, or they rest entirely in God's grace and the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. We unashamedly, yet humbly, acknowledge that salvation is ALL OF GRACE, through the Lord Jesus Christ's perfect obedience and atonement. God gives His grace to those whom He has chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, 2 Timothy 1:9. If any of us know the Lord in truth, it is because God chose us in His Son, and the Son redeemed us by His atoning death, and the Spirit of God has graciously quickened us and brought us to the Son in faith, 1 Peter 1:2.
The Church signifies who we are as an assembly. The word means 'called out ones.' In God's time, He effectually brings to Christ, ALL that Christ has redeemed. They believe on Him according to the will and purpose of the Father, to the praise of the Son. None may perish for whom He died, John 6:37.
As a church, may our Lord God graciously use us for His glory in this community, and grant that we be faithful witnesses of His grace here, in bringing others of His sheep to Himself."