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On June 5, 1995, Christian Bible Fellowship was
birthed. The Lord in His wisdom and grace through a
season of great trial and testing brought forth this
ministry. A ministry that would welcome all
people in order to share with them the awesome
truths found in His Word. A ministry that
would not only touch the lives of those searching
and longing to fill the void in their lives, but
also one that would build up believers in their
faith. God has truly blessed His children and
the ministry of Christian Bible Fellowship.
And now for a little history..........
Our first official meeting was held in the backyard
of one of our fellow believers. We all, a group of
over 80 believers, came together with our Bibles,
lawn chairs and a burning desire to follow the
Lord's direction in this might moving of God.
It wasn’t long until the Lord opened the door to the
E. M. Holt Community building which became our
temporary meeting place. For the next few weeks,
word spread throughout the community about our
ministry and eventually we filled the building to
capacity. Babies and toddlers were literally
bursting through the kitchen window. Oh, by the way,
the kitchen was used for our nursery–yes, we used
every inch of the Lord’s provisions and rejoiced in
it.
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One of our sister Churches heard of our need for a
larger facility and offered to let us use.jpg) their
church facility on Sunday afternoons. Though the
time was a little out of the ordinary, the Lord’s
provisions were perfect. We were able to have Sunday
school, worship service and even choir practice with
full facilities. Isn’t God Wonderful! As we grew and
watched our Lord provide need after need, we became
ever more thankful for His faithfulness and His work
in the hearts of His children. Lives were being
touched and changed in every service.
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Eventually, our next temporary home became the St.
John’s New Mission Church on Edgewood
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Burlington. The ministry there had merged with
another local church and their facility had become a
daycare. The sanctuary, however, was not being used
so we were allowed to lease it and use the
classrooms for our Sunday school, AWANA Club and
youth ministry. While on Edgewood, news of our
church body continued to spread throughout the
community. Now in our 4th meeting place,
the Lord had taken us from Southern Alamance County
to East Burlington, and now to West Burlington. The
Lord continued to send many new faces to our family.
We had every need supplied through His people who
were blessed with many talents and the willingness
to use them for God’s glory.
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As our lease came to an end. God continued to bless
His people and provide yet another temporary home in
the Gibsonville Elementary School. We stood amazed
at His provisions for His ministry at CBF. We
continued to grow not just in numbers, but also in
faith. As our congregation and ministry grew, the
needs of God’s children also grew. We began praying
for the Lord to send who He would have to help our
Pastor, and to enable our ministries to grow even
more.
The Lord began to work in the hearts of His children
and more and more people began to step out in faith
in obedience to God. Couples had a burden to work
with our youth and senior ministries, new Ladies and
Men’s Sunday School classes were started and the
Lord led Rev. Paul Baker and his wife Juanita to our
family. Dynamite does truly come in small packages.
Our family voted Pastor Paul in as our Associate
Pastor. Pastor Paul certainly is a blessing to our
ministry and to our Pastor Bruce. What a great team
our Pastors make for service to our Lord. Juanita
went to be with our Lord in 2004, and even though
she is truly missed, we are rejoicing that she has
reached her final home.
As our family and needs grew, the CBF family began
to talk about a building of our own. The Lord
continued to bless us with more new family members
until it became truly evident that we could better
serve our community with a temporary home of our
own.
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After searching for land to build our temporary
home, the Lord blessed us by helping us find the
perfect spot for our new "Church on the Hill". One
of our members, Nelda Phillippe and her brother and
two sisters owned a parcel of land on the edge of
Highway 70 and Springwood Avenue. They sold this
land to our church family thus allowing a permanent
temporary home for CBF.
A building committee was formed consisting of a
group of men with a burning desire to honor the Lord
with their time and talents. Many hours went into
behind the scene duties. Eventually through building
plans, meetings, and meetings, and meetings, and
votes by our people, we had our final plans.
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The Lord sent a Christian contractor to us. We
rejoiced in His goodness and watch care over His
people. In January, 2000, we had our first service
in our very own "temporary home", and praise our God
for His continued provisions and work in the hearts
of His children. Our ministries have grown to better
serve our community just as we had prayed.
In 2004, after many years of faithful service to
our church family, we were able to add Randy
Blalock to our staff as Minister of Music. What
a blessing Randy and his dear wife Sue are to
our music program. In 2006, we added Mark
McKinney to our staff as Youth Minister. Mark is
just another blessing the Lord has sent in
answer to our prayers. What an "Awesome God" we
truly serve.
Whether a baby, toddler, teen, young adult, to our
precious senior citizens, we invite you to come
share the Lord’s blessings through the warm and
caring ministry that He has developed at Christian
Bible Fellowship.
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