Read All About Bear Creek Community Church
HISTORY
The Bear Creek Church began in the historic Bear Creek Community of Irving, Texas. Planted from a support group ministry by our Pastor, we have grown slowly, but steadily. We are ministry minded, but love to fellowship. We are a multi-cultural church with Hispanic, African American and Anglo members. We are expressive in our worship experience. We believe in fellowship inside and outside our church walls and strive to communicate as a family. If you need a strong, bible-based church to grow in Christ, we invite you to come and visit us.
If you are a believer and seeking a place that your heart’s desire for ministry can be utilized, we ask you to join our team. One of our motto is ” we are not a mega church’ but we want to make a mega impact for Christ.
Therefore we intentionally train and develop Christian leaders to serve, challenging them to devote their life to the service of God. Our aim is that you will come, be taught, encouraged, prepared and move into the service of the Lord for the purpose of building his kingdom.
Your past may not be something you are proud of, however we accept you as you are and minister to you where you are in your life’s journey.
In the word’s of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:13-14
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13 Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do. Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Our Statement of Belief
We believe and we preach the following doctrine:
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That there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory; that this triune God created all, upholds all, and governs all. That the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the word of God, fully inspired, without error in the original manuscripts.In God the Father: perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love; That he concerns himself mercifully in the affairs of men. That he hears and answers prayer. That he saves from sin and death all who come to him through Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ: God’s only begotten son, conceived by the Holy Spirit.
We believe in his virgin birth, sinless life, miracles and teachings. His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for his people and personal, visible return to earth. That the Holy Spirit, who came to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify and empower for ministry all who believe in Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that he is an abiding helper, teacher, and guide. That all people are sinners by nature and choice and therefore, are under condemnation; that God regenerates by the Holy Spirit, those who repent of their sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord; that Jesus Christ empowers the seeking believer through the Holy Spirit for service.
In universal church, the living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members.That the Lord Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the church:
1) Baptism,
2) the Lord’s Supper
Baptism by immersion and Communion open to all believers. In the personal, visible return of Christ to earth and the establishment of His Kingdom, In the resurrection of the body, the final judgment and eternal blessing of the righteous and endless suffering of the wicked.
VISION OF A PASTOR
In September 1995, one of Pastor Dennis L Webb’s cousins recommitted her life to Jesus Christ at the church he attended. She was addicted to crack cocaine. Pastor Webb realized that besides spiritual guidance she needed more support that the church did not offer. He decided to start a support group where people who were struggling with drug addiction could come and share and be ministered to in a safe nonjudgmental environment.
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Putting his TRUST in the Lord, he opened his home up once a week and after four months it grew to include people needing support in other areas of their life. “I begin to realize I was acting in the capacity of Pastor. The Lord begin to impress on my heart to form this into a congregation”, says Pastor Webb.
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The group then met in an upstairs classroom at First Baptist Church of Irving until November 2000 when it out grew the chapel where they met. The initial gathering was the inaugural worship service of the Bear Creek Community Church. There were thirty-seven people present at the first service. According to Pastor Webb, he did not want to start a church but the Lord had other plans He put his TRUST in God for direction.
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Sensing a need to establish their own location, the church leased a warehouse in November 2000 in the Bear Creek community on Conflans Rd. In March 2006, the church began to TRUST the Lord for a new home and was marvelously blessed to begin buying the 26,000 square foot facility it now occupies.
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Bear Creek Community Church continues to impact the community, the residents, and the dedicated members.
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Pastor's Corner | Starting Point
The Starting Point
The starting point: that’s the revelation the Holy Spirit revealed to me on September 29. It has been one of the most revealing revelations I have been given by God concerning mankind, especially believers who profess to be Christians in many years.
The starting point answered question as to why Christians will not heed the call to biblical discipleship, why Christians refuse to give to support the work of the church, and why Christians prioritize so many non discipleship things before their discipleship responsibilities.
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The Passage of scripture he revealed to me was Luke Chapter 23:35-42
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35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.
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36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,
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37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
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38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
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39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
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40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
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41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
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42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
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43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
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It’s the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. As part of the development of a sermon I preached to my congregation on Sunday September 30 this knowledge came flooding into my spirit. Even while preaching the Holy Spirit continued to enlarge on the starting point.
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The sermon was entitled “ The Three Crosses at Calvary”. In it the focus was on the conversation Jesus had with two criminals who were being executed alone with him.
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There hanging from the execution instrument called the cross were three humans. Each was nailed to a different cross that represented three different human conditions. Those three crosses, I termed the Cross of Redemption, the Cross of Reconciliation, and the Cross of Rejection. Each cross held the heart of three humans that I asked the congregation to which one would they consider to be equal to theirs.
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Being in a church setting I knew the response would be the cross of reconciliation (I will explain later). However I challenged them to hear the message and then answer that question. Before I make the connection concerning the revelation I want to explore the text with you. I will examine each cross in detail.
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First I will look at the cross of redemption. That was the cross that held Jesus. It was because of the sacrifice and obedience of Jesus Christ and the Love of God that Jesus died. His death was the payment that was required to redeem humanity back to God. The redemption was needed due to the sin of the first man Adam in the Garden of Eden. Adams disobedience as recorded in Genesis Chapter 3 begin the downfall of creation. It was the disobedience of Adam that sin and death came into existence. All humans born from that point lived under the eternal punishment the just God had no other choice but to inflict on his creation.
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Although judgment awaited all of humanity, it was the Love of the father God that enacted the plan of salvation and redemption. That’s where the Gospel message of salvation originates. The answer for the salvation of man was the death and shedding of blood of a perfect human to appease the judgement of God. Without Spending a lot of time I will assume you will accept that Jesus was that offering. Jesus now hangs on the cross of redemption.
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The second cross was occupied by a criminal who had committed a crime and was guilty of it, as he testifies himself. He is part of the conversation with Jesus and the other thief. This thief exhibits an attitude that qualifies him to be on the cross of reconciliation. This thief admitted his sin and at some point recognized that Jesus was a King. What drove him to that conclusion is not known.
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What is sure is that the thief’s statement indicates he believe there was a future Kingdom. He believed Jesus will be the King of that Kingdom 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. The request reveals a faith in Jesus by this thief. Throughout his life Jesus responds to the faith of people.
In this case his response is another example of an interactions that pleases Jesus. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
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Jesus statement and promise to the thief lets us know he had related to Jesus in such a way reconciliation occurred. This thief occupied the “Cross of Reconciliation”.
Now I turn my attention to the third cross. On this cross was the other thief. He is definitely guilty of the crime that put him there. The thief on the cross of reconciliation reveals their just punishment.
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39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
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40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
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41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
This cross is the “Cross of Rejection” The thief ‘s interaction with Jesus mainly focuses on an effort to question whether Jesus was able to save himself and the thief also. At some point during this interaction the thief on the cross of rejection cries out to Jesus in desperation.
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39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
The problem with the cross of rejection is that the thief starts with his fleshly desire and then relate to Jesus from that starting point. To the thief on the cross of rejection, who by the way had committed a capital offense was only interested in himself, his fleshly desires. He needed Jesus to save him from his fate. His relationship was based on what can you do for me.
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The Starting Point. The revelation given to me answers the questions of why professed Christian reject the biblical teaching of Jesus concerning how they are to relate to him. “ Jesus expected His followers to obey Him. He sought to create in His disciples a lifestyle of consecrated obedience. Discipleship is about a total consecration to the Lord. As disciples, we need to submit and obey God’s word and plan for our lives. However, many of us have trouble submitting. We live in an individualistic culture where people do not want anyone else telling us what to do. That is why submission and obedience to God is so hard as well as important. When we become obedient to God in every area of our lives, we will experience victorious Christian living. God can only use men and women who are willing to obey Him.
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Jesus demonstrated how the disciples should live the Christ centered life. One reason Jesus had such a lasting impact on His disciples is that He lived the message before them daily. He was the message and the method. By walking with Jesus, they saw how He lived His faith in the real world. He prayed before them. He fed the poor. He had compassion on the multitude. He healed the sick. In other words, He lived the life that He wanted to reproduce in His disciples. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, He expected His disciples to say and do what He said and did.
Jesus expected His disciples to reproduce His likeness in others. He imparted His message and mission to His disciples so that they would reproduce themselves in others and make disciples of all nations. The Great Commission implies that the followers of Jesus will reproduce themselves and “Make disciples.” Reproduction is how the Christian movement was born.
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Today, what has become a 2.1 billion-member movement started with only twelve disciples. I want to return to the analogy of the Vine in John 15:1-17. The purpose of the Vine (Jesus) and the branches (us) is to bear fruit. Christians are to work for and expect a harvest (Matthew 9:37-38; Luke 10:2). Let us commit our lives and our churches to reproducing ourselves in others in order to make disciples of our communities and our world. We need to rediscover the reproductive nature of the church. We are called to select, train, and send missional Disciples of Christ out into the world who will be able repeat the process of discipleship. What we need in our day is an organic disciple making movement that will train and send men and women to be reproducing Disciples of Christ.” ( By Dr. Winfield Bevins serves as lead pastor of Church of the Outer Banks), I repeat, his starting point for his relationship with Jesus was based on what he desired. The focus of his relationship, himself, is the reason the church today and believers reject the discipleship call of Jesus.
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True sacrificial biblical discipleship is not the focus of the overwhelming majority of pastoral teaching today. If it was then the church would be more impactful on this society than it is. Like the thief on the cross of rejection, too many professed Christians start with their fleshly desire then relate to God and the bible from that point.
Unfortunately we start with what we want…. Then we interpret the bible, relate to Jesus in light of that starting point.
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When the starting point of our lives becomes the instructions of Jesus then everything we do will be ordered from that starting point. When we base our lives on the teachings of Jesus (the starting point) our time, talent, resources, life will be motivated by it. Jesus on the other hand started with the desire of God and the agenda of his father (the starting point) and then ordered his life from that desire.
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What is your starting point? Your life reveals it.
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From the Desk of Pastor Dennis L. Webb
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