Sill On Mission

Sunday, August 9, 2026 | CBC's 47th Anniversary | "47: Still on Mission" Text: Malachi 4:6 (KJV)

Service Flow (for reference)

Congregational worship (2 songs) + offering

Mini-sermon (15 min) — John

Families Count video (4 min)

Andrew's explanation (5 min)

Families Count impact testimony video (4 min)

Haley's testimony (5 min)

Closing appeal (10 min) — John

Closing prayer / dismissal to potluck (FLC gym)

PART ONE: MINI-SERMON (15 min)

Introduction (1-2 min)

47 years since CBC was planted in Bedford — today looks forward, not back

Theme: "47: Still on Mission" — still, because the mission isn't finished

Text: Malachi 4:6 — the last verse of the Old Testament before 400 years of silence

Read Malachi 4:6

Malachi 4:6 KJV 1900

6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, And the heart of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

The Heart of God Has Always Turned Toward Broken Families (5-6 min)

Brokenness between fathers and children is not new to God

Psalm 68:5 KJV 1900

5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, Is God in his holy habitation.

Psalm 68:5— God identifies Himself as father to the fatherless; "this is where He desires to live”

James 1:27 KJV 1900

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

James 1:27 — pure religion defined by care for the fatherless and widows, not a program

Malachi 4:6 isn't a new assignment for God — it's His revealed character

Application: a church that makes Him known cannot stay silent on broken families forever

"47 years of faithfulness at Calvary hasn't been wasted time getting to this point. It has been preparation for it."

The Call of Christ Sends the Church Toward the Broken (3-4 min)

Matthew 28:19–20 KJV 1900

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Matthew 28:19-20— the Great Commission was never abstract; specific in who and where

Paired with Point I: we must go to those close around us — parents fighting to keep families together, children needing a family

Name Families Count, launching this fall — but do not explain it

"My simple job isn't to tell you the what. It is to make sure you understand the why."

The Turning (2-3 min)

Return to Malachi 4:6 — note the warning: God takes family restoration seriously

Malachi 4:6 KJV 1900

6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, And the heart of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

"47 years ago, God turned a handful of hearts toward Bedford. Now, this morning, He is asking us to turn our hearts toward the broken families of our community."

Close: "What you are about to see isn't a new program. It is God's Word in action."

[Transition to Families Count video]

PART TWO: CLOSING APPEAL (10 min)

(Following Haley's testimony)

Opening — Naming What's Just Happened

"You have heard the why... seen the what... Andrew explained the how... Haley showed us what this looks like when it touches a real family."

Return one final time to Malachi 4:6

Malachi 4:6 KJV 1900

6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, And the heart of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

The Ask

Forty-seven years ago God turned hearts toward Bedford; today He asks something simpler but no less serious

Families Count cannot be carried by staff alone — "this whole church... decides together that this is who we are going to be"

Not asking for a feeling — asking for a response

Three Ways to Respond

Serve — mentor, foster family support, a hand in the ministry as it launches this fall

Pray — by name, for families not yet known

Commit — "count me in"

Response Moment

Congregation invited to come forward and stand at the front together with staff in prayer (not a commitment card)

"I don't want this to be a moment that stirs your heart for twenty minutes and fades by lunch. I want it to be the moment this church turns."

[Congregation moves forward, staff stand with them]

Closing

"We are still on mission — not because we've arrived, but because God is not finished with us."

Why (God's character) + What (a name and a launch date) + Who (a people willing to turn)

[Closing prayer]

[Dismissal to potluck — Family Life Center gym]