Abundant Life Christian Bookstore - Its Beginnings To Now!

Abundant Life Christian Bookstore - It's Beginnings to now.

A Bookstore ministry - Why do we need one?

There is an old saying “What goes into the mind comes out in life”. The community in which we live, because of their lifestyle and choice, may rarely if ever set foot in a church and be touched by the gospel message. At the same time, though, they are bombarded by the world with literature that encourages the lust of the flesh or in some circumstances can lead them into practices such as occultism, new age, mysticism and the like.

After Jesus’ resurrection, he spoke to his disciples giving them what we now know is the great commission. “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 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.

We see here, Jesus giving us an exhortation to teach the truth of the gospel message to all people and to teach what He has commanded us to do.

Since the invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg in the 1450’s and the printing of the first Latin Bible, we have seen an explosion of Christian literature over the centuries, with millions of people coming to know Jesus Christ as saviour, through the printed page. Another verse comes to mind, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14 God speaks through the printed page! What better reason than this?

Pastor’s Vision

For several years, it had been on the mind of the Pastor of Good Shepherd Baptist Church to commence a literature ministry apart from Southland Baptist Press, that would be a bridge to the community, connecting people to Jesus. The concept of a bookstore was something that seemed the most logical way to do this. As the church had been running a small bible and book table at the back of the church building after each Sunday service, the thought was how could we expand this ministry to encompass not only the church family but also the wider community of Albany Creek, so that lives would be touched, and people saved and brought into the Kingdom of God.

The answer to this question came after much prayer. In 2013, God provided someone in the church who had previous Christian bookstore experience and with the help of a number of suppliers the size of the bookstall from 1 table to 3 and then to the comprehensive bookstore facility we now have in our café connection and bookstore room.

In 2015 the Pastor’s vision was taken a step further when Word Bookstore at Alderley on the north side of Brisbane, closed its doors for the last time in June. God had graciously given Good Shepherd Baptist Church the opportunity to take the bookstore to another level by opening its doors to the general public on the 1st Friday of every month and every Saturday morning from 9am to 1pm.

What a joy it has been, to see God working in and through this ministry and to see hearts changed and souls won for Christ. 

A Ministry to All

In addition to opening the doors of the bookstore to the public at the church, part of Pastor’s vision was to take the bookstore where the people are. This was done because it was and is believed that the church should be outward looking in its ministry to the community. God again graciously provided an opportunity to do this when in August of 2014 we met with the management of the local Shopping Centre, and permission was granted for Good Shepherd Baptist Church to have a Christian book and gift stand on a casual lease basis in the mall of the Shopping Centre each Christmas.

Expansion Plans

Having this stand at the shopping centre was very important; as Pastor said it was an opportunity to test the waters in addition to seeking the Lord’s guidance as to where we should take the bookstore in the future. The sales from the stand in the shopping centre and the acceptance and enthusiasm of the general public were such that we believed, God was showing us that there was a genuine need here in the Albany Creek community and beyond, for the kind of ministry that we were entering.

With Word Bookstore closing, the church was able to purchase a selection of shop fixtures and fittings that would make it possible to fit out an entire Christian Bookstore anywhere on the north side of Brisbane. 

God willing, we will see this come to fruition in the Lord’s timing, meanwhile we continue to pray seeking God’s guidance for the future as we minister to the community with what He has given us on the church property.      

Development of the Abundant Life Christian Bookstore Website

Again after much prayer and deliberation, at the end of 2017 it was decided to start work on putting together a website for the bookstore. This we believed would go a long way to fulfilling the vision of the bookstore touching lives with the Gospel message in a far greater way, so work began on finding the right platform on which to build the website.

Over the next year peice by peice slowly but surely the website came together until It finally went live to the web on the 7th February 2019. We trust that it will be a continued blessing to all who use it to purchase the Bibles, Christian literature, Music, DVD'S, Giftlines and Greeting Cards we have available.

Our prayer is that through the physical bookstore and the website, we will be able to glorify God, in being obedient to the great commission and taking through what we sell the Gospel to the community, the nation and the world.

In this blog, our plan is also to bring to the attention of its readers what is new to the store and what are some of the classics recommended to have on your bookshelf. So each week we will post a book of the week on the Blog. May I encourage you to keep a look out for what will be in the next blog.

God Bless You

Jeuel Pavitt (Manager)