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Ministry PhilosophyAn effective philosophy of ministry begins with the Biblical purpose. This helps: focus your energy with unity, evaluate effectively, look to the future with a strategy, and embrace a sense of expectancy. Once the goals are developed from your objectives, the focus is shifted from simply being efficient, to the importance of being effective.The purpose of New Life Baptist Church is to Make Disciples. The Great Commission is our Mission (Matt. 28:19-20). Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." When it comes to reaching our community for Christ, we embrace the concept of: "Infiltration not Isolation." This emphasizes penetration into the community instead of separation from it. Remember, Jesus said, "go into" not "run from" the world. We encourage involvement in public schools, PTA, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Little League, other sports organizations, hospital and nursing home volunteers, etc. We seek to "build a bridge" to the community by "lighting a candle" instead of "cursing the darkness." Our goal is to reach three types of people: the lost, backslidden, and the positive church transfer. Our primary objective is to help the lost come to faith in Christ. The heartbeat of Jesus is discovered in Luke 19:10 when He said, "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Therefore, the goal of the ministry is "keeping the main thing, the main thing." We also recognize the value of reaching the backslidden. These are people who made a profession of faith, but have drifted away from the Lord. We desire to help restore their walk with the Lord. We call this "secondary evangelism." While they are not "resaved," they are "restored" to the faith with a fresh sense of spiritual vitality. Finally, we are willing to accept the "positive church transfer." These are positive minded believers who want "put their shoulder to the wheel" with us. The positive church transfer embraces our purpose and joins without any "pre-set agenda." They simply want to help us reach others for Christ, and do ministry the "New Life way." Our strategy for developing mature believers is the preaching and teaching of the Word of God (II Tim. 4:2). Our goal is to establish the believer in the faith (Col. 2:7). The Bible is life-changing truth, and culturally relevant for every generation (John 17:17, II. Tim. 3:16, I Peter 1:23-25). The bedrock of confidence is the promise of God to bless the proclamation of His Word (Isa. 55:11, Rom. 10:17). We believe, "The Bible is not a rulebook to make you miserable; it is a roadmap to make you successful" (Josh.1:8). Therefore, New Life is primarily a Bible Teaching Ministry. We structure the ministry according to the five functions, which are: Evangelism, Bible Teaching, Christian Fellowship, Worship, and Ministry (Acts 2: 41-42). The functions of the church do not change, but sometimes the format may need to change. In other words, the mission is timeless, but our methods may need to adjust with the times. For example, we may suspend the "Sunday evening service" for a special "Outreach Event." This is designed for the purpose of evangelism, which is one of our five functions. We seek to attract a crowd and then share the gospel in a low-key way. Outreach Events range from: Christmas Pageants, 3 on 3 Basketball Tournaments, Super Bowl Parties, Patriotic Celebrations, Harvest Festivals, and a host of other creative ideas. We may periodically cancel a Sunday evening service for fellowship, which is also one of our five functions. Basically, in order to effectively accomplish the ministry objectives with the busy schedules of modern culture, some flexibility will be needed. The importance is fulfilling a Biblical function, not clinging to a traditional format. Our primary focus in ministry is the family. The family is the "heartbeat" of God (Gen. 2:21-25; Mt. 19:4-6; Eph. 5:22-6:4). We believe, the stronger the home: the stronger the church, community, and nation. We embrace "household evangelism" as a strategy for outreach. This principle runs all through the Bible: Noah and his household were saved, the nobleman and his household believed, Lydia and her household were baptized, the "Philippian jailor" reached his family, and Timothy's grandmother and mother handed down the faith (Gen. 7:1, John 4:53, Acts 16:15, Acts 16:33, II Tim. 1:5). Yes, influence the head of the home and you can impact the entire family. In summary, the New Life Philosophy of Ministry is: Bible centered, purpose driven, and family friendly. (c)2004 New Life Baptist Church. All rights reserved. New Life Baptist Church... www.NewLifeBaptist.net ... NewLife@SurfPure.com ... Phone 574-674-2868 |
