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"Thy
Word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee."
Psalm 119:11
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Mission
Statement: West Park Baptist Church
"And
Jesus came and spake unto them, saying. All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
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."
Matthew 28:18-20
The God-given
mission of the church, and therefore, of this local church is outlined
in the Great Commission, given above. We are to teach, baptize and then
teach again.
l. The
first thing we are to teach is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
A. What is
the gospel? Paul defined it this way: "For l delivered unto you first
of all that which l also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the
third day according to the scriptures:" I Cor. 15:3 & 4
B. Notice that he said this was what he had given to the church at Corinth
"first of all". When he wrote to the church at Rome he said:
"For l am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first and
also to the
Greek."
C. Our main mission, therefore, is to teach the gospel to as many people
as possible. We must do this by whatever scriptural means are available
to us. We must teach God's simple plan of salvation in and through: our
Sunday School, Worship services, Bible studies, Day Camp,
Self Defense class, teen activities, singles' activities, men's &
ladies' fellowships, church visitation, tract distribution, van ministry,
missionary support and each and every other outreach ministry of this
local church.
Il. The
second thing we must do is to take those who have received and believed
the gospel and baptize them.
A. We baptize
because our Lord commanded us to do so.
B. We do not baptize in order to gain salvation or forgiveness or as a
help to gaining salvation or forgiveness.
C. We baptize as a witness of our faith in the Lord Jesus Who died for
our sins and rose again.
D. We baptize as a witness of our faith that we are leaving the old way
of life and beginning a new life, following Christ.
E. We baptize as a witness of the hope of our own resurrection through
Jesus Christ.
F. We are to baptize believers only, that is: those who have been saved
by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
G. All who are members of this local church must first be saved and then
follow our Lord in baptism.
III. The
third thing we must do is teach again.
A. The purpose
of this teaching is (Ephesians 4:12-16)
1. "For
the perfecting of the saints..."
a. Jesus
said: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven
is perfect." Matthew 5:48
We must be constantly learning and striving to be like our Father. "Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:
but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall
see him as he is." I John 3:2
b. When we are born again we are spiritual babies who need to be nourished
and taught so that we may "… grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ:" Ephesians 4:15. We must, "As
newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:"
c. The church, therefore, must teach the word to believers in order for
them to experience spiritual growth so that each one becomes less like
the lost world and more like our Heavenly Father. This is the purpose
of Sunday School and Bible study programs.
2. "for
the work of the ministry". Our Lord's work must be carried on by
His people who are trained to do so. The church and its programs must
train the members to be witnesses of the gospel, servants to our fellowmen
and trainers of believers so that they, in turn, can teach others to be
witnesses of the gospel, servants to their fellowmen and trainers of believers.
3. "for
the edifying of the body of Christ" The "body of Christ"
is the church (Ephesians 1:22 & 23; 4:12 & 5:25-30; I Corinthians
12:27).
The word "edifying" means building up. The church must be built
numerically or else it will die. It is a fact of this world that people
die, move on, leave churches, etc. Unless the church is constantly reaching
new people it will dwindle to nothing over a period of time. "The
church must ` be built spiritually or else it will die. Unless believers
are taught the "milk" of the Word until they can be given the
"meat" (I Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12-14) the church will
die because it does not have the wisdom and understanding needed to continue.
Unless the church is building stronger believers so that those believers
are discipled to become Christlike, the church will fail.
B. This teaching
is to be done: "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure
of the stature of the fullness of Christ:"
This is the
mission of the West Park Baptist Church. All current ministries and future
endeavors must work together like the gears of a great machine with the
common purpose and goal of reaching souls for the Savior and training
those new believers to be like Him so that they may reach souls for the
Savior and train new believers to be like Him.
We must work
together to see:
1. More people
distributing the gospel via tracts.
2.
More people involved in personal witnessing and soul winning.
3.
More people following the Lord in believer's baptism.
4.
More people being trained in the word of God through the current ministries:
Van ministry, Sunday School, Worship Services, Bible studios, King's Kids
Children's churches, Day Camp, Self Defense class, visitation, missionary
support, Reformer's Unanimous, etc.
5.
More ministries of outreach and growth developed and led by the congregation.
6.
More participation in every area as we develop the common vision of the
Great Commission.
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