Purpose statement – why do we exist?
The primary reason the church exist is the same reason we as individuals exist – to bring glory and honor to God. That purpose is fulfilled through four basic functions:
1. Evangelism – reaching the world around us with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. Discipleship – teaching individual believers to become less self-centered and more like Christ – to become imitators of Christ.
3. Fellowship – building relationships within the local church body and creating unity and love for each other with the goal in mind to fulfill Jesus’ great commission to make disciples of all people, teaching them to observe all things God has commanded.
4. Worship / Praise – Acknowledging God for who He is and what He has done. We worship through song, testimonies, obedience and proclamation of His word.
If a local church does not have a balanced focus on fellowship with believers and obedience to Christ, it will not be an effective local body. A church can grow in numbers without ever becoming effective in God’s plan. Success is not measured by numbers but by disciples. A disciple of Christ is someone who is ever learning and always applying the word of God by active obedience. A church that only focuses on fellowship will slowly transform into a social club and the gospel will be watered down as to not offend. The Bible forewarns that the gospel is an offense to those who resist God (Romans 9:33, 1 Peter 2:8).
From the other perspective, if a local body focuses on obedience without fellowship, focus will begin to shift to rules and regulations. We were created to have fellowship with God and out of that fellowship God produces a love for each other. We are commanded to preach the word without offense even though we know it will offend those who don’t want to be reminded of their position with God outside of Christ.
The two greatest commands in scripture is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus stated that all the law is based and fulfilled through these two commands. Therefore, we must make this the foundation of our focus in the church. If we don’t obey because we love God, it is meaningless (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Based on these scriptures, our purpose statement is:
The church's purpose is to reach the world around us, equip believers and become a family of believers providing acceptance and belonging by loving one another through the love and glory of God.