Our purpose at First Baptist Church: Helping people become fully committed followers of Christ. A purpose statement provides a broad brush stroke as to the direction of ministry. And the majority of churches have a purpose statement. But a purpose statement alone can not live in isolation. There has to be a way to 
incorporate and carry out the purpose statement in the life of the church. Hence, I developed the “3 Pillars” during my doctoral studies to bring the purpose statement to life. Here is the basic concept for helping people become fully committed followers of Christ:
1. Engage: we engage God in worship and engage the lost in evangelism. Worship is a top priority for all true believers. Once believers have received God’s wonderful grace, the natural response is Worship! In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), Jesus tells his followers to engage the world with the gospel message. Sharing the gospel is not an option for the true believer. We should desire to share the message with our family, friends, co-workers and anyone else.
2. Connect: we connect people around God’s Word to cultivate spiritual growth and to develop authentic Christian fellowship. Christians are to be growing in their walk with Christ. The best way to experience spiritual growth is to study the Bible. Therefore, small group Bible studies are a top priority. As these groups come together, a sense of fellowship takes place within the life of the group.
3. Serve: we serve the church, community, and the world. Our salvation produces a desire to become involved in ministry. We serve in the local church to help it carry out the work of Christ. We serve our community in order to reach and care for people. Beyond our own community, we seek to support the work of missions in our world.
The series starts November 18, 2018. My prayer is that we will come to understand how all this fits together to help people become fully committed followers of Christ.
God Bless,
Pastor Mike
