Our Mission

Introduction
This document represents the fruit of a three-year study of the Word of God by the Leadership Team of Aboite Baptist Church. Our task was to survey the Scriptures and find out what it is that God wants His local churches to be about. This study was at times a struggle. We were forced by the Word to challenge not only what we as individuals had come to believe the mission of the church was to be, but also what the Christian culture has popularized as being the church’s mission. The process was also a joy because each of us was challenged to move to a deeper understanding of God’s Word as we drew from it what His will and purpose for the church is. Our conclusion based on God’s Word is that Christ has three unchanging goals for His churches. His disciples are to be both corporately and individually obedient in the areas of evangelizing the lost, teaching toward maturity, and worshiping His person. These three goals should be the unending mission and focus of every local church in the world. While the mission of the church and the biblical means of accomplishing that mission will never change, the implementation of these ideas into a given culture and time will vary.

 

Who are we?

A. Aboite
In 1978, God planted us on the corner of Homestead and Liberty Mills Roads. As a result, Aboite Township is our home base from which we minister locally, regionally and worldwide.

B. Baptist
We do not exist to maintain a Baptist denomination. We are committed to the core doctrines of historic Baptist theology, but only so long as they remain true to the revealed Words of Scripture.

Therefore,
Theologically…

  • We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God.
  • We believe that there is one true God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  • We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His vicarious death, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension, and in His return in power and glory.
  • We believe the Holy Spirit indwells believers, empowers them for godly living, and enables them for ministry to others.
  • We believe that men are saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ apart from works, and as a new creature will evidence this new life which cannot be lost.
  • We believe that the mission of the church is to faithfully proclaim this gospel to the world and to disciple believers to maturity in Christ.
  • We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the saved to eternal life in God’s presence and the lost to everlasting suffering.

In practice…

  • We baptize by immersion all those who desire to be obedient and are able to clearly confess Jesus Christ as Savior.
  • We celebrate the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis as a symbolic reminder of our Savior’s death for us.
  • We are an independent body of Christ that chooses to join with associations who hold to similar theological positions as ourselves.
  • We are governed by Elders who submit their decisions to the approval of the congregation as a whole.
  • We are served by Deacons who seek to minister to the physical needs of the body in various forms.

C. Church
We are a family of believers, a local body of Christ, set apart from the world to holiness, united by our faith in Jesus Christ and assembled to glorify God. We are not an organization in which we are participants, but rather an organism of which we are members. Therefore, we will always seek to maintain the ‘feel’ of a family and not a corporation in all we do as a church.

 

Our Mission Statement

Aboite Baptist Church exists to glorify God,
obeying the great commission of Jesus Christ to make disciples
through communicating the gospel to the lost
and leading those who believe to Christlike maturity.

A mission statement is designed to reflect the basic core values of an organization and express how those values will be applied to the functioning of the organization. As a church, we do not consider ourselves an organization, but rather an organism, a living and growing entity. Jesus Christ established the church and through it seeks to accomplish His will on the earth today.

We believe that our mission statement accurately reflects God’s will for us, Aboite Baptist Church. As we establish goals, plan to achieve those goals, execute our plans, develop budgets and make decisions, it all must pass through the grid work of our mission statement. Below is an explanation of our mission statement and how we see it applying to our ministry here at Aboite Baptist Church.

1. Why do we exist?

Aboite Baptist Church exists to glorify God,
obeying the great commission of Jesus Christ to make disciples
through communicating the gospel to the lost
and leading those who believe to Christlike maturity.

Scripture clearly demonstrates that everything exists for God and God alone. That includes each of us personally as well as the church. Therefore, as a church we do not gather to perpetuate a religious tradition, nor do we meet for any social, emotional, economic, or spiritual benefit to ourselves, but for the sole purpose of acknowledging and glorifying God. There are many benefits that flow from our gathering together, but they are the result of our existence, not the purpose of our existence.

What exactly does it mean when we say that we exist to bring glory to God? Our actions cannot add to God’s glory or diminish it; He is glorious apart from us. We can, however, call attention to His glory. Therefore, to bring glory to God is to make known the grandeur, splendor, magnificence, and beauty of the perfect, holy, and only true God.
So how do we go about bringing glory to God? First of all, we can accomplish this through worship, both private and public. We proclaim God’s glory by acknowledging Him, exalting Him, bowing before Him, singing praises to Him, praying to Him, adoring Him, and worshipping Him in a manner that focuses attention on Him alone. Therefore, our times of worship will focus attention on the person and work of God. Our worship style will vary and will seek to call attention to the audience of our worship, God, and not the participants of our worship, us.

Secondly, we are able to proclaim the glory of God by thinking and living in a way that demonstrates the supremacy of a holy God in our lives. This will be evident as we diligently seek Him, love Him, treasure Him, and obey Him. Therefore, our efforts will be toward teaching the people of God what the word of God says about a life that is pleasing to Him. We will also strive to privately hold one another accountable to living our lives in a manner that brings glory to God.

2. What is expected of us as a church?

Aboite Baptist Church exists to glorify God,
obeying the great commission of Jesus Christ to make disciples
through communicating the gospel to the lost
and leading those who believe to Christlike maturity.

Obedience to God, His statutes, commands and desires is the highest goal of every believer. We are repeatedly challenged throughout scripture to obey. From Samuel’s terse admonishment to Saul, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…” (1 Samuel 15:22) to Peter’s words that as believers we have been chosen and sanctified for the purpose of obedience (1 Peter 1:1-2), the scriptures make it clear that a distinguishing hallmark of a true believer of Jesus Christ is obedience to His words.

The same holds true for the church of Jesus Christ. As the bride of Christ, it goes without question that obedience to our Bridegroom, the head of the church, Jesus Christ, is absolutely necessary. Too often, however, the local church has substituted the maintenance of tradition or continuation of programs as the hallmark of an effective church. Therefore, the great commission which Jesus gave to his disciples before returning to heaven remains the marching orders of the church which we must be obedient to. It says:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

We believe that this command still defines our mission as a church and will continue to do so until Jesus Christ returns. Therefore, as a church we will seek to minister to people in one of two ways. If an individual is not yet a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, our emphasis will be upon their spiritual need of salvation. We will use various and creative means to gain a hearing from that person in order to speak the gospel to them. If an individual is already a believer, we will provide them with various means whereby they are able to continue their growth in the knowledge and application of God’s Word to their everyday life as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.

But what exactly is a disciple? While defined in many different ways through church history, we believe that a true disciple of Jesus Christ is one who is trusting Christ as Savior and Lord, is grounded and growing in the faith, unconditionally embracing Him, and faithfully obeying His Word. We believe that a true disciple is able to attain and demonstrate spiritual maturity, yet always be continuing to grow into great maturity. The process never ends. Therefore, as a church we will be presenting the body with growth and service opportunities. Our teaching will always seek to motivate believers to a closer imitation of Christ in every area of their life.

3. What are our responsibilities as a church?

As stated above, the great commission of Jesus Christ contains two areas of responsibility for the church; the communication of the gospel to those who do not believe and leading true disciples of Jesus Christ to further Christlike maturity. Each of these responsibilities are further defined below.

Aboite Baptist Church exists to glorify God,
obeying the great commission of Jesus Christ to make disciples
through communicating the gospel to the lost
and leading those who believe to Christlike maturity.

The clear communication of the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world is an imperative for the church. It is important that as a church we recognize how we are going to accomplish this goal.

First, we believe that as our society continues to change, our methods for sharing the life-changing gospel must change as well. The church must make a determined effort to prepare each member of the body to share the gospel with those around them. We must also make the effort to prepare a strategy for how we can participate in the evangelization of the world at large. Therefore, we will be continually offering our body opportunities to both train and participate in vocal presentation of the gospel to the lost. We will expect that each member of the body take seriously this command and responsibility, seeking opportunities to share the gospel with others around them. We will also seek to provide opportunities for the body to learn about various ministries and needs worldwide.

Secondly, we must be active in praying for God’s assistance and blessing as we seek to share the gospel. As our Savior demonstrated, no evangelistic effort will succeed without the blessing of our Heavenly Father. We must be diligent in our prayers as we seek to share the gospel. We must pray for those who are lost, but we also must pray for ourselves and the boldness needed to speak the gospel openly. We must also be praying for continued opportunities to share the gospel. Therefore, our times of corporate prayer must set aside specific time to pray for these needs.

Thirdly, words alone are not enough to reach our community for Christ. We must also be living the truth of the gospel in out day-to-day lives. We must each seek to live lives of growing personal holiness, we must be demonstrating the love of Christ to those in and out of the body and we must display a unity of purpose within our church. Therefore, as a church, we must diligently be on guard against any divisions in the church that will bring reproach upon the name of our God and the gospel we offer. Public and private obedience to the Word of God will be expected as we seek to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Finally, there must come a time when we actually speak the truth of the gospel to others. We do so with the patient and repetitive instruction of one who cares deeply for the person we speak with. At times such a proclamation of the gospel might require that we go past the simple truths of the gospel and support our claims of truth from the Word of God. Therefore, we will provide instruction and training in evangelistic outreach for any who feel the need for such training. We will also seek to hold one another accountable in love for obedience to this command of our Savior.

What is the gospel we seek to communicate to others around us? It begins with the honest appraisal of the reality of sin within each of us. Every single human being is sinful and spiritually lost. God is without sin or blemish in any way. We are flawed and sinful in many ways, therefore, unacceptable to God in our current condition. As a result of our sinfulness, we are alienated from God and destined for judgment by God in the future. We are spiritually dead and headed for physical death as well.

Yet, God has provided a solution for this dreadful condition mankind finds itself in. God, motivated by love, has planned and provided for the salvation of those who are His. Jesus Christ came to earth as God in the flesh to teach us about God as well as take the punishment our sin deserves. Jesus Christ died, taking our punishment and then rose from the grave demonstrating His deity. We fully and wholeheartedly believe that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation, the only means whereby we can be restored to a relationship with God.

So how does one partake of this salvation? We are called to respond to these tremendous truths of scripture in faith alone Working to please God and making Him happy with us will not work. In faith, we repent of our sinful behavior and believe that Jesus did indeed take the punishment for our sinfulness.

In evidence of this inward response to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are each called to follow Jesus Christ and the fullness of His will for us as revealed for in the scriptures. We do this as response to His great love for us and to please Him, our Savior.

We believe that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, this will be the message that we preach, teach and practice as we live in this world. We will consider any deviation from this clear and simple gospel as a deviation from the truth and, thus, heresy and falsehood.

Aboite Baptist Church exists to glorify God,
obeying the great commission of Jesus Christ to make disciples
through communicating the gospel to the lost
and leading those who believe to Christlike maturity.

The second responsibility given the local church is that of assisting those who believe to grow into Christlike maturity. Yet, how is this maturity accomplished and what does Christlike maturity look like?

The means Jesus Christ directed us to use in assisting those who believe to true discipleship is “teaching”. To teach is to impart the truth of scripture and its application to daily life. Teaching is accomplished in a number of ways including preaching, instruction, mentoring, encouraging,correcting and modeling. We believe that each of these means has a specific function in the local church.

Preaching is the public proclamation of the Word of God. This takes place in a large group-type setting. Mentoring, on the other hand, is individualized instruction of the Word of God accomplished through both small groups as well as one-on-one environments. The goal of both these tools is that of instruction in the Word of God. Instruction is the methodical indoctrination of the individual in the Word of God. Instruction has as its goal the application of the Word of God to our lives. Instruction without application is worthless head knowledge. Therefore, our church will always provide clear, consistent and applicable preaching and mentoring that focuses on the instruction of God’s people in God’s Word.

Teaching also includes encouraging. While much less formal, encouraging is motivating one another to obedience to the Word of God. Clearly, this is an important part of the teaching process. At times each of us will need correction as well. As we live, we will fail to obey the Word. Correction is assisting a member of the body of Christ in recovering from disobedience to the Word of God. Most often, this will take place in a private, personal way. A final aspect of teaching is that of modeling. Modeling is living in obedience to Christ and His Words so that others might be encouraged to imitate the living Word of God. Therefore, as a church we will seek to lead others to maturity through these various forms of instruction. One can be sure that teaching in the Word of God is a central focus of our body. Each member of the body plays a role in this instruction; it is not up to the leadership alone to accomplish this responsibility of the church.

Our goal in our teaching is that of Christlike maturity. We believe that a mature disciple is one who exhibits a basic set of characteristics in their day-to day life. We recognize that each person is in the process of growing into the image of Christ Jesus and that ultimately Christ will complete this good work that He has begun in each of us as believers. The following provides a Biblical Snapshot of what we believe a maturing disciple of Jesus Christ will display in his or her life.

First, a maturing believer is one who is saved, one who is trusting in Christ as his/her Savior and Lord. Such a confession will be evidenced by the willingness to publicly confess Christ as Savior and Lord. This is usually first indicated by an eager willingness to submit to believer’s baptism. As they grow in an understanding of their salvation, a maturing believer possesses an increasing awareness of their eternal salvation.

Secondly, a maturing believer is one who is established in their faith. To be established is best described as one who is grounded and growing in the faith. One who is established in the faith is by no means perfect, but they should be evidencing the following qualities in their life. They will be seeking intimacy with their God on a regular basis. As they draw near to God, they will find an increasing desire to pursue personal holiness and then strive toward conformity into the image of Jesus Christ, our Savior. They will find their love for God and others increasing. As they mature, they will develop a deeper knowledge of scripture, becoming sound in their doctrine. They will find the fruit of the Spirit being displayed in their life, and they will willingly and humbly submit to God-ordained authority over them.

Another characteristic of a maturing believer is their commitment to Jesus Christ, unconditionally embracing Him no matter what the cost. This commitment will be seen in their obedience to the Word of God as well as their unwavering devotion to Christ and courageous living for Him. This commitment will express itself in the joyful giving of both time and resources to the work of Christ and needs of others.

Finally, a maturing believer is one who is active serving, selflessly ministering to the needs of others around them. Whether it be witnessing to the lost, exercising their spiritual gifts in the body, bearing fruit in the church, making disciples or manifesting their commitment to the body, their maturity will be visible to others around them in the service to Christ and His church.

Therefore, this local body will have as its second major responsibility before our Lord and Savior, leading those who believe to this kind of Christlike maturity. We will resist every temptation to allow such a goal to become a tool for the legalistic evaluation of one another in the body. We seek to present to Jesus Christ a body of believers who are together maturing into Christlike maturity.

Conclusion

We trust that this gives you a clear picture of what we are seeking to accomplish at Aboite Baptist Church. As stated from the beginning, our deepest passion is to bring glory to none other than Jesus Christ, our Savior. He saved us and established the church as the vehicle which he uses in the world to accomplish His will. Our goal is simply to be faithful… faithful to Christ and His Word.