Five Priority Goals

To accomplish our mission, we have set five priority goals.

Priority #1 – Inspiring Worship

As disciples of Jesus Christ we commit ourselves to continual growth in our expression of our love for God in worship.

Declaring the praises of God is the first priority of the church(3). Indeed, it is more than just a one hour service on Sunday. Biblical worship is what we give to God “24-7” as His people. When God’s people join together for worship we are gathering to express praise to God and to receive grace from God. We go from corporate worship on Sunday both empowered and directed to worship God as families and as individuals in the day-to-day expression of our love for Him in our workplaces, our schools and our communities (4).

To fulfill this priority, we will:

• Faithfully pray for and depend upon God’s Spirit to move among us so that people come away from our worship services with the sense that they have met with God.
• Commit ourselves to offering God our best in every area of worship.
• Make our corporate worship a testimony to our Lord and to our community of our love for one another and our unity in Christ by using worship expressions that embrace the whole congregation.
• Passionately preach the Word of God giving practical application to life and calling people to commitment to live out its truth.
• Dedicate ourselves to faithfully praying for our world and its needs.
• Employ the gifts and talents of our people to declare God’s praise to encourage believers in the faith and to share the faith with unbelievers.

Priority #2 – Systematic Teaching

As disciples of Jesus Christ we commit ourselves to continual growth in our love for, our understanding of and our obedience to the Word of God.

We express our love for God by keeping His commandments (5). The Word of God is the word of life and our desire is that we learn to handle it with skill and reverence, recognizing that it is the instrument that God’s Spirit uses to transform us to be like Jesus Christ (6). In our day and age when so many are confused and deceived by spiritual counterfeits, we need to offer the true bread of God (7) calling all people to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (8).

To fulfill this priority, we will:

• Make Biblical education a priority for all age groups:
  • By supporting our teachers and workers with excellent curriculum resources.
  • By the ongoing recruitment, training and encouragement of teachers and workers.
  • By providing excellent classroom facilities & teaching tools.
  • By active promotion of the benefits of Biblical education for the whole family.
• Encourage and facilitate Biblical study as a core activity for small groups.
• Equip people with a Biblical worldview to enable them to respond to contemporary moral, cultural, and spiritual challenges posed to the Christian faith.
• Facilitate the development of a Biblical spirituality by providing training in the disciplines of the Christian life
• Consistently provide seeker-oriented Bible studies that will clearly explain how someone can have a faith relationship with Jesus Christ.

Priority #3 – Caring Fellowship

As disciples of Jesus Christ we commit ourselves to continual growth in our practical caring expression of God’s love for all people.

The Christian faith is to be lived out together with other believers in Jesus. When we become followers of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit joins us with other believers into a fellowship which is able to express the presence of the living Jesus in a way that no one person ever could (9). Although people cannot see God, when they see the love of Jesus Christ expressed by believers towards one another, they are able to see God made real (10). For God’s love to be seen, it must be expressed in actions, not just in words (11).

To fulfill this priority, we will:

• Cultivate a welcoming environment at First Baptist Church.
• Encourage the development of caring relationships through involvement in care groups and a variety of small group experiences.
• Train small group leaders to give effective group leadership.
• Challenge all believers to actively utilize the spiritual gifts and abilities they possess for the purpose of enriching the fellowship of the church.
• Train caregivers to provide specialized caring ministry.
• Provide ongoing support and training to develop healthy, Biblical lifestyles in all the stages of life from birth to death.

Priority #4 – Need-oriented Service

As disciples of Jesus Christ we commit ourselves to practical expression of God’s goodness to all people by acts of service in our church, community and world.

God does good things for those who love Him and for those who don’t (12) and He calls us to acts of love that express His goodness to all people (13). Acts of love both express God’s love for His whole created world and also act as signposts pointing people to the God who loves them and wants them to come into a love relationship with Him (14).

To fulfill this priority, we will:

• Encourage and train our congregation to employ their talents and spiritual gifts in ministry.
• Challenge our congregation to live out their Christian faith with integrity in their daily lives.

Encourage and support our congregation to prayerfully seek out ways to serve our community and world through acts of kindness.

Priority #5 – Worldwide Evangelism

As disciples of Jesus Christ we commit ourselves to continual growth in our expression to the surrounding world of the good news that through faith in Jesus Christ all people can know and experience the love of God.

To make disciples of all nations, to be witnesses for Jesus at home and around the world (15), to proclaim the good news of the “unsearchable riches of Christ”(16) – to be used by God to bring people to approach him “with freedom and confidence” through faith in Jesus Christ is one of God’s stated goals for the church. We give witness to the “riches” we have found in Christ when we express to people, in words and deeds, what Jesus means to us. God uses this witness to bring people to see that through Christ they too can have a relationship with Him that frees them from fear and guilt and welcomes them into His family forever.

To fulfill this priority, we will:

• Encourage and train people to share their faith in Christ.
• Ensure that opportunities are regularly given through our worship services for people to accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.
• Plan special events that clearly present the Good News about Jesus.
• Actively promote and support mission in Olds, in Canada and around the world, by challenging our people to give, to pray and to go so that disciples can be made in all nations.

Accepted by the Congregation, First Baptist Church, Olds, April 10, 2003