Friendly Baptist Church - Tyler, Texas
Saturday, September 04, 2010

What is Our Purpose?

Our purpose is...

To tell the world of a cross and an empty grave. We believe Jesus Christ died on a cross to save us from the penalty of our sins, which is death; He was buried but three days later rose from the grave.  He is alive and can change the lives of anyone who will ADMIT their sin of breaking God's law, BELIEVE that Jesus died to pay the penalty of their sin, and give Him their life as they TRUST him as Savior and Lord. We will encourage people to make Jesus their Savior and Lord and then connect with His family, help them to grow to Christlike maturity, train them to serve in ministry in the church, provide them with mission opportunities locally, nationally and around the world to share the life changing story of Jesus Christ and teach them that they worship God not only through music but also through a life of selfless sacrifice and devotion. These purposes are clearly taught by Jesus in these two scriptures:

The Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-39)
36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself."'

The Great Commission: (Matthew 28:19-20)
19 "Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. "

These two scriptures give us five principles on which to build the church as well as our individual lives: Membership, Maturity, Ministry, Missions, Magnify. We will seek to develop and practice them in the life of the church and our individual lives. The following table illustrates how following Jesus' principles develops His disciples and how each purpose is taught through the E.K.G. Discover Seminars 101-501.

PURPOSE E.K.G. Seminar SCRIPTURE KEY WORD OUTCOME
Membership 101 Matthew 28:19  Connect Participate in the family of God
Maturity 201 Matthew 28:20 Grow Develop His character in our lives
Ministry 301 Matthew 22:39 Serve Devote our lives to serve others
Missions 401 Matthew 28:19 Share Tell others about Jesus Christ
Magnify 501 Matthew 22:37 Worship Put Jesus in the center of our lives