Vision of Grace Bible Church
THE MISSION / OUR MISSION (Why do we exist?)
Mission is timeless, unchanging. God gives it to every church, and it is the same for every church.
Great Commandment – Mt 22:37-39
Great Commission – Mt 28:18-20
HOW DO WE FIT IN?
We are … a university/family church
that exists to … worship God and multiply worshippers throughout the world
1) by the empowerment of … God’s Word and His grace in Christ
2) and by focusing on …
the strategic value of equipping university students,
the power of integrating mature families with university students,
and the obligation of world missions
“Raising up next generation leaders to reach our world for Christ”
Why are we a university/family church?
If our ultimate goal is that people would worship God everywhere in the world, then the greatest contribution our church can make is through unifying strong family and university ministries around the common goal of raising up a surplus of godly college age servant-leaders who can impact our city, nation, and world for Christ. We firmly believe that students are the future leaders of business, government, religion, science, education and most importantly they will lead in the arena of ideas. Students have been the impetus for the great revivals of history. They are largely receptive to the gospel (note that 77% of believers in America come to faith before their 21st birthday), or at least willing to dialogue about any topic, including God. Once saved, students are the group most receptive to devoting their entire lives to the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
Yet we also firmly believe that our ability to raise up a surplus of college leaders will never exceed the strength of our family ministry. Mature families are the foundation of our church. Ministries to families and college students are not competitive but complementary; they are synergistic ministries. The college program cannot be truly successful without a vibrant family ministry. One of our students’ greatest needs during college is to see models of healthy Christian families who are actively involved in serving Christ through personal discipleship and bearing witness in the marketplace. Our family ministry cannot be truly successful without a vibrant college ministry, which provides our families with a strategic opportunity to selflessly fulfill the Great Commission.
We will invest great resources in both our family and college ministries so that we can most effectively participate in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. We believe that the university/family model is so effective that in time our vision is to help other churches multiply this model throughout the world
OUR VALUES (What is most important to us?)
GOD’S GLORY
• A church committed to the glory of God. We believe that God is great, far beyond our highest thoughts (Is. 6:1-4; 55:8-9), and we exist for Him (John 3:30; Romans 14:7-8).
GOD’S WORD
• A church that emphasizes the knowledge of, passion for and obedience to God’s word (Is. 55:11; Ps. 119:160; Heb. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
GOD’S GRACE
• A church committed to the power of God’s grace to transform our lives as we abide in Jesus Christ and allow His Spirit to work (John 15:1-5; Col. 2:23).
GOD’S PEOPLE
• A church committed to demonstrating to one another the grace and love we have received from God (Colossians 3:12-16).
PRAYER
• A church devoted to prayer (Colossians 4:2).
EVANGELISM AND DISCIPLESHIP
• A church leading all believers to serve and spiritually multiply in their unique area of influence according to their spiritual gifting (1 Peter 4:10-11; 2 Tim. 2:2).
MISSIONS
• A church sacrificially dedicated to world missions (Phil. 4:15-20).
FAMILIES
• A church committed to building mature families.
STUDENTS
• A church committed to a strategic emphasis on university students.
ONE CHURCH
• We are one church, one body, one family, striving to integrate all generations and all ministries within our church.
OUR VISION ( What do we hope to contribute to the mission of the church?)
1. EVANGELIZE THE LOST
• 100% of our membership and 60% of our congregation trained in and actively engaged in evangelism according to their gifting within 5 years.
• 100% of GBC members and 60% of our congregation will participate at least annually in a community outreach or service project.
• We will personally communicate the gospel of grace to every resident of B/CS within a generation.
• Within 5 years we will personally communicate the gospel of grace to every student at TAMU and Blinn before he or she graduates.
2. DISCIPLE BELIEVERS
• We will emphasize spiritual multiplication in all of our ministries and programs.
• Every college student demonstrating interest will have the opportunity to be discipled by a student or adult leader within 5 years.
• Within 5 years we will have 100% of our members and 60% of our congregation involved in a small group.
• Within 5 years 100% of our members will be serving according to their gifting.
• All ministries will seek to equip believers following our model of spiritual maturity.
3. EQUIP LEADERS
• We will intentionally equip student and adult servant leaders for local ministry as key spiritual influencers in the home, church, workplace and community.
• We will increase our pool of leaders committed to the leadership development process by 5% of our congregation annually.
• Within 5 years we will annually equip and mobilize 200 servant leaders from among our students and adults for service domestically and internationally as key spiritual influencers in the workplace, home, and community, church and para-church staff, church planters and evangelists.
4. MULTIPLY CHURCHES
• We will plant or revitalize two university/family churches within the United States by 2010 that are grace-oriented, self-sustaining, and reproducing. We will also seek to plant or revitalize two new university/family churches internationally by 2010.