Our Vision
1. Inspiring Worship:
“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise….” Psalm 96:1-4a
We strive for Holy Spirit saturated, God-focused, life-giving. joyful, heartfelt, inviting, enthusiastic, genuine expressions of our love for God…we don’t encourage boring, dutiful routine. We believe worship flows from a 24/7 lifestyle and not just a Sunday Service experience.
We believe that worship of the Lord Jesus Christ is an essential part of any church ministry. The Vision of Wittenburg Baptist Church requires priorities in worship that create an atmosphere of commitment and acceptance, and that provide opportunities for those of all ages and spiritual levels to communicate worship and praise to God and to experience God's communication to them through clear, relevant, and practical Bible teaching. Worship is foundational to training, enlisting, and sending.
2. Need-Oriented Evangelism:
“I pray that you might be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” Philemon 6
We seek to identify, develop and release the sovereign spiritual gifting of ‘evangelist’ within our church members. But, we also believe that every member can ask, listen and help develop effective ways to meet the real needs of unbelievers in our ministry area.
We will encourage one another to intentionally cultivate relationships with unchurched people. It is imperative that we will correctly identify the needs of our communities and determine how to meet those needs and we will properly train members to share their faith in non-threatening ways.
We believe that it is our duty to witness, by life and by word, to the truths of the Bible and to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world by praying, giving and going in obedience to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We believe in evangelizing the lost by presenting Jesus Christ in a creative, credible and compassionate way and encouraging seekers of God by providing an environment of acceptance and growth. We will promote faithfully sharing the Gospel in ways that raise questions and leads to discussion with unchurched people.
These all must continue to be a major priorities of Wittenburg Baptist Church. Our purpose continues to be to reach our world for Christ. So we must, therefore, model that vision as we first reach out to our local area with the Gospel of Christ. We must strive to win people to Him, encouraging them to identify with our local church through believers’ baptism, and providing sufficient and appropriate opportunities for them to experience spiritual growth. With that foundation, we commit ourselves to looking beyond our community to the needs of the world, promoting missions, providing opportunities to learn about and serve in missionary work.
3. Passionate Spirituality:
"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer." Romans 12: 11-12 NIV
We desire to encourage people to live their faith with joy and enthusiasm in vibrant prayer, diligent study of God’s Word, guided by the Holy Spirit and freedom in Christ… we don’t encourage legalistic faith. We intend to make Prayer and the Word of God the priority in all we do. Achieving the Vision of Wittenburg Baptist Church requires people--of all ages--well-trained, confident, and proven in their understanding of Scripture and demonstrating that understanding in practical ministry and Christian conduct consistent with their physical age, spiritual age, and gifts. We, therefore, desire a ministry that creates a hunger for God's Word, made clear by a commitment to personal, active learning in corporate and individual settings. We strive to be enthusiastic about our faith and to be constantly growing spiritually.
4. Loving Relationships:
"A new commandment I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34
We believe a vibrant Christian faith is characterized by the practical, ongoing demonstration of a deep love for God and for people. We value ‘action’ more than words and want our church to be a place saturated by the love of God...we don’t limit the Christian life as just duty, church attendance, practicing doctrine and morality.
We believe that quality relationships among Christians will enhance their Spiritual Growth. Relationships--solid, Biblical relationships--are reinforcing. To involve our people in ministry, to excite our youth for service, and to instill confidence in our people to move out in service for Christ requires the security of supportive fellowship, encouraging relationships, and an atmosphere of acceptance. The Vision for Wittenburg Baptist Church, therefore, will flourish in a warm and friendly church, sensitive and caring towards one another, towards those in our communities, and towards all people.
5. Gift-Oriented Ministry:
"God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you." 1 Peter 4:10
We desire to assist people to serve in God’s sovereignly determined gifting for their lives… we don’t randomly assign tasks to people. The basis for this characteristic is the conviction that God has already determined which Christian
should best assume which ministries in the church. The role of church leadership is to help its members identify their gifts and integrate them into ministries that match their gifts. This principle sounds quite simple, but its practical application will have enormous implications for all areas of church life. We believe that when you live according to your spiritual giftedness you are no longer working in your own strength, but by the Holy Spirit working in you. Thus even though you are “just an ordinary person” you can accomplish, in the true sense of the word, extraordinary things.
6. Discipleship:
We will provide a discipleship process where no one stands alone, struggles alone, serves alone, develops alone, seeks alone or grows up alone. We will provide an atmosphere where everyone can walk along side each other in a relationship where we can pray, stay and desire only God’s best for each other. We believe strongly that a Christian disciple is a person who accepts and assists in the spreading of the good news of Jesus Christ. Discipleship is a process that enables a person to grow in the Lord Jesus Christ and equips them to overcome joyfully the pressures and trials of this present life.
Our Strategic Plan for Biblical Church Growth
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. . ."Mat. 28:19
As part of our discipleship process we believe in the establishment of a holistic small group ministry. We value caring, loving relationships and the practical application of God’s Word to everyday life. We desire everyone to feel connected and have a strong sense of community and ownership in the life and ministry of our church…we don’t want lonely, uncaring isolationism.
We desire to develop and maintain a system of small groups where individual Christians can find intimate community, practical help and intensive spiritual interaction. These are exactly the elements of the biblical concept of holism. In these groups people do not only discuss Bible texts or listen to interesting explanations by experts, but they apply biblical insights to the everyday issues of the participants.
7. Compassion:
We believe that we are called to minister to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of our congregation and those in our local communities. We believe that Wittenburg Baptist is to minister to those who are hurting. We realize that the circumstances of life often bring people down, so we will try to strive to help in a number of ways.
“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise….” Psalm 96:1-4a
We strive for Holy Spirit saturated, God-focused, life-giving. joyful, heartfelt, inviting, enthusiastic, genuine expressions of our love for God…we don’t encourage boring, dutiful routine. We believe worship flows from a 24/7 lifestyle and not just a Sunday Service experience.
We believe that worship of the Lord Jesus Christ is an essential part of any church ministry. The Vision of Wittenburg Baptist Church requires priorities in worship that create an atmosphere of commitment and acceptance, and that provide opportunities for those of all ages and spiritual levels to communicate worship and praise to God and to experience God's communication to them through clear, relevant, and practical Bible teaching. Worship is foundational to training, enlisting, and sending.
2. Need-Oriented Evangelism:
“I pray that you might be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” Philemon 6
We seek to identify, develop and release the sovereign spiritual gifting of ‘evangelist’ within our church members. But, we also believe that every member can ask, listen and help develop effective ways to meet the real needs of unbelievers in our ministry area.
We will encourage one another to intentionally cultivate relationships with unchurched people. It is imperative that we will correctly identify the needs of our communities and determine how to meet those needs and we will properly train members to share their faith in non-threatening ways.
We believe that it is our duty to witness, by life and by word, to the truths of the Bible and to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world by praying, giving and going in obedience to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We believe in evangelizing the lost by presenting Jesus Christ in a creative, credible and compassionate way and encouraging seekers of God by providing an environment of acceptance and growth. We will promote faithfully sharing the Gospel in ways that raise questions and leads to discussion with unchurched people.
These all must continue to be a major priorities of Wittenburg Baptist Church. Our purpose continues to be to reach our world for Christ. So we must, therefore, model that vision as we first reach out to our local area with the Gospel of Christ. We must strive to win people to Him, encouraging them to identify with our local church through believers’ baptism, and providing sufficient and appropriate opportunities for them to experience spiritual growth. With that foundation, we commit ourselves to looking beyond our community to the needs of the world, promoting missions, providing opportunities to learn about and serve in missionary work.
3. Passionate Spirituality:
"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer." Romans 12: 11-12 NIV
We desire to encourage people to live their faith with joy and enthusiasm in vibrant prayer, diligent study of God’s Word, guided by the Holy Spirit and freedom in Christ… we don’t encourage legalistic faith. We intend to make Prayer and the Word of God the priority in all we do. Achieving the Vision of Wittenburg Baptist Church requires people--of all ages--well-trained, confident, and proven in their understanding of Scripture and demonstrating that understanding in practical ministry and Christian conduct consistent with their physical age, spiritual age, and gifts. We, therefore, desire a ministry that creates a hunger for God's Word, made clear by a commitment to personal, active learning in corporate and individual settings. We strive to be enthusiastic about our faith and to be constantly growing spiritually.
4. Loving Relationships:
"A new commandment I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34
We believe a vibrant Christian faith is characterized by the practical, ongoing demonstration of a deep love for God and for people. We value ‘action’ more than words and want our church to be a place saturated by the love of God...we don’t limit the Christian life as just duty, church attendance, practicing doctrine and morality.
We believe that quality relationships among Christians will enhance their Spiritual Growth. Relationships--solid, Biblical relationships--are reinforcing. To involve our people in ministry, to excite our youth for service, and to instill confidence in our people to move out in service for Christ requires the security of supportive fellowship, encouraging relationships, and an atmosphere of acceptance. The Vision for Wittenburg Baptist Church, therefore, will flourish in a warm and friendly church, sensitive and caring towards one another, towards those in our communities, and towards all people.
5. Gift-Oriented Ministry:
"God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you." 1 Peter 4:10
We desire to assist people to serve in God’s sovereignly determined gifting for their lives… we don’t randomly assign tasks to people. The basis for this characteristic is the conviction that God has already determined which Christian
should best assume which ministries in the church. The role of church leadership is to help its members identify their gifts and integrate them into ministries that match their gifts. This principle sounds quite simple, but its practical application will have enormous implications for all areas of church life. We believe that when you live according to your spiritual giftedness you are no longer working in your own strength, but by the Holy Spirit working in you. Thus even though you are “just an ordinary person” you can accomplish, in the true sense of the word, extraordinary things.
6. Discipleship:
We will provide a discipleship process where no one stands alone, struggles alone, serves alone, develops alone, seeks alone or grows up alone. We will provide an atmosphere where everyone can walk along side each other in a relationship where we can pray, stay and desire only God’s best for each other. We believe strongly that a Christian disciple is a person who accepts and assists in the spreading of the good news of Jesus Christ. Discipleship is a process that enables a person to grow in the Lord Jesus Christ and equips them to overcome joyfully the pressures and trials of this present life.
Our Strategic Plan for Biblical Church Growth
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. . ."Mat. 28:19
As part of our discipleship process we believe in the establishment of a holistic small group ministry. We value caring, loving relationships and the practical application of God’s Word to everyday life. We desire everyone to feel connected and have a strong sense of community and ownership in the life and ministry of our church…we don’t want lonely, uncaring isolationism.
We desire to develop and maintain a system of small groups where individual Christians can find intimate community, practical help and intensive spiritual interaction. These are exactly the elements of the biblical concept of holism. In these groups people do not only discuss Bible texts or listen to interesting explanations by experts, but they apply biblical insights to the everyday issues of the participants.
7. Compassion:
We believe that we are called to minister to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of our congregation and those in our local communities. We believe that Wittenburg Baptist is to minister to those who are hurting. We realize that the circumstances of life often bring people down, so we will try to strive to help in a number of ways.
