Narrowing down the mission of the church to any one thing can be a difficult task. Is the church primarily for believers or unbelievers? Is the church supposed to just give to the poor or share the gospel? None of the operations of the church are supposed to be mutually exclusive. The work of the church is all-encompassing and involves living out the request of the Lord’s prayer, “Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven” Matt. 6:10

In modern America, it’s easy to relegate one’s “religious” life from his day-to-day life. But Christ’s kingdom impacts every area of our lives. That’s why Goshen Baptist’s vision is all about the kingdom.

Building Christ’s Kingdom through evangelism, discipleship, and devotion.

The mission statement is concise in order to be easy to be memorized and actionable.
The mission statement is active. In other words, we are actually doing something. This is why we use the figure of speech, “build.” Building involves a lot of different skill sets which we all bring to the table.
The mission statement is faithful to the Scripture. “Building Christ’s Kingdom” involves the vision of Revelation 11:15, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” When Christ was born on this earth, he established his kingdom here that will never be destroyed (Dan. 2:44). This kingdom is a big part of the gospel message (Matt. 4:23, 24:14, Acts 1:3, 19:8). We pray and earnestly work that Christ’s kingdom would be built here (Matt. 6:10, 33).
This mission statement to be faithful from this church. The words, “evangelism, discipleship, and devotion” our words used to summarize what the bylaws say are the objectives of this church.

What Building Christ’s Kingdom Encompasses

Building Christ’s kingdom encompasses recognizing Christ’s lordship over our hearts, homes, and humankind.

Our hearts

Recognizing Jesus is Lord over our hearts means that we will want to learn his teaching and conform to it. This involves devoting ourselves completely to him personally through maintaining personal spiritual disciplines (prayer, fasting, scripture intake) and corporately through worship, sermons, discipleship, and accountability. Romans 10:9 says, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 1 Pet. 3:15 says, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy”

Our Homes

Recognizing Jesus is Lord over our hearts means that we obey Jesus’s teaching in regard to marriage, family, and raising children. The husband takes responsibility to lead his family to Christlikeness (Eph. 5:23). Unity and joy is found in the Christian household who recognizes Christ’s lordship.

Humanity

Recognizing Jesus is Lord over humanity means that we strive for human flourishing. We stand against and oppose anything that leads to detriment of humanity such as the culture of death (abortion, assisted suicide, et. al.). We encourage the rest of humanity to live recognizing Christ lordship, not by compulsion but by argumentation and evangelization allowing the Spirit to work as He pleases.

What Building Christ’s Kingdom Involves

The following includes statements taken from the Goshen Baptist bylaws.

Evangelism

(gospel proclamation) “Dynamic spiritual body. . .to share Christ with as many people as possible in our church, community, and throughout the world” (pg. 1) – hear the gospel

(benevolence) “To be a church who ministers unselfishly to persons in the community and the world in Jesus’ name.” (pg. 1) – see the gospel

Discipleship

(Doctrine) “To help people experience and maintain a growing knowledge of God and man” (pg. 1)

(Fellowship) “To experience an increasingly meaningful fellowship with God and fellow believers” (pg. 1)

Devotion

(Worship) “To be a worshiping fellowship, experiencing an awareness of God , recognizing His person, and responding in obedience to His leadership.” (pg. 1)

(Obedience) “To be a church whose purpose is to be Christlike in our daily living. . .” (Pg. 2)