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Mission
Every organization must have a mission. Without a mission, whether corporate or individual, people fail to understand what they are supposed to be doing. Harvest Bible Church's mission answers the question, "What are we supposed to be doing?" We believe that every church has been given the same mission as it is reflected in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20. Our mission statement is as follows:
To present Christ, pursue obedience to Him, and prepare others for Christian service ("To know Christ and to make Him known").
Philosophy, Strategy, and Vision
Philosophy
Sunday morning worship
Strategy: To Know Christ and to Make Him Known
Vision
One Year Goals (as of September 2005)
Three Year Goals (as of September 2005)
Seven Year Goals (as of September 2005)
Philosophy
1. Harvest Bible Church is a church about teaching God's Word...unleashing His Truth through each book of the Bible. We view the Bible, the holy Scriptures, as fully inspired and inerrant in the original autographs.
2. We believe that we were saved by Jesus at the cross from the penalty of sin (past), from the power of sin (present), and from the presence of sin (future). This is the essence of the Christ's work on the cross that true Christians receive by faith in Jesus.
Sunday morning worship
1. Worship service...is a believer's worship service in that it isn't watered down to make everyone comfortable. It's also not meant to be a time of entertainment. We read Scripture in a brief reading, open in prayer, and sing orthodox Christian songs of worship and praise. The Bible is taught verse-by-verse from the standpoint that it is completely true. GOAL: worship the Triune God in spirit and truth with the faith that the Holy Spirit will not only instruct believers into a deeper relationship with Him but also lead unbelievers to a knowledge of Christ and his saving power.
2. Adult SS classes...are led by trained Bible students who not only know the Bible but live out its truths. GOAL: to fellowship together in small groups through prayer and Bible instruction so as to lead us into a deeper and more meaningful walk with Christ.
3. Youth ministry...Bible-based teaching by qualified teachers who love working with youth (not people we talked into teaching and serving). Each Sunday there is a Bible lesson and a discussion. It's an interactive class solely dedicated to helping youth come to a greater knowledge of the Savior Jesus Christ.
4. Children's ministry...we believe that working with children is the greatest missionary field there is to work in because children are so teachable. There is a 9:30 hour of singing and praise with the kids and a 10:30 teaching and interactive time where Jesus is taught through the Scriptures. This is not a time of baby-sitting but a time of interactive Bible instruction.
Strategy: To Know Christ and to Make Him Known
1. Conservative Bible preaching from the pulpit on Sunday mornings (verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter, book-by-book) as well as youth and children's Bible based curriculums.
2. AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Never Ashamed) for children 4-12 on Sunday nights where the children learn to memorize Bible passages and learn to worship Christ our Savior.
3. Small group Adult Bible study fellowships in various homes during the week and on Sunday mornings including both a regular men's Bible study and a women's Bible study.
Vision
We believe that the vision of a church is a verbal statement what the church looks like in the minds of its leaders and worshippers. We have a mission (to know Christ and to make Him known), and we have a strategy for doing that for all age groups (Sunday morning worship for adults, youth, and children; small group Bible studies, fellowship/social events, prayer meetings, etc.). But what does all of that look like one year, five years, and ten years down the road?
As of November 2004 Harvest Bible Church has come a long way. This church began as a church plant in August 2001 with 14 families (36 people). As of November 2004 the church is comprised of 52 families - most of whom are regular attenders and vital members of this body of believers. It was the original vision of the church overseers that this body would start slowly in a local school (Ault Elementary in the Fairfield subdivision of Cypress, Texas), preach God's Word, and allow God to determine whether or not the church would be self-sustaining. Since that time we've equipped Christians with a steady diet of God's Word, implemented various programs (missions team, children's AWANA, etc.), purchased 12 acres of land for a future church site, and we've even seen God work in the lives of non-believers and bring them to Christ. The future of this church remains in God's hands, and it will continue to be the goal and quest of the overseers of Harvest Bible Church to follow God and implement His will.
It is the overall vision of this church, per our mission to know Christ and to make Him known, that Harvest Bible Church is to be a light in a dark world. We envision people coming to know Christ for the first time, baptized by Jesus with the Holy Spirit, and coming to this church to grow in their knowledge of the Scriptures and ultimately in their faith. We also envision existing Christians coming to know Christ more intensely through the teaching of God's Word. We envision the worship of Christ that reaches far beyond a ritual or a habit but out of conviction - people worshipping Christ in spirit and truth (cf. John 4:23). And we envision a new reformation where God's people are more concerned with the truth of God's Word and its application than about music styles and worthless traditions. Our vision is about seeing people changed through the truth of God's Word and seeing the world around us converted to Christ. Of course this is all God's doing, so our vision is more concerned with implementing our stra tegies to reach people with the truth than making it produce fruit. We leave that to God!
One Year Goals (as of September 2005)
1. Worship...To continue to preach and teach God's Word in each of our programs to the spiritually lost who do not know Christ. From the Awana children's program to the adult Bible studies to the Sunday morning music - Harvest Bible Church is about preaching and teaching God's Word for the building up of God's saints and equipping them for more effective ministry. As a result of this goal we see Christians growing in their knowledge of Jesus Christ and becoming more effective evangelists as they spread God's Word to the lost world around them.
2. Worship facility...To begin construction of a multi-purpose facility for worship and fellowship. We envision this project to begin sometime near the end of 2005 and be completed by the summer of 2006. This building will be a 16,000 sq. ft. facility with a gymnasium, a multi-purpose room, and about 12 classrooms.
3. Missions...To continue to provide financial and prayer support to Roger and Donna Vann in Europe who are with Campus Crusade for Christ. We also plan to support church planting in Romania where we hope to become more and more involved over time. Currently we are supporting one pastor at $250 per month - a salary that pays for his and his entire family's needs in Romania.
4. Staff support...To hire a music leader who will work full-time in leading music and help in the adult and youth ministries as well. We envision a music ministry that isn't concerned with new or old music genres but the singing of orthodox praises and worship of our Triune God who is One God but who exists as three separate but equal persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We envision a music leader who can lead the congregation in worship through song in preparation for the time of worship through the teaching of God's Word. This music leader will be a godly man who is more concerned with leading worship than he is about drawing attention to himself.
5. Attendance...We envision attendance at Harvest Bible Church within the year to reach upwards of 65 families (if the Lord should will it) - all of whom are faithful to corporate worship each Sunday and at least one ministry during the week. We envision Christians who are faithful financial givers, servants who reach out to the community, who pray continually, and who study God's Word in an effort to seek God's approval (2 Tim. 2:15).
Three Year Goals (as of September 2005)
1. Worship...To continue to preach and teach God's Word in each of our programs and to reach out to the spiritually lost who do not know Christ. From the Awana children's program to the adult Bible studies to the Sunday morning music - Harvest Bible Church is about preaching and teaching God's Word for the building up of God's saints and equipping them for more effective ministry. As a result of this goal we see Christians growing in their knowledge of Jesus Christ and becoming more effective evangelists as they spread God's Word to the lost world around them.
2. Worship facility...to have the mortgage on the facility at least half paid (bringing the outstanding balance to around $500,000 after three years).
3. Missions...We envision our missionary outreach to extend further into Romania and be able to financially support up to three pastors who lead and teach in their respective churches. We also envision the Harvest Bible Church budget to provide at least 20% of its general funds to missionaries and missions endeavors.
Seven Year Goals (as of September 2005)
1. Worship...To continue to preach and teach God's inerrant Word without compromise - from the Sunday morning preaching to the music we sing to the children's programs. It is our quest to know Christ more deeply and to walk with him more closely. It is our vision that people who do draw near to God through their relationship to Christ will be transformed by the renewing of their minds and offer their lives as a spiritual sacrifice to God. The results will include holiness in God's people and a witness to those around us that cannot be mistaken for anything but a right relationship with God.
2. Worship facility...To have the multi-purpose facility completely paid for, then to begin the final phase of Harvest Bible Church's building program with a facility that will accommodate 700+ people each Sunday to worship the Triune God in spirit and in truth.
3. Missions...We envision our missions outreach to claim at least 40% of our annual budget which will go to pastors and missionaries, both locally and abroad, who are committed to planting churches and preaching God's Word. We envision supporting up to eight pastors of Romanian descent who lead God's churches in Romania. We also envision God opening up other doors for various foreign missions where we can support local missionaries and help them teach Christ to their countrymen.
4. Church planting...We envision equipping enough people in the Cypress area to be able to send them out into neighboring regions to start another Bible-teaching church where the ministries of Harvest Bible Church can multiply and more people can learn about Christ and His words.
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