Our Mission
Philosophy, Strategy, and Vision
Philosophy
Sunday morning worship
Strategy: To Know Christ and to Make Him Known
Vision
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.
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.
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?
This church began as a church plant in August 2001 with 14 families (36 people). 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.) 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!