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Providence Baptist Church understands and fulfills its calling
in the context of 12 core values, or ministry distinctives, which define
the nature of our ministry.
1. The Centrality of Christ -
In every aspect of our ministry, the focal point will
always be the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The Inerrancy of the Bible -
The authority for our ministry comes from the Word of God
as we submit ourselves to its teaching, commit ourselves to do what it says, and
yield our lives to become what Christ desires for us to be.
3. The Undergirding of Prayer -
All that we do must have the thorough undergirding of prayer
support or else there is no reason to anticipate the attending power and
presence of the Holy Spirit in our ministry.
4. An Environment of Grace -
Convinced of the absolute sovereignty of a Holy God, we
understand that nothing good happens in our ministry that is not the result of
His grace or unmerited favor toward us. Consequently, our ministry together must
be characterized by that same grace in our response to one another.
5. A Decentralized Ministry -
Ministry is to take place out in the midst of a fallen world,
so our challenge is to provide a balance between times when believers are gathered
together to be equipped for ministry and times when they are sent out to do the
ministry for which every member has been commissioned by Christ.
6. A Missions and Evangelism Emphasis -
The conviction that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation
leads us to pursue vigorous means of proclaiming the Gospel by sending our members
to take the message to all those who need to hear, both in the local community and
to the ends of the earth.
7. The Accountability of Small Groups -
Integrity in the lives and ministries of our members
requires that we provide a context for accountability relationships as we give
high priority to the development of small groups where that can take place.
8. The Importance of Family -
Recognizing that one of the greatest battlefields and
proving grounds of our faith in Christ is right within the home, we are committed
to strengthening the spiritual lives of families as they seek to become beacons
of light for Christ within our community.
9. The Significance of Humble Servanthood -
Our ministry is built upon the assumption that there is no
task or responsibility beneath any of our members so that we undertake every
ministry with a humble heart, grateful for the privilege of serving Christ and His body.
10. An Emphasis on Faithfulness Over Fruitfulness -
Rather than focus on bearing fruit in our ministries, either
numerically or spiritually, we believe we are called instead to be faithful and
allow the Lord to determine the level of fruitfulness we are to enjoy.
11. A Streamlined, Targeted Ministry -
Although we encourage all of our members to pursue the
individual ministries to which God has called them, we believe that it is better
for the church as a whole to focus on a few target ministries and do them well
rather than try to embrace all the ministries represented by our members.
12. A Willingness to Change and Innovate -
We are convinced that in order to follow Christ, we must
be committed to change and willing to innovate so that we do not place any
barriers to growth in our way to becoming the body of believers Christ wants us to be.
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