Our Purpose
Through His teaching, Jesus clearly defined purposes for His church that are well summarized in His 'Great Commandment' -- to love God and love others, and His 'Great Commission' -- to make disciples, baptize them into God's family, and teach them. The Great Commandment: “Jesus said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart...soul...and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments,’” Matt. 22:36-40. The Great Commission: “Jesus said, ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you,’” Matt. 28:19-20. In response to Jesus' defining call, his followers established the original New Testament church 2000 years ago at Pentecost (described in Acts 2). His original design for church is just as important today as it was then. As a result, Jesus’ clear instructions give The Light Church a clear purpose for daily life and ministry.
• Purpose One: “Love the Lord with all your heart.” Our first purpose then is Worship. The church exists to worship God. We love God with all our hearts by worshiping Him.
• Purpose Two: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Our second purpose is Ministry (Service). The church exists to minister to people. Ministry is demonstrating God’s love to others by meeting their needs and healing their hurts in Jesus’ name. Here at The Light Church we minister to people’s needs both inside the church and in the community. (Spiritual, emotional, relational, physical)
• Purpose Three: “Go and make disciples.” This purpose we call Evangelism (Reaching). The church exists to communicate God’s word. We are to bring people to God’s eternal family.
• Purpose Four: “Baptize them.” In the Great Commission the three words in Greek are “going, baptizing, and teaching.” These are all present participle verbs. Going, baptizing, and teaching are all part of the disciple making process. To baptize people symbolizes the fourth purpose of the church: Membership (Connecting)– identification with the body of Christ.
• Purpose Five: “Teaching them to obey.” The word used to describe this is Discipleship (Growth). Discipleship is helping people become more like Christ in their thoughts, feelings, and actions. And so, out of the Great Commandment and The Great Commission we at The Light have organized around worshiping, serving, reaching, connecting, and growing.