Our Statements
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Our Statements
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mail@newbeginningschurch.net | telephone: 301-689-6546 | fax: 775-201-3864 | Office Address: 209 Welsh Hill Rd., Frostburg, MD 21532 |
At New Beginnings, we have three primary statements that we refer to often. To find out more about them, click on the title of each.
"New Beginnings exists to worship God, create maturing followers of Jesus, and to transform our community with the love of Christ."
“Our vision is to be a Christ-centered, Spirit-filled church that is aggressive, dynamic and growing and consists of over 1,000 members committed to the building of the Kingdom of God.”
“Our ministry focus will be the unchurched people in our community who desire genuine Christianity in a non-traditional church setting!”
Our Purpose Statement is really a shortened summary of our five core values which come from two of Jesus' most famous statements: The Great Commission and The Great Commandment. They are as follows:
The Great Commandment is taken from Matthew 22:37-40. “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” – Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)
The Great Commission is taken from Matthew 28:19-20. 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.” – Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
In these two statements we find our five core values:
An emphasis on Membership – We proclaim the saving message of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. Confession of personal sin and acceptance of Christ’s forgiveness brings membership into His Church.
An emphasis on Maturity – After accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we must become Disciples of Christ—we must continue to follow after the teaching of the Bible and become more like Jesus as we mature in our faith.
An emphasis on Ministry – We have been called to be a part of the Body of Christ and to find our place in a local church. We have all been given special gifts and abilities that are to be used to reach out to help others know Christ and also encourage and support other members of the body.
An emphasis on Mission – We believe that God has a plan for each and every one of our lives and that we are to find that mission and fulfill it as it relates to our world we live in and the local Body of Christ. That mission will in some way include spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to others.
An emphasis on Magnification – Everything that we are about is to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ. We believe that we have been created for the purpose of worshipping God and everything we do—both personally and corporately—will be an act of worship to Jesus Christ.
We believe that God has given us a vision to guide us and direct us as we minister in the future. We also believe that God is able to provide everything necessary to fulfill His vision for our church.
While the vision God has given us is a pretty big vision--particularly for this area--we must remember that we have a pretty big God!
Let’s look at each part of our vision a little more closely.
Our vision is to be Christ-centered!
We desire that every ministry and every person involved in our ministry be centered around the person of Jesus Christ. His attitudes, actions, and affections will be the model and standard for all that we do.
Our vision is to be Spirit-filled!
We desire that every ministry and every person be Spirit-led and Spirit filled respectively. We believe that this vision cannot be fulfilled by human efforts alone. The Holy Spirit must lead our ministries and our people must be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to fulfill God’s plan for their lives and this church.
Our vision is to be aggressive!
We desire to be one of the most aggressive churches in this area. We want to be known for our commitment to reaching out to our community with the message of hope that only Jesus Christ can give.
Our vision is to be dynamic!
We desire to be a church that cannot be explained! We want our ministry to be alive and energetic, high quality, and empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit. We desire that our ministries be explosive, meaningful, and useful to the people we serve.
Our vision is to be growing!
We desire to be continually growing and expanding our ministry. We want our numbers to grow because they represent souls that have been positively impacted by the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Our vision is to be over 1,000 members strong!
We desire to have a major impact on our community and the surrounding areas. If we are to do that, we need to have a significant amount of people who have accepted Jesus Christ. Again, each member represents a soul.
Our vision is to be committed to the building of the Kingdom of God.
We desire to build people, not buildings. We desire to focus on the eternal, not the temporal. We must build on those things that are going to last.
Our Focus Statement deals with who we are trying to keep our ministry focused on. While we may focus on a specific group, we also will minister to those who are in our "peripheral vision". But the thrust of our ministry must be driven by our Focus Statement.
We are focusing on reaching the un-churched—not those who are already attending other churches. The un-churched will include those who do not yet know Christ and also those Christians who are not currently attending a church for whatever reason.
We are focusing on people who desire genuine Christianity. We are not interested in just playing church. We want those people who are desiring to commit their lives to Christ—not a religious system.
We are focusing on those who desire a non-traditional church. We are different. We are not traditional. There are plenty of good traditional churches in the area and we’re not one of them nor will we ever be one.
If you really look at this focus statement, it is dynamic. In other words, it’s not just a one-time statement that forces our church into a specific style of ministry. This focus will be valid in 10, 20, 50 years. What that means, though, is that this church will not be the same in 10, 20, 50 years, as it is today. We will need to constantly be changing to be sure that we are reaching this group of people. And that’s going to be very exciting as well as very challenging.