Mission Statement

Jesus gave two primary commands that are called the Great Commission and the Great Commandment (See Scriptures below.) We believe that a Great Commitment to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment makes a Great Church. Consequently, our mission statement which summarizes the Great Commission and the Great Command is:

Making disciples through loving God and loving others

Our focus for 2008 is to make this mission statement the heart beat of our church. We are not interested in having cute statements. We are very excited about having a Biblical direction that guides all of what we do here at Northlake. The following is a very brief explanation of what the Mission Statement Means.

• Making Disciples: In one word, making disciples means change. Change comes by trusting Jesus as Savior. Change continues as people apply the transformational truths of the Word of God to their lives. Making disciples is assisting people to become what Jesus wants them to be.
  
  
• Loving God: Loving God is summarized by the words passionate obedience. Jesus said “he that has my words and keeps them, he it is loves me.” So, obeying the Scripture is a way to express our love. However, the church in Ephesus who really knew and applied the Word in relation to doctrine and false teaching had a problem. Jesus said they left their first love. So, we try to develop disciples who love God with such passion that they want to obey Him.
  
  
• Loving Others: Meeting people’s needs is a great way to understand what it means to love others. This can include any kind of need but ultimately we seek to meet the deepest need which is a love relationship with God.

 

Summary: Our purpose is to make disciples which we should want to do because we love God. If we love God we should make disciples because that is what He tells us to do. Loving God should overflow into loving others. Because we love others we should want the very best for them which means they need to enter and grow in a loving relationship with God. Consequently, we seek to express our love for others by helping them to become and grow as a disciple.

Scripture

The Great Commission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. Matthew 28:19-20

The Great Commandment: Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29-31