Our vision, a spiritually healthy church where Christ is seen and heard, is where we are going.

Fulfilling God’s plan for our lives here on earth is becoming a spiritually healthy church where Christ is seen and heard.

Eph 2:10, “For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Eph. 1:4, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”

Those two verses are encapsuled in our in our vision statement, “A spiritually healthy church where Christ is seen and heard.”

Theme for 2026: “Living the best life in Christ through obeying God’s word.”

The recipe for living the best life in Christ is spiritual maturity, and that looks like a spiritually healthy church where Christ is seen and heard 


We are going get there by obeying the great commandment found in Matt. 22:37-40 and the great commission found in Matt. 28:18-40.
 

The Great Commandment

Matthew 22:37-40, “Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. 38, “This is the first and great commandment. 39, And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Two principles of growth to enable us to become a spiritually healthy church where Christ is seen and heard.

1. Worship 2. Ministry

The Great Commission

Matthew 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; 20, “Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Three principles of growth to enables us to become a spiritually healthy church where Christ is seen and heard.

1. Evangelism 2. Fellowship 3. Discipleship

  
It is imperative and of the utmost importance that every member, including our children, understand where we are going and how we are going to get there.


A Spiritual church where Christ is seen and heard.

1. Obeying God’s commandment to worship Him.

2. Obeying God’s commandment to ministry

3. Obeying God’s commandment to evangelize

4. Obeying God’s commandment to fellowship

5. Obeying God’s commandment to discipleship

Last Sunday, we talked about obeying God’s commandment to worship.

I shared with you that in worship is where God does his best work.

I shared that in worship is where God fills us with Himself and transforms us into spiritually healthy believers
 

1. Obey God’s commandment to ministry- vs. 37-38

“Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

The Greek word for ministry is diakonia; it involves compassionate love toward the needy within the Christian community.
 

1. Ministry is demonstrating God’s love to people.

• How do we love our neighbor? Through meeting their needs.

2. Loving our neighbor is not just verbalizing, I love you but showing them through actions.

• Loving is a verb, indicating doing something.

James 2:15-16, “If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food. And one of you say unto them depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profits.”

If we are going to become a spiritually healthy church where Christ is seen and heard, we’ve got to move from maintenance to ministry.

• Maintenance is keeping things going.

• Ministry is meeting the needs of people.

3. Ministry is recognizing that people matters more than things.

• Jesus says love thy neighbor as thyself.

• When you love a building more than you love people, you will never do any ministry, nor will you become spiritually healthy

4. Ministry is attractive, drawing people to Christ.

• Everywhere Jesus went, he drew a crowd; it was not just the miracles, but he loved everyone, the good and the bad.

Three areas of ministry we must focus on:

1. Spiritual needs.

2. Emotional needs.

3. Physical needs.

Jesus said the most important things we are to do are to love God and love people.

Loving is serving and serving is loving!

Ministry is three-directional:

• Ministry to God.

• Ministry to other believers.

• Ministry to non-believers.