Generally stated, the vision of Solid Rock Baptist Church is to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ and then helping them to become just like Him by creating relevant environments for life change to happen.
There are three key phrases in this vision statement. For our church to be effective and successful all three must be fulfilled. The first two are accomplished through a focus on the third.
Lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ
Lost people matter to God (Luke 15) and must be a priority for us (Acts 1:8).
We envision a church that …
- Has an exciting, passionate and worshipful weekend service that targets the unchurched unbeliever by using language, arts, multimedia and whatever means necessary to communicate in a way that a person will clearly understand the gospel.
- Consistently has unchurched, unbelievers in the weekend worship services.
- Has its members and regular attenders inviting their neighbors, co-workers, family and friends to the weekend worship services.
- Has its members and regular attenders sharing their faith at work, at home, or in their neighborhood. This ranges from the simple step of walking across the room to offer someone a cup of cold water in the name of Christ to personally leading someone into a relationship with Christ.
- Not only understands the responsibility to introduce people to Jesus in our “Jerusalem”, but also in our “Judea/Samaria” and to the “ends of the earth”. This will be accomplished not only by supporting others in missions endeavors, but by personally participating in missions endeavors.
Helping them (believers) to become just like Him (Jesus)
Salvation is the most important step a person will take on their journey with Christ, but it is only the first step. The journey must not end there. The ultimate goal is to become just like Jesus (Romans 12:1-2).
We envision a church that …
- Understands discipleship to be more of what a person does than what a person knows.
- Is never satisfied with status quo and never accepts mediocrity.
- Has its members and regular attenders committed to the Life Development Process. This includes a commitment to …
- Membership. A Christian without a church family is an orphan. Every believer in Christ needs to be involved and committed to a local congregation. The difference between an attender and a member is commitment. This is why we emphasize membership.
- Maturity. God loves you just the way you are, but He doesn’t want you to stay that way, He wants you to grow. Every living thing that is healthy grows. We envision members leaving the “milk” of the Word and moving toward the “meat” of the Word and we envision this be accomplished without it being spoon-fed by the pastoral staff.
- Ministry. Every member is a minister. We envision every member to understand their spiritual S.H.A.P.E. and serve accordingly. Our goal is to shatter the pareto principle which states that 20% of the people do 80% of the work.
- Missions. As stated earlier, we envision every member and regular attender to actively take part in fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20.
By creating relevant environments for life change to happen
To fulfill the church’s purpose requires communicating God’s Truth with doctrinal integrity and cultural relevance. (Note: Truth has the value, not relevance). The message must never change, but the methods must continue to change as culture changes.
We envision a church that …
- Seeks to understand the world we are living in. Not to buy into the value system of the world, but to be able to adequately communicate to those that have bought into its value system.
- Invests its resources, both real and liquid, into the proper equipment and tools necessary to be culturally relevant.
- Has a service for adults that is exciting, contemporary, and practical for everyday life.
- Has a service for teenagers that is focused on the specific needs for this age group. This also includes camps, retreats, rallies, mission trips and other environments to aid in the development of the teenager’s life.
- Has a service for grade-school children that is focused on the specific needs for this age group. This includes creating an atmosphere conducive for growth. We envision children begging their parents to bring them to church.
- Has a service for pre-schoolers and babies that is safe, clean, comfortable, exciting and points them to Jesus.
- Is fully committed to the “small group” model of ministry. This is where members and regular attenders will find connection and community.
It is our strong belief that God has His hand of blessing on this church. We will continue to pray and seek His guidance as we move forward to accomplish all that He would lead us to accomplish. We realize this is not our vision but His given to us. Our primary responsibility is to stay attached to the vine, for without Him we could do nothing. (John 15)
Randy Harp 