Southgate Baptist Church

Local Outreach Values

Values of the Local Outreach Ministry of

Southgate Baptist Church

Prayer: Because we believe that all true discipleship is completely the result of God's gracious work (I Corinthians 3:5-9, John 15:5), we will cry out in prayer for the grace of God to redeem lives in our city.

Scripture: Because we believe that the Holy Spirit chooses to use the Word of God as the sword to pierce the hearts of individuals (Hebrews 4:12-13), we will seek to be Word saturated people and utilize the power of the Scripture in calling people to Jesus.

Relationships: Because the mode of our Lord's ministry was incarnation (Philippians 2:1-11) and because He had the reputation as a friend of sinners (Matthew 11:19), we will seek to befriend our community by consistently being present where they are.

Self-Denial: Because we value Biblical self-denial, we will seek to forfeit personal convenience, comfort, and security for the sake of the lost in Springfield. We believe God's promise that this life of humility and service to Jesus will result in our deep satisfaction and pleasure! (Luke 9:23-24) 

Faith: Because Jesus said that there were unbelievers that He was yet planning to call to salvation (John 10: 16), we will seek to believe His promise (Hebrews 11:6, II Peter 3:9) and invest our lives in the lost accordingly.

Love: Because we believe the 2 greatest commandments are to love God with everything we are and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40) and because any action motivated apart from love is useless (I Corinthians 13) we will seek to treasure Jesus and invest our lives acting for the benefit of others.

Community: Because our Lord's command to make disciples is given to the corporate body of Christ and because we believe that discipleship happens in the community of the church, we will seek to do outreach ministry together, and we will seek to disciple new believers within the ministry of the local church (Matthew 28:18-20).

Focus: Because we are soul-body unities as humans, we believe the gospel applies to all human need-spiritual, emotional, physical, intellectual and psychological. We will seek to love our neighbors and meet needs in Jesus' name, neither exclusively defining need as physical nor ignoring evident needs that beckon for our attention. We affirm that the unregenerate poor and affluent are equally lost. We want to conceive of ministry creatively that meets the lost where they are, at various socio-economic status and circumstances.