Making Disciples; By His Word, For Their Joy, To His Glory!
In Matthew 28:19 Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” We at Northside understand these words to be an imperative for our church. If we are to live in obedience to the words of Jesus we must exist for the purpose of making disciples. This is how we believe it is to be done:
Making Disciples By His Word.
God’s Word is living and active and the truth by which we are conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, which is the very essence of being a disciple. The Christian life is sustained by the nourishment of God’s Word. We are nourished by the preaching of God’s Word to God’s church, by the interactive learning of a small group Bible study, and by personal meditation of the Scriptures in our own lives.
Making Disciples For Their Joy
As Augustine said, God created our hearts to be restless until they find their rest in Him. Many people seek to find happiness in every passing fad and diversion, but the human heart can never find true joy, true rest, and true peace until it fulfills the purpose for which it was created. Our hearts were created to worship and adore the Lord Jesus and this alone will fulfill the longings of our heart.
Making Disciples To His Glory
When the prophet Isaiah saw his vision of God the angels were crying out, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory.” God’s glory is the overflow of his holiness, his purity. As Christians are modeled and shaped to have our hearts and minds be like that of Jesus Christ we reflect God’s glory in our lives. That is, His children become more and more like him with each passing week. This is pleasing to God, for this reveals to world just how great and loving He is.
The Ministries of Northside Baptist
Children’s Ministry: Building Faith
Children are a temporary gift to us from God. They are only children for a few short years and then they become adults. Our responsibility to them as parents and church leaders is two fold. First we want to protect them from harmful influences in their life. Their heart is a garden that must be protected, but, secondly, it must also have good things planted in it. Our role at Northside is to plant the seeds of faith in their heart at an early age, so that in God’s perfect timing He can call them to Himself for salvation.
Youth Ministry: Defending Faith
In the past several decades the church has left its young people void of the answers they need to the hard questions of the faith. Our focus at Northside is to give our students both the answers and the reasons for our faith, so that they will be able to boldly defend their faith at every turn in life. Our faith is strong and is supported biblically, historically, and philosophically. Young people can and even desire to know the answers to the questions of their faith.
Adult Ministry: Refining Faith
The Christian faith is never complete. There are always areas in our life where we can grow in Christian maturity and holiness. Our adult ministries seek to meet people where they are in their walk of faith and give them the teaching and encouragement they need to persevere. We seek to be neither judgmental nor condescending, but rather encourage others toward a life that is pleasing to God.
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