Our Ministry Vision

FOCUSING FORWARD

Matthew

28:19-20

Therefore go and make

disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name

of the Father and

of the Son and of the

Holy Spirit

teaching them to obey

everything

I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end

of the age.”

Matthew

22:37-39

Jesus replied: “

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and

with all your soul and

with all your mind.’

This is the first and

greatest commandment.

And the second is like it:

‘Love your neighbour

as yourself.

Jesus Christ established His Church with a clear plan and a purpose. The Church is not a building, or just a gathering. It is not just an organisation nor an institution. It is a living and a loving organism with Jesus Christ as its Head and the Church as His Body, powered and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Church should be a Living and a Loving Body that is full of Life.

Therefore, the life of any local church should be a dynamic one that is continuously growing through different settings and seasons, through different ages and stages; Spiritually Growing and Going but at the same time never losing sight of its focus and its function whilst continuously keeping its eyes fixed on the Person of Jesus Christ; Never losing its Love for God; Never losing its focus on God’s Truth; Never losing its way and turning to the ways of the world. Rather, the local church is one that remains focused, fixed and faithful to the Living Christ.

Like many other churches, the Tongaat Baptist Church has, in its 50 years of ministry, come through its fair share of different settings and different seasons, different ages and different stages:

The Start Up prior to and during the early 1970s.

The Early and Growing Stages during the rest of the 1970s.

The Continued Ministry and the Development of a permanent spiritual home during the 1980s and the 1990s.

The Transition Period where the Leadership “kept the boat afloat” without a Pastor from mid-2001 to end 2008.

The Undergirding of the Church’s Spiritual Foundation

from 2009 to 2020.

With the commencement of a new decade, and as the Tongaat Baptist Church glances back at the past 50 years, continuing to look up giving thanks to God, the timing is now perfect for the church to focus forward. The timing is also perfect for the renewing of the church’s ministry vision as it prepares to embark on a new chapter in its ministry after 2021 and beyond.

The church’s renewed ministry vision is the culmination of a process that was initiated by the Church’s Leadership in 2017. It commenced with 3 simple, but deep questions: “Who are we as a church?”, “Where did we come from?”, and “Where are we going to as a church?”

This prayerful consideration continued over a 3 year period and concluded in 2020 with one simple, but profound expression based completely on Jesus’ Commands (Matthew 22:37-39) and His Commission (Matthew 28:19-20): Love G.O.D. (Love God; Love Others; Go, make Disciples).

The Tongaat Baptist Church’s renewed ministry vision is not a new or a unique vision. Other churches around the world have also come to build their ministry on these exact same Scripture verses. However, the difference will be in the Tongaat Baptist Church’s approach and in its application. Love G.O.D. is the Tongaat Baptist Church’s renewed Ministry Vision – simple, yet profound. This can be best demonstrated by asking and answering the following questions:

What is the church’s ministry vision?