We are guided as
a student ministry by the Bible and by the purpose of Mabel White
Baptist Church,
“To love God passionately and faithfully share His love.” We have
contextualized this statement and developed our vision and purpose statements
from it and the Christian scriptures.
Our vision statement reads, “We are called Intersect because we strive to be ministries of
Students, Parents and Leaders who live at the place where God, People and
Culture Intersect.” David Crowder writes that, “When our depravity meets His
divinity, it is a beautiful collision.” Our vision is to facilitate and
encourage this collision in the lives of the Students and Parents in Macon, GA.
We want the student ministry of Mabel White Baptist Church to be the place
where a depraved generation collides with the Eternal God and becomes a
community of Christ followers.
The collision is not the end, but only the
beginning of the transforming work of God. That is why we are also bound to our
purpose statement. Based on the great commandment of Jesus found in Matthew
22:37-40, his commission to his followers found in Matthew 28:18-20, and the
example of how his followers did church found in Acts 2:42-47, we believe that
our purpose is to be and build followers of Christ in the Macon, GA student
culture. As disciples of Christ, we will be a “worshiping community of
missional theologians.”
Every event or activity that we do is driven by our four
intersecting functions as a worshiping community of missional theologians. We
do not do random events or activities. We are not a social club or a fun after
school activity. We strive to become a radical community of Christ followers
that will re-shape the student culture of Macon,
GA.
Our Four Intersecting Functions:
Worshiping:
- We
will worship God through our actions and how we live our lives (Isaiah
1:11-17, Hosea 6:6, Romans 12:1).
- We
will worship Him corporately by acknowledging and enjoying Him and
thanking Him together as a body (Ephesians 6:19-20).
Community:
- We will
love each other and take care of each other as any has need. We will enjoy
each other (Matthew 22:37-40, Acts 2:42-47).
- We
will hold each other accountable, we will confess our sins to each other and
pray for each other (1 John 5:16, James 5:16).
Missional:
- We
will seek to understand our community and world and strive to redeem and
engage it with the Gospel (The Incarnation and example of Jesus as well as
the example of Paul in instances such as that recorded in Acts 17:16-33).
- We
will be missionaries in the distinct time and place that God has chosen to
place us (Ephesians 2:10, Acts 8:4).
Theologians:
- We
will strive to know and understand the Word of God, the Christian
scriptures, because this is how we grow in knowledge of God (Philippians
1:9-10, Psalm 119:1-8, 2 Timothy 3:16, 1 Timothy 4:13).
- We will strive in this because it is how we are
transformed into the righteous children of God in Christ’s image (John 17:17,
Ephesians 6:26).