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More2Life Ministries

(Purpose & Priorities)

I.  Our Purpose:

    A.  Vision Statement:

The vision of M2L Ministries is to glorify God by establishing a Christ-centered community of caring and belonging where, through biblical truth and redemptive relationships, lives are transformed to reflect the glory of God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

    B.  Mission Statement

More2Life Ministries is established on the belief that our primary mission is: (1) To bring all people into a living, personal relationship with God through the grace and truth of Jesus Christ, (2) To train God’s people in the truth of His Word while establishing a refuge of love and caring for them and their families (through inviting them into the fellowship of the church and engaging them in worship), and (3) To minister the love of Christ by meeting the needs of people as God gives us the opportunity (challenging God’s people to service by equipping them for personal ministry through biblical discipleship).

II.  Our Priorities – 5 Key Elements

We can only accomplish our purpose by committing ourselves to the five key elements of the New Testament church: (1) Evangelism, (2) Prayer & Worship, (3) Fellowship, (4) Discipleship, and (5) Ministry [In-Reach & Out-Reach].  Our objective must be to make these our top priorities if we are to fulfill God’s purpose for More2Life Ministries. (Matt.22:37-40 & Matt.28:19-20).

    A.  Evangelism [Acts 26:16-18] 

“…open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light…”

         1.  Central Idea: 

We seek to impact the lives of all people through the grace and truth of Jesus Christ with the goal of bringing them into a living, personal relationship with Him.  Acts 2:47 says, “The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

THIS SHOULD BE THE CONSUMING PASSION OF EVERY CHURCH THAT SEEKS TO HONOR CHRIST

         2.  Central Focus:

   a.  Reproduction:  Keeping a primary objective on fulfilling the mandate given to the church in Acts 1:8, we are to actively share the truth of the gospel with the intent of leading others to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

   b. Relationship:  The heart of More2Life Ministries is to create redemptive relationships through which the people of Okeechobee will be impacted with the grace and truth of Jesus Christ.

        (1)  Committed to an ongoing program of evangelistic outreach that takes us outside the church walls into the community.

        (2)  Reaching out to others at their point of need (spiritual, physical, emotional) with the truth of the Gospel.

    B.  Prayer & Worship [Matt. 22:37]

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart…soul…and mind”

         1.  Central Idea:

   a.  Worship >  Celebrating God’s Presence

        (1)  Inspiring:  We seek to make our worship services a celebration of the Risen Lord.  This celebratory approach is designed to remind us of the joy that is ours in Christ.  It is also designed to challenge us to seek after Christ and strive to grow in our fellowship with Him.  We also believe that a celebratory approach as opposed to a memorial approach is more readily received by those who are unchurched and seeking to know more about Christ.

        (2)  Innovative and Timeless:  Primarily, we have chosen to use a “contemporary” style of worship that incorporates praise and worship approach to our music; along with an informal approach to our worship services.  We feel that this approach will make us more effective in reaching out to a modern, seeking world.  However, we also cherish the historical elements of our faith and therefore we will also seek to incorporate timeless elements into our worship so we do not become faddish in our worship.

        (3)  Spirit-Controlled:  2 Cor. 3:17 says, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (freedom).”  This will certainly be true when the Spirit is in control of the worship service.  He wants us to magnify the Lord through our praise and worship.  Therefore, it is our goal to structure our worship services so there is freedom for the Holy Spirit to have complete control.

        (4)  Centered on Prayer:  The central truth we adhere to is that prayer must be the first priority of our church.  Worship is a form of corporate prayer that allows the church to come to the Father with one mind and one heart.  Therefore, we will dedicate all worship as a prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ and not a religious ritual.

   b.  Prayer

        (1)  Intimacy:  Our main goal and calling is to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”     (2 Pt. 3:18).  Prayer is the avenue that God has given to us accomplish this.  Through prayer, we come to know the mind of God.  Through prayer, we become intimate with the Father and He reveals His grace and love for us and also the plans that He has for us.

        (2)  Insight: We must know God’s plans for His church if we are to be His faithful stewards in this ministry.  Prayer and the study of His Word are the two ways we can know what God is doing in our world and in our midst.  This is how God reveals to us what it is that He desires us to do to join Him in His work.

         2.  Central Focus:

   a.  To ascribe to the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – the number one place of importance; giving Him value and “weight” in our lives as we commit ourselves to prayer and worship; moving us to present ourselves as “living sacrifices” desiring to live “transformed” lives that are “conformed to His image.”  [Rom. 8:29; 12:1-2]

   b.  To commit ourselves to these three main goals:

        (1)  Prayer (The source of our passion, our purpose, and our power)

       (2)  Praise

               (a)  Our way to outwardly express our love for Christ

               (b)  Our way to outwardly express our joy in Christ

        (3)  Preaching / Teaching (Keeping us grounded in biblical truth)

Text Box: **To accomplish these objectives in prayer and worship requires comfort, confrontation, and commitment.**             Comfort:  This is the comfort of being reminded of God’s grace that is found in Christ – making us constantly realize His love for us and His desire to provide an abundant life of joy and purpose for us; the joy of knowing that He desires to be in a love relationship with us.             Confrontation:  To be in the presence of God in prayer and worship will always have an element of confrontation and conviction.  It will require a willingness to be “stretched” – dealing with areas of our lives that need to come under His lordship.  The fact is you can not go with God and stay where you are because He is always encouraging and challenging us to move forward in Him.             Commitment:  For pray and worship to truly be effective requires a passionate desire to come into the presence of God and to give Him honor.  This will require a commitment to an attitude of “sacrifice” because coming to God always requires the need to meet His standard.  It also requires a commitment to discern where He is leading us and to follow Him as He leads us in the challenges of ministry that He will place before us as a church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    C.  Fellowship  [Matt. 28:19; John 13:34-35]

“Baptizing them in the name of the Father…Son…and the Holy Spirit”

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

         1.  Central Idea:

We have been baptized in fellowship with Christ and into a unity with the body of Christ.  We believe that just as our relationship with Christ is a precious and sacred thing so is our relationship with each other as His disciples.  It was our Lord’s desire that we be united as one just He and the Father were one (John 17).  Jesus told us that the world would know that we are His disciples by the love that we have for each other.  A church that loves brings honor to Christ by fulfilling His desire for us and will attract others into its fellowship for they will find the love of Christ there.

 

         2.  Central Focus:

We are committed to developing of a loving, caring fellowship of believers that will serve as a community of belonging for all those who are a part of this body of Christ.

   a.  Therefore, we are committed to building strong, supportive, grace-filled, “redemptive” relationships within the body of Christ here at M2L.  We are committed to maintaining harmony and unity among each other and dealing with each other with love and respect at all times.

   b.  We place a firm emphasis on small group ministry meeting in homes for active involvement and encouragement in each other’s growth in Christ and personal welfare.

 

    D.  Discipleship  [Matt. 28:20]

“Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you”

         1.  Central Idea:

We seek to teach God’s design in every area of life as revealed in His Word in order that the body may grow in spiritual maturity in their relationship with Christ and reach out in Spirit-filled ministry in their relationships with each other.

         2.  Central Focus:

   a. To establish the entire program of the church on sound biblical principles; always acknowledging the Bible as the divine authority in all that we do as a body of believers.

   b.  To establish each individual believer in his/her identity in Christ and challenge them to grow in spiritual maturity so they might experience real victory in their lives.

   c.  To equip each individual believer in order that he/she might discover and fulfill their unique place in ministry to which God has called them within the body of Christ; developing mature believers who will surrender their lives, bodies, possessions, time, gifts, talents, etc. in faithful stewardship to God’s design.

 

    E.  Ministry  [Matt. 22:39]    “Love your neighbor as yourself”

The heart of M2L is that each believer will discover his/her place of ministry here.

         1.  Central Idea:

We seek to build a community of caring where believers will actively engage themselves in ministering to the needs of others through the power of the Holy Spirit as He has specifically enabled them and equipped them.

         2.  Central Focus:

It is our desire to help each believer to discover his/her spiritual gifts with their individual passions, abilities, and personalities that make each person unique and directing them to utilize these in ministry to others both inside and outside the church fellowship.

   a.  Hands-on Ministry:  A practical extension of what we believe; consisting of local and non-local mission projects, providing financial assistance to benevolence needs, and providing biblical counseling to those with spiritual, emotional, marital, and financial needs.

   b.  Goals: 

        (1)  In-Reach:  Ministry that reaches out to the needs of the people of M2L Ministries.  The best avenue for this is through our small group ministry.

        (2)  Out-Reach:  Ministry that reaches out to those outside our body.  A church will only truly honor Christ when it sees beyond its own needs and wants and actively ministers to the community around it.

Text Box: CHALLENGE   We can not set the agenda and then ask God to bless it.  Christ must set the course and we must commit ourselves to follow wherever He leads us.  This will require a unified and unfaltering commitment to prayer.  It will call for a willingness to surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Head of this body.  Therefore, the main priority of this body must be to seek God’s clear direction and power in every endeavor we undertake.  We must commit ourselves to the absolute necessity of a prayer ministry that will under gird the entire work of the church if we are to ever fulfill the mission God has given us.  As we pray, we must dare to trust Him when He directs us to do those things that are beyond our limitations.  For it is only through prayer that we will be able to accomplish the God-sized plans He has for us.  Through the power of prayer, God will work His will through us.  A church on its knees before God can indeed move mountains.   It will also call for the willingness to accept the challenge of change.  The very nature of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ necessitates our willingness to change.  We must expect change and welcome it as evidence that the Spirit of Christ is working among us.  It is absolutely true that God’s message never changes for His Word is eternal.  However, we must continually examine our methods and update them if we are to reach people for Christ.  Therefore, we must let the Spirit take precedence over structure, and we must dare to make changes where and when they are needed to accomplish our mission.   Lastly, it will call for a willingness to commit ourselves to unity in order to experience healthy growth.  Nothing will destroy a church faster than division and discord among the people.  Jesus’ prayer for the church in John 17:20 was that we all “may be one” just as He and the Father are one.  In John 13:34-35, Christ commanded us to love each other with the same passion that He loved us.  He said that this would be the way that the world would recognize that we are His disciples.  Therefore, as we submit ourselves to the Lord, we must submit ourselves to each other “to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”  (Eph. 4:3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

III.  Our Commitments

Prayer and Worship:  The first essential element of a healthy church is for its people to be in vibrant, unhindered connection with God.  Prayer and worship and the primary means whereby that connection is established and maintained.  Therefore, we are committed to keep prayer and worship as the under girding imperatives in fulfilling the mission that Christ has given us.

Unity:  The church is pictured in Scripture as the body of Christ that works in complete harmony for one common purpose under one head – Christ.  Therefore, we are committed to be always of one mind in all that we do.  We are committed to diligently seek after and guard over the unity of this body by all of its membership.

Forgiveness:  There is nothing more devastating to the human soul than unforgiveness and the bitterness that results from it.  Hurt comes to all of us; some in ways almost unimaginable.  But we must decide whether we will harbor that pain allowing it to turn into resentment and destruction to our lives and our relationships or to find the true release that Christ has offered us in forgiveness.  Therefore, we are committed to facilitating the reconciliation and restoration of broken relationships in order that individuals may experience the freedom that is in Christ.

Integrity:  God’s Word clearly calls God’s people to live holy lives.  This is not a demand for a legalistic adherence to rules and regulations. We have been freed from those in Christ.  Rather, it is a call from God for our lives to mirror the life of Christ and so confront our culture with godliness.  Therefore, we are committed to living lives of purity, honesty, and accountability through the power of the Holy Spirit in accordance with the Word of God.

Dependence:  The surrender of our lives to the life of Christ living within us is the key to victorious Christian living.  His desire is not so much for us to work for Him, but for us to allow Him to work in and through us by His resurrection power.  Therefore, we are committed to living in complete dependence upon God in every area of our lives, resulting in obedience to Him in all things.

Compassion:  The culture in which we live is one characterized by anger and fear isolating us from each other.  The church, on the other hand, is to be a place where the love, joy, and peace of God overflows to all that come into contact with us.  Therefore, we are committed to creating a community of caring (dedicated to ministering to the needs of hurting people) and a community of belonging (dedicated to the establishing of lasting and loving relationships in our church body.

Evangelism / Outreach:  We have been given an unmistakable commission from God to reach out to all people with the grace and truth of Jesus Christ.  In order for us to truly fulfill God’s commission, evangelism, along with prayer, must be the underlying commitment of our lives forming the backdrop of every activity in which we are engaged.  Therefore, we are committed to evangelism as our consuming passion as a collective body of Christ.

Stewardship:  We recognize that all that we have has been given to us by the gracious hand of God.  This includes our families, our jobs, our time, our money, our talents, our spiritual gifts, etc.  Therefore, we are committed to God’s command to be good stewards of all our possession to Him as our Lord.

Teaching:  Essential to growing in the Christian life is solid biblical instruction.  We can not truly determine the leading of the Spirit of God until we have a mature knowledge of the Word of God.  They go together in an inseparable union.  Therefore, we are committed to teach the truth of God’s Word with clarity so that we would grow “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  (Eph. 4:13)

Leadership:  God’s design has always been to direct the life of His church through mature leadership at every level of the church ministry.  That leadership must have one of its main goals the reproducing of itself through the equipping of men and women in the church.  Therefore, we are committed to help each believer at M2L to discover his/her place of ministry with the M2L family and to train those for leadership that the Lord calls to such a task.

  
 

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" John 10:10