GOD’S PURPOSE, OUR MISSION
God's purposed to create for Himself a people with whom He would have an eternal personal love-relationship. He began with the creation of Adam and Eve, through whom all people were born. Sin broke the relationship between humanity and God, and this broken relationship resulted in separation and death. God is the giver and sustainer of life, and when that relationship is broken, death is inevitable. But God's purpose remains, and so through Jesus Christ, He has made a way for you and me to be reconciled, and our relationship restored with Him and with one another.
At Gateway Church, it is our goal, motivated by love for God and love for people, to lead others to become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are ambassadors for Christ, sharing the message of reconciliation and being used by God to bring together His diverse family united as one in Christ. To God be the glory forever and ever, amen!
REACH
Our mission is to reach out to people and help them to know and follow Jesus Christ.
As a disciple-making church, our mission here at Gateway Church is to reach out and share Jesus Christ with others. Jesus told his first disciples, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men” Mark 1:17 (ESV). In order to reach people for Christ we must talk about Jesus Christ, who He is, what He has done and how He calls us to live. This is what we call, “witnessing”–telling others about the Jesus we know.
Jesus said to His followers at the time of His ascension into heaven, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—In Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth” Acts 1:8 (NLT).
Jesus calls reaching people for Jesus Christ, “making disciples.” “Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, as you go, disciple all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age” Matthew 28:18-20 (ISV).
LOVE
The value that drives our mission is the love of God. Because of God's love for uS, we love him and we love others.
The primary motivation that compels us to carry out our mission of reaching people for Jesus Christ is love. Because of God's unconditional and reaching love for us, we love God. And the love of God in us fills us with love for others.
Jesus said the most important commandment was, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these” Mark 12:30-31 (ESV).
Loving God is more than a feeling; it is what we do. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” John 14:15 (ESV). Loving others is also more than just a feeling. It is doing good; it is showing mercy; it is forgiving; it is being kind; it is helping the hurting; it is restoring those in need; it is speaking the truth in love; it is celebrating life together; and most importantly it is sharing the gift of forgiveness and life that comes by God’s grace through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
UNITE
The end result will be the people of God united together in Jesus Christ, showing forth the love, truth, and glory of God to the entire world.
The end result of reaching and loving will be bringing people (from all different backgrounds and circumstances) together into the body of Christ. Through our reaching and loving, God will produce his people united together in Christ. Jesus himself prayed that we would be united so that the world would (1) believe that God had indeed sent Jesus and (2) that they would know that God loves us, just as He loves Jesus (John 17:20-23).
The Good News of Jesus Christ is all about reconciliation—bringing people together in Christ. Revelation, the last book of the Bible, portrays a magnificent scene in heaven. John says, “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a mighty shout, ‘Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb’ “(Revelation 7:9-10).
At Gateway Church it is our goal, motivated by love for God and love for people, to reach others, so they become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are ambassadors for Christ sharing the message of reconciliation and being used by God to bring together His diverse family united as one in Christ. Reach, Love, Unite! To God be the glory forever and ever, amen!