Outreach
“Go and make disciples of all nations… Matthew 28:20
Vision Statement
“Celebrating the faith through word and deed”
Purpose Statement
Mobilizing people who live, work, and visit Celebration, Florida to become partners in finding solutions to societal problems through spiritual renewal while working cooperatively to meet social capital needs with others of common belief.
Case Statement
At the heart of our purpose is the miracle of lives that have been changed by the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. We believe that empowerment comes first and best to people when they love God. Through the power of God, they are better equipped to serve the world, according to His plan.
The energy of service through human effort without understanding the purposes for which God created us and has raised up his church, is no more than social reform. Social reform while “good” in human terms cannot bring people to the unity that will ultimately nurture justice and love to its full stature in building a community of relationships.
According to God’s Word and the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church we are charged with the responsibility in all of our work to:
- Proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind
- Serve to shelter, nurture, and strengthen the spiritual fellowship of the children of God
- Maintain the energy that comes through divine worship
- Be diligent in the preservation of the truth
- Promote social righteousness
- Exhibit, through our lives and service, the Kingdom of Heaven to the world—Adapted from the Mission Statement of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Book or Order
All of this requires that we turn to the scripture for our directives in service.
Luke 10:25-37—An expert stood up and asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life? The response was. What is written in the Law? What do you understand it to say? The answer came back “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus responded with, “Do this and you will live.” Jesus followed this encounter with the parable of the Good Samaritan which concluded with a question, “Which one of the people in the story was a neighbor to the man in need?” The expert replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”
Our commission as a Service and Mission team begins with personal commitment and preparation. When the apostle Paul came to Christ on the Damascus Road, he then went into a three-year time of preparation before he launched his time of service to the work of the church. 1 Timothy 5:22—gives us warning: “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands.” We must take the time to both motivate and train those who desire to enter into a commitment for service. In order to get beyond ourselves to the world in need, we must understand ourselves so that God will be, allowed (or invited) to work through us.
Empowerment comes first from being energized by the power of the gospel where the heart is motivated to allow Christ, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to work through our lives. “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11
It is followed by the zeal and enthusiasm flowing from your heart to your mind, where it is directed to service and the work Christ has for you to do. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
James 1:27—Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
We should not think of any project just for the social benefit. All projects should be planned to create the best climate for the Holy Spirit to work through us, both directly and indirectly, as ambassadors of reconciliation.
The Constituencies of our Service and Mission Emphasis
· The communicant body of CommPres as a local church
· The part-time residents who spend a portion of their year in the south
· The Celebration Community as a whole
· The Greater Orlando area
· The concerns for national evangelism and meeting social capital needs
· The Greater world mission that extends internationally around the world.
To the constituencies of the world, the Service and Mission program is not just a grouping of projects that make us feel good but should be projects that help others to be spared from saying, before God and man, “Yes they housed us, they fed us, they trained us for work but they never told us how we could be reconciled to the will and purposes for which we are created.” Our job is to be the ambassadors of the living God living and speaking as though God were making his appeal through us as believers. 2 Corinthians 5:20
Outreach News
Volunteering
"...through love serve one another." Galations 5:13b
God created each of us with gifts, talents, and passions. Our Servant Ministry Profile attempts to match those gifts with opportunities to serve in our church and community. It also allows us to get to know each of you better as we grow!
Please take some time to complete this Servant Ministry Profile. Through it, we hope to connect the God-given gifts of Community Presbyterian Church Servants (that’s you) to purposeful service opportunities in our church and community.