our purpose & mission

Introduction

The chief goal of God is to glorify Himself on the earth; that is, to display the splendor and beauty of His many divine attributes. The "glory of God" is an attempt to put into words what cannot be contained in words, what God is like in His magnificence and excellence, the far reaching beauty of His character, power and moral perfection.

Today God is at work drawing people into a vital and living relationship with Him and displaying His glory through the lives of those who believe in Him. These individuals make up the church, and by the work of the Holy Spirit God displays through them His own attributes and character, and through them reveals Himself to the world. By the grace and forgiveness they receive, by their changed lives, and by their ministry to others God is glorified.

Jesus said that the entire Bible could be condensed into two great commandments (Matthew 22:37-40). The most important commandment is that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind. He said the second greatest commandment is like the first, that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. During Jesus’ ministry and after His resurrection the mission of the church was made clear. That is, to go throughout all the world and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that He had commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). For us this means winning non-Christians to faith in Christ, building Christians in their faith, character, and love for Christ and others, and training Christians to assume leadership in areas of their gifts, abilities and desires.

With these things in mind, and in broad terms, our purpose at Prairie View is to glorify God through our lives, our worship, and by continuing the ministry Jesus began. The mission we have defined is to participate in fulfilling the Great Commission by training leaders to start and develop churches that will love people and spread the gospel. We believe the foundation of our ministry in general should be prayer. The focus of our teaching is character and love. And sacrificial love working through close friendships is the foundation for building up the body of believers.

When the church began with the early apostles, their activities encompassed six basic purposes which guided them in fulfilling their mission. Those purposes were:

• Worship - praising God for who He is and what He has done.

• Fellowship - building supportive, mutually accountable relationships.

• Teaching/Discipleship - learning and applying God’s word.

• Ministry - using spiritual gifts and loving each other in practical ways to meet needs.

• Prayer - listening to God and talking intimately with Him about personal matters, the needs of others, and His work in the world.

• Missions/Outreach - influencing our society through ministry and evangelism, sharing the Good News so that people may put their faith in Christ.

Our activities are designed to incorporate these purposes as well. The following pages outline our approach to ministry and how the six vital and basic purposes are accomplished in the various activities at Prairie View as we seek to fulfill our mission.

Prairie View Community Church has a great heritage as part of Great Commission Association of Churches. The Association is bound together by friendships formed in ministry and a common vision to participate together to fulfill the Great Commission. We are the direct result of the outreach of Valley View Community Church in Westminster, Colorado and Prairie Ridge Christian Church in Aurora. This is the purpose and mission for Prairie View. The vision statements help develop a picture of what we want our church to look like as it grows.

Our Purpose

Our purpose is to bring people into membership in God’s eternal family, build them up to maturity, involve them in ministry and prayer, and prepare them for a life of mission and worship for the glory of God.

Our Mission

Our mission is to build up one another by the life-changing power of the gospel and fill Parker with the attractive message of Christ.

We will pursue our mission out of a sense of worship and that God might be glorified.

The gospel is the power of God for salvation. It is also the foundation for a growing relationship with Christ, character and life changes, healing hurts, and strength in adversity. The grace of God and the many truths that accompany the gospel are the foundation for our teaching, encouragement and counseling.

As we grow and mature this mission will include other cities. Our part in fulfilling the Great Commission beyond Parker will be to multiply churches that can love people and spread the gospel.