Heritage Baptist Church

The Fourfold Purpose of HBC
HBC has a fourfold purpose that governs the ministries we carry out and the decisions we make. The purpose of Heritage Baptist Church is to continue steadfastly in evangelism, edification, worship, and fellowship.

Acts 2:41-42 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Evangelism
Heritage Baptist Church exists to reach lost people for whom Christ died. Luke 19:10 tells us that the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus provided salvation by His substitutionary death on the cross. When He ascended back into heaven, He gave His church the commission to take the Gospel into all the world (Matt.28:19-20).

Edification
Heritage Baptist Church exists to help believers become fully devoted followers of Christ. After the 3,000 were saved and added to the church on the day of Pentecost, "they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine" (Acts 2:41--42). Heritage must not only win the lost, it must also nurture new babies in Christ. Edification includes nurturing, maturing and reproducing. We cannot be satisfied until every believer has become a mature, reproducing disciple of the Lord Jesus.

Worship
Heritage Baptist Church exists to worship and glorify God together as a body of believers. Warren Wiersbe has an excellent definition of worship: "Worship is the believer's response of all that he is-mind, emotions, will and body-to all that God is and says and does." The ultimate purpose of our church is to glorify God and honor Him. May all that we do, say, or think, as individual believers and as a local body of believers, bring glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Fellowship
Heritage Baptist Church exists to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs within the body of Christ and to provide a biblical means of mutual accountability. Not only did the New Testament church see 3,000 saved and continue daily in the apostles' doctrine, they also continued steadfastly in "the fellowship." In the Bible, fellowship is not simply social activity. It is primarily meeting the basic needs of every individual. We are our brothers' keeper. We must be accountable to one another and for one another.

The early church had a mutual caring spirit. The 3,000 who were saved on the Day of Pentecost came from all over the Roman Empire. They probably stayed in Jerusalem for some time, being discipled by the Apostles. The saints in Jerusalem would have provided food and lodging for them. No doubt the reason they sold their possessions in Acts 2:43-47 was to provide for this hospitality.

This hospitality was spontaneous and not organized. Likewise, that mutual caring spirit today must be spontaneous. One purpose of our church is to provide a vehicle for each of us to display that spirit. This is true Christian fellowship. It includes social activities, but it is much more. The Church was never intended to be simply a social club or a religious country club.