Church Vision

 Here at Third Avenue, we are striving to build a church that is based on what the Bible teaches about the church.  To that end, we hope and pray that Third Avenue Baptist Church will be known throughout our city and even beyond by these seven priorities: 

1. CLEAR GOSPEL - One of the most important challenges facing the church in our generation is a loss of clarity about what precisely is the Good News of Jesus Christ.  As a church and as individual Christians, we want to be known for being unmistakably clear about what the Gospel is.

2. FAITHFUL PREACHING - We want to be known as a church where God's Word, the Bible, is faithfully and forcefully preached every week.  By opening God's Word and looking carefully at what it says and how it applies to our lives, we hope to grow in love for God and for His people.

3. DEEP DISCIPLESHIP - We never want to be a church where our members can be anonymous.  On the contrary, we believe the Bible teaches us that we as Christians are to be deeply involved in each others' lives.  Through our public services, our home group meetings, and individual discipling, we strive to be always spurring one another on to follow Jesus more faithfully.

4. PASSIONATE WORSHIP - Worship is what we owe to God in every particular of our lives, and we want our hearts to be fully engaged in that work.  As we go to our jobs, attend our classes, shepherd our families, gather to hear God's Word, and yes, raise our voices in song, we want to be driven by a passion to glorify Jesus Christ.

5. BOLD PRAYER - We believe that our God delights to hear the prayers of his people and that he delights to answer them.  Because of that, we want to be a church that prays boldly to Him, trusting him always to work all things together for the good of those who love him.

6. CONSTANT EVANGELISM - Speaking the good news of Jesus Christ to friends, family, and neighbors should be a natural part of our lives as Christians.  We, therefore, want to be constantly about the work of evangelism, and we want to be known as a people who go out of our ways to build relationships with people who do not yet know the gospel.

7. URGENT MISSION - We believe the marching orders the Lord Jesus gave to this church were to proclaim the gospel and make disciples of all nations.  Because of that, we want to be urgently engaged in the great work of international missions.  Through deep, personal, and responsive relationships with missionaries in several different countries, we want to keep the urgent task of missions at the forefront of our minds and hearts.