Vision, Mission, Core Values

It is our desire to rejoice together about past accomplishments and the recent growth we have experienced, but we cannot live in the past.  We must look to the future with great anticipation as to what God has in store for the future of Westport Christian Church.  We must work together striving to meet the potential that God desires for us as individuals as well as a congregation.   

As this congregation continues to strive to reach out in our community we must have a clear direction in which to follow.  The leadership team here has made the commitment to continue to stand steadfast on Biblical teachings while striving to continue to impact lives for Jesus Christ.

            Because of our culture in which we are living, we must look for new opportunities in which to impact lives for Jesus Christ.  To bring about a curiosity in the minds of those we meet, because of that we are going to refer to ourselves as “The Port.”  This is not a name change, but is our hope and desire to stir a curiosity within, that people will ask question about this congregation, but more important about our Lord.    

            A port can be described in many ways;

            1) A place where refueling takes place.   

2) A drop off location for cargo, (baggage).

3) A place where directions are given and supplies or nourishment can be picked up.  That is what we are striving to be and do here at “The Port,” a place where people can drop off their baggage of sin and stresses of life at the foot of the cross.  Where they can be refueled as well as receive direction and nourishment for their life from God’s word.  We want this congregation to be a port for everyone!

            That is why we have put together our vision, mission, and values. This vision, mission, and values have been established to help us to have a clear understanding of what we stand for and will be used to implement new ideas and concepts for the future.

Our VISION for “The Port”

A Working Definition of Vision…     

Vision is a picture of the future that produces excitement within you.

Our vision at “The Port” is to impact lives in our community for Christ.

In order to complete our vision we must have a mission.  The mission reflects how we will accomplish our vision. 

By studying the ministry of Jesus, we can ascertain how He transformed lives.  He did so by

1) Luke 19:10 coming to seek and to save what was lost.

2) Acts 1:8; John 13:35 by making disciples.

3) Matt 9:13, 36; Matt 15:32-39; Phil 2:1-2; Col 3:12-13.showing compassion. 

Wanting to be “conformed to the likeness of God’s Son” (Romans 8:29), we pursue our vision of transforming lives by imitating the three-fold mission of Jesus: seeking the lost, making disciples and showing compassion.

It is important to note that our mission embraces our desire to transform the lives of both non-believers and believers.

The Port is made up of people who live like Jesus! Eph. 5:1; 1 Cor. 2:16; Phil. 2:15; Rom 12:1-2.

In John Woodbridge’s book, Renewing Your Mind in a Secular World, George Gallup, Jr. is quoted as saying: “America in 1984 appears to be confronted with a great paradox: Religion is growing in importance among Americans but morality is losing ground.”

Christ taught that Christians are to serve as salt and light in the world (Matt. 5:13-16). But salt can lose its savor, and a light can be dimmed. It is quite possible that we are experiencing a loss of spiritual power because we are not yielding ourselves to the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. Little wonder we have lost some of our saltiness and light. We cannot change the world because we are too much like it. The challenge of keeping a godly mind in modern America has overwhelmed us.

Our minds play an exceedingly large role in our Christian lives. It is in our minds that some of our fiercest spiritual warfare takes place.³¹

            “The Port” is made up of people who live like Jesus.  We will accomplish our vision be following our mission.

            Core Values

Our core values are the very things we must not and will not change.  They are our driving force in order for us to achieve our mission and vision.  They could be called our operating system.

1)    The Bible is THE final authority.  2Timonthy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21

We understand there are times when we do not have a “thus saith the Lord.”  It is at those times we search the Scripture to discover from God’s Word and His will for us.  That is also when we ask ourselves three questions.  Does it glorify God?  Does it exalt Jesus Christ?  Does it edify the Body?

            2) We are holy people. Eph 1:4; 1Pet 1:15-16; 1Pet 2:9.  This does not mean that we are or think that we are special or perfect people.  1John 1:9-10

This does mean however that we are daily transforming our minds and our lives to become more like Christ.  Rom 12:1-2; Luke 9:23; Acts 17:11; 1Cor 15:31; Rom 6:5; Phil 1:27

            3) We are culturally relevant.  In Acts 17, Paul addresses a group of people on Mars hill.  There Paul surveyed his surroundings to have a better understanding of those present in order to share the Gospel.  The Gospel message is relevant for every person and every generation.  We must be committed in understanding where people are in their relationship to God so that we may be able to leading them to a better understanding.  This does include using different translation and other materials available to us in order to reach people with the Gospel.  We must be willing to use different methods and means while remaining true to Biblical principles. 

We must be externally focused with the understanding that Jesus said go.  The church of Jesus Christ must be active in the lives of people in our community.  We must let our light shine for Christ.  This is done by staying true to the gospel while interacting with and in our community. 

We must be willing to change, not just for change sake, but again willing to use new methods and means to reach the lost.    

            4) We are to be faithful stewards with what God has given to us as individuals as well as a body.  Luke 12:42; 2 Tim 2:2.

            5) Striving for Excellence.  God wants His people to strive for excellence.  He does not want them to be satisfied with mediocre.  Ecclesiastes 9:10; 1Cor. 10:31; Col 3:23-24; Phil 4:8; 2 Peter 1:5.  We want people to do their very best because that is what God desires.  We understand that excellence takes hard work and much time.  It’s not about performance, but it is about utilizing your gifts to build up the body.  It’s about giving Christ the firstfruits.  It’s about doing everything we can to win people to Christ.  (2 Cor.13:11NIV)

Again, “The Port” is made up of people who live like Jesus.

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We teach that the Bible is the Word of God, divinely inspired, so that it is without error in the original manuscripts and preserved by God, so that it is an authoritative standard for every age and every life (I Cor. 2:7-14; I Thess. 2:13; II Tim. 3:16-17; II Peter 2:20-21).

We teach the Godhead exists eternally in three persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-and that these three are one God (Matt. 28:19; John1:1-14; John 14:16,26;Col. 2:9).

We teach that God is the absolute and sole creator of the universe, and that creation was by divine decree, not through evolutionary process (Gen. 1:1-2:25)

We teach that God, by His sovereign choice and out of love for all people, sent Christ into the world to save sinners (Matt. 1:21; John 3:16; Rom 5:8; Eph. 1:3-6).

We teach that Jesus Christ in the flesh was fully God and fully man, that He was born of a virgin and that He lived a sinless life, in which He taught and wrought mighty works and wonders and signs exactly as revealed in the four gospels. He also was crucified, died as a penalty for our sins and was raised from the dead bodily on the third day. Later He ascended to the Father’s right hand where He is head of the church and intercedes for believers, and from whence He is coming again personally, bodily visibly to this earth Phil. 2:508; Luke 1:26-35; Heb. 4:14-15; I Peter 2:21-24; I Cor. 15:3-5; Acts 1:9-11; Eph. 1:18-23; 5:23; Rom. 8:31-34; I John 2:1-2; I Thes. 4:15-16;John 14:1-6).

We teach that His death, by His shed blood, the Lord Jesus Christ made a perfect atonement for sin. People are saved, justified, and sanctified on the simple and single ground of the shed blood (Heb. 9:11-14; 10-10-13; I Peter 3:18; Gal. 3:13-14; I Cor. 6:9-11; Rom. 8:31-34).

We teach that such salvation with its forgiveness of sins, its impartation of a new nature and its hope of eternal life is the pure grace of God (I John 1:8-10; 3:9; II Cor. 15, Eph. 2:8-9).

We teach that believers have the assurance of salvation as long as they continue to trust Christ. To leave Christ is to leave any hope of salvation (Luke 15:11-32; Gal. 5:4; Heb. 6:4-6).

We teach that all who receive Christ become joint heirs with Christ. At death their spirits depart to be with Christ in conscious joy. At the second coming of Christ, their bodies will be raised to the likeness of His glory and dwell forever in his divine presence (Rom. 8:16-17; II Cor. 5:6-8; Luke 16:19-31; I Thess. 4:31-18; II Cor. 15; I John 3:1-2).

We teach that it is the goal of every Christian to grow in spiritual maturity through obedience to the Word of God and the indwelling Spirit. (Eph. 4:11-16; II Cor. 3:17-18).

We teach that the Holy Spirit indwells all believers and seals all believers at the moment of their salvation (Acts 2:38; Eph. 1:13-14; Rom. 8:9).