THE POTTER'S HOUSE
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP CHURCH of Los Banos
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?
The question I would like to address as we introduce ourselves to you is, “What makes The Potter’s House Christian Fellowship Church different?” What makes us different from the average church? Actually, we are different in many ways and I would like to point out 10 differences that cause The Potter’s House Christian Fellowship Ministries to stand out:
1. OUR VISION:
Our vision is visible and measurable. We see the harvest field of Los Banos, California and the World. We intend by all means to impact the unsaved community through outreach and evangelism.
We enlist a “whatever it takes” mentality. We constantly look for more effective ways to fulfill our purpose and see our vision become a reality. We do not fear change but welcome it. Our vision is big because we have a big God who has given us a big command and a big commission to “go into all the world”.
2. OUR MEMBERS:
We make a concentrated effort to equip our members to live for Christ by addressing their needs from a biblical perspective and developing within our members a Christian Worldview. Our discipleship program is tailor-made to address the specific needs of believers, visitors, and unbelievers.
Each member is called to minister; therefore, they are free to minister how God has shaped and blessed them. We seek by all means to develop, counsel and lead each member to find how God has uniquely gifted their lives and abilities – capitalize on those abilities and reach others from that perspective.
3. OUR ACCOUNTABILITY:
At The Potter’s House Christian Fellowship Ministries, we make available to all aspiring church members a six-week “Foundations of Faith” class outlining the fundamentals of our faith, strategy, structure, and member’s responsibilities to the church. Each aspiring member then has the opportunity to sign a ‘Membership Covenant’ accepting their role in the furtherance of the gospel and the church.
Our Ministry leaders, elders, and Pastor(s) will serve as examples and navigators to affirm, mentor, and assist each member in their spiritual development. We desire to substantially increase the total number of members in active ministry.
4. OUR PURPOSE:
We focus on five major tasks of the church as modeled by the early church of Acts. We do not seek to do one task better than the other. We seek to fulfill all tasks with excellence. Five Tasks of the Church: (see Acts 2:42-47)
Discipleship v. 42
Fellowship v. 42
Worship, v. 42, 47
Ministry v. 44-45
Outreach v. 47
We want people to understand that authentic Christianity is practical and to be lived out in their daily lives. We want to move the church beyond the theoretical Christianity to the practical Christianity.
5. OUR OUTREACH
We desire to use whatever means, media, or mode necessary to reach out to the unsaved of the Los Banos area. There is no cost too great to pay for bringing people to Jesus Christ when considering the cost that Jesus paid for the members of The Potter’s House Christian Fellowship Ministries to come to salvation.
We also give the opportunity to involve our members in world evangelism from the local church and world evangelism endeavors where they can accompany the Pastor on overseas missions. We envision multitudes of volunteer missionaries, short-term missionaries and career missionaries to be commissioned from our church. We will bring missionaries into our church to share their vision for the lost world – so that we can make it our own. We will be involved in intensive mission partnering, training, and education.
6. OUR STRUCTURE:
We have a simple structure in order to maximize the member’s time in the development of hands-on ministries. We disciple men and couples to rise up and tackle the needs of our generation in “real-time” terms so that they can have maximum impact with low maintenance.
We desire to create an atmosphere where we can minister to your needs. We realize our members want their lives to count; therefore, every moment they spend in the church or related activities should count significantly to the fulfillment of our purpose. Each church member’s responsibility is to reach out and minister to every visitor and unbeliever God places in their path.
7. OUR MESSAGE:
Every message is prepared to touch and challenge each listener’s life up close and personal. We want each message to address and show the people that the Word of God is as relevant today as it was to the generation to which it was originally written—to address and guide them through the issues of life.
We see the Bible as the final source of truth and it will not be compromised or diluted in its original intent and message. We believe every word of the Scriptures is given by God without error and believe that the Bible’s authority should supersede any historic or modern-day beliefs.
8. OUR STRATEGY:
Our strategy is how we intend to fulfill our purpose. Everything we do is focused on evangelism, discipleship and church planting.
Though we have an unchanging focus on the tasks at hand, we are flexible on the methods we employ to accomplish the tasks. We are always willing to try a different method to achieve our determined end.
9. OUR SERVICES:
We are first and foremost a gospel-preaching church. Although we love music and take time to maximize our worship potential and spend great energy on making our praise team most effective, our services are centered on the preaching of the Word of God.
Our services are energetic, moving and developed to bring maximum impact and challenge to our lives. We preach the uncut gospel with a convicting edge and always challenge every person with an altar call at the close of service where we can meet with God and let him minister to our lives.
10. OUR GIVING:
We expect our members to abide by and agree to a covenant of giving ‘generously’ and cheerfully to the church. The Bible thoroughly and clearly lays out a tithing plan for each church member consisting of the ‘tenth’ and offerings besides.
We strategically submit and manage our budget according to the purpose and tasks of the church. All weekly and special offerings come under close scrutiny, managed by multiple layers of accountability before being reinvested into ministry. We intend to invest our giving according to our vision.