Who We Are

EMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH… WHO ARE WE?

 

As Emmanuel Baptist Church of Southeast Washington, DC, we are a family (fellowship) of believers sharing a common commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are growing toward Christian maturity with worship, proclamation, witness, nurture, education and ministry to the world.  We do this so that God’s purpose may be achieved in us (our local fellowship), in the community (including the wider faith community) and in the world.  The Spirit of the Lord is upon us because He has anointed us to preach good news to the poor.  He sends us to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Ministry calls us to positive action as we follow Jesus’ example.

 

BIBLICAL BASIS

The Church is the repository of God’s redeeming grace because Jesus sends the Church to continue that which the Father sent Him to do (Matthew 28:19, 20; John 20:21). To do this, the anointing of the Holy Spirit is a necessary power prerequisite (Acts 1:8). Power, which can be seen, is manifested in both faith and works (deeds) (Acts 4:13; Romans 1:17, 4:23-25; James 2:18-25). Thus, the Church must be about bringing people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ whereby they accept Him as Savior and Lord of their lives (evangelism) and growing them up through nurture ensuring continuing Lordship of lives (stewardship) until all attain the full measure of grace (Ephesians 4:11-13). The Church thus made up of “salt and light” becomes God’s transforming agent (Matthew 5:13-16; Romans 12:1, 2).

 

BIBLICAL PATTERN OF A HEALTHY CHURCH

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…” Ephesians 4:11-12 (NKJV)

 

A healthy church is a church where each person in the Body is learning to function as a healthy part of the Body. In order for a church to be healthy and function effectively, the best time to develop a healthy Body is right from the beginning. The health of a church is determined by the maturity of the leadership and an understanding by that leadership of how they build a healthy body.