Our Mission
Westwood’s mission is given to us from the Great Commission Jesus gave to all who would follow him:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV).
Making disciples is the agenda that Jesus has commanded the Church to pursue, and every follower of Christ is to make this the supreme agenda of their lives as they go. This agenda, therefore, is what shapes our purpose at Westwood.
Our Purpose
Westwood’s purpose not only declares what we desire to do, but also what must happen in the individual lives of our members in order for it to come to fruition. It outlines how the Spirit transforms each follower of Christ from the head to the heart to the feet in order to produce authentic new life that lives out God’s agenda in our world. This purpose is an outline of what inward transformation flowing to the outward expression of life should look like in the life of the one who is truly in Christ.
Westwood’s purpose is to see all people become…
…Grounded in Christ…
Disciples are learners. They are students. One cannot come to truly treasure Jesus without also treasuring Truth. Being grounded in Christ begins in the knowledge of salvation in Christ alone. One becomes more grounded as he or she grows into maturity, into Christ, through the consistent study of God’s Word. Believers need to not only be faithfully taught the Word of God, but also equipped to faithfully study the Scriptures for themselves.
…Growing Together in the Word…
The book of 1 Peter speaks of individual followers of Christ as ‘living stones’ that are ‘being built up as a spiritual house’ (1 Peter 2:5). God has not only saved us in Christ, but he has joined us with his Body! And that is how he intends for us to grow…together. We pursue him together. We grow in maturity together. At Westwood we understand the importance of our members speaking the Word into each other’s lives within the context of community.
…Going for God’s Glory.
We are grounded and we grow together as we pursue the mission of God! Going doesn’t begin when we get on an airplane to travel to some exotic location around the world on a mission trip. Going begins each and every day, right where God has sovereignly placed us! It begins in our homes, in our workplaces, in our schools, and within the sphere of influence we already have. In the Great Commission, Jesus commands all of us to make disciples, ‘as we are going’ (Matthew 28:19). This is the natural and authentic outflow of growing as a disciple…to go and make disciples. We do that by speaking the Word of God into the lives of others in prayerful dependence on the Spirit and through perseverance–beginning at home, in our communities, and to the ends of the earth–all for his glory!