VISION FOR CEDAR FALLS BAPTIST CHURCH 2024

Mission Statement: Cedar Falls Baptist Church exists to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ in everything we do, in order to equip the believer, so they can evangelize THIS community, and expand His Kingdom in our backyard and beyond according to God's Word.

To ensure that we are exalting the Lord Jesus Christ in EVERYTHING that we are doing at Cedar Falls, we will always ask the following question: DOES THIS EXALT THE LORD? If it does, then we move forward. If not, we will not do it.

Priorities moving forward in 2024 and boyond

     1. To equip the believer in this church. Our goal as a church is to give each person every opportunity to grow in their walk with the Lord. This will be accomplished through providing the necessary tools to support growth. These tools will include but are not limited to; access to individual and group Bible study material through RightNow Media, Small Group meetings, books and literature through the church, and special classes provided by outside resources. Equipping the believers will also be accomplished through our Sunday School Program, Sunday Morning Worship, and Wednesday Night Bible Study. The oversight of equipping the believers will fall under the direction of the Associate Pastor of Discipleship, Outreach, and Evangelism. In 2024, Cedar Falls will implement a more intense and intentional spiritual growth program designed for both the individual and the church body.

     2. Evangelize this community. As a church, as well as Christians, we are commanded by Jesus Christ to GO into the world and proclaim the good news of the Gospel! Cedar Falls will continue to take this command seriously. Beginning in our backyard, that is the King's Grant community as well as the community across the street (Carver Falls Rd). Through active outreach efforts including but not limited to; making contact with each household, praying for the individuals of the household, inviting the household to attend service and other church events, and following up with the household. As this is a huge undertaking for the church, we will be implementing a new department within the church. The Evangelism Department will be headed up by our Associate Pastor of Discipleship, Outreach, and Evangelism, who will be responsible for the recruiting, training, and the leading of the members in our evangelism efforts. In 2024, our efforts will be a more intentional focus on non-believers and bringing them to Christ. We will continue to evangelize believers and provide them with the opportunity to come grow and worship with us.

     3. Expanding HIS Kingdom. Through the efforts of our Evangelism Department as well as individual church members, it is our goal to continue to expand the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To bring people face to face with Jesus Christ and ultimately into our family of believers at Cedar Falls. While it is important not to get caught up in numbers, it is imperative for us to set goals in order to achieve what God is calling us to do. Again, we have set goals for each of our major departments to sho progress in growing His Kingdom at Cedar Falls. In 2024, we will continue to strive to achieve the goals set forth and continue the upward trends set over the last two years.

     4. Taking better care of the things God has blessed us with. God has richly blessed us here at Cedar Falls over the years. In response to His blessings, we as a church family need to show reverence to these blessings by taking better care of the following: the building we use, the grounds we see, and the people we love. This will be accomplished by, but not limited to the following: BUILDING - This is God's House and we need to treat it as such. we ask Jesus to be here with us, every time we meet, and as such, we should take care of the building as if He was physically showing up. Taking the initiative to clean and fix things that need to be done, instead of waiting for someone else to do it. In 2024, we will have a renewed emphasis on keeping God's house beautiful. As we continue with current renovations in our children's Educational Wing, we will aslo begin the painting and minor repairs needed throughout the entire church building. GROUNDS - The grounds around Cedar Falls are beautiful, as we walk out of church and look around, we see God's creation that He has put us in charge of taking care of. This year, as we celebrate our 150 years of exalting the Lord, this will include an intentional effort to cleanup and maintain the grounds around the church and ballfield area. This will include monthly work projects - removing the undergrowth in our tree line, completing the walking trail, and other activities to enhance what Cedar Falls has to offer to its people and the community. PEOPLE - the most valuable blessing that God has given us is the people. It is our responsibility to ensure that a healthy and safe environment is available to everyone that comes through our doors. In 2024, we will be upgrading and enhancing our security program which will include but not be limited to; new check-in/check-out system for our children. This will include the Nursery, Sunday School, Children's Church, and Youth Events. We will continue to maintain a high level of awareness during the work week of anyone coming into or out of the building through the Visitor's Log in the church office. We will have a more visible security team during all events held at Cedar Falls. We will continue to evaluate and make the necessary adjustments to our current security protocol to ensure the safety of our members and visitors.

As we move forward into the future here at Cedar Falls, let us look with great excitement and anticipation of what God is doing and will continue to do here. While it is important for us to honor our past, we must always be looking to God for guidance and what He has planned for us in the future. The future at Cedar Falls continues to be bright, bringing hope to this community, and being a beacon for Jesus Christ and His bride, the church.