Philosophy of Ministry

Kettle Moraine Baptist Church exists to glorify God by praising and exhibiting His unique excellence. (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14; 3:20-21). 

This statement provides Scriptural guideposts and checkpoints to aid us in arriving at this God-intended destination.

  • We believe in practicing the Headship of Jesus Christ (Mt. 16:18; Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:15).

Christ must be given the most elevated position in the body and every other member of the body must be subject to His direction.  The gifts, longevity, wealth, charisma, influence, etc. of any member do not grant the right to act as if he or she is the head.

  • We believe we will know the mind of Christ by giving careful attention to His authoritative Word (2 Timothy 3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:19-21).

Devotional Bible reading and study time must be a priority of our personal lives, family Bible time must be a non-negotiable activity of our families, and corporate Bible study must be a priority of our assembly.  When we know the mind of Christ, by the grace of God we will submit to it, even in the face of polls, surveys, popular opinions, and pragmatic considerations.

  • We believe that the main focus of Lord’s Day services should be the Word of God through pastoral preaching (1 Tim. 4:13-16; 5:17; 2 Tim. 4:2).

Corporate prayer, scripture reading, congregational and special music, testimonies, and practice of scriptural ordinances all have a place in contributing to the edification of God’s people, but the central activity of church services, according to the New Testament precedent, is the preaching of the Word.

  • We believe assembling ourselves for reverent God centered worship (John 4:23-24, 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, Hebrews 12:28).

Because our God is uniquely excellent we strive to accommodate our worship style to His character and not to man’s fleshly desires.  We desire that the atmosphere would be pervaded with love that attracts, but also with holiness that may alarm those in sin.  It is not our desire to make our atmosphere comfortable to men in sin but to bring men in sin to repentance to the glory of God.

  • We believe in practicing biblical separation in lifestyle and in corporate associations (1 Peter 1: 14-16; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 6: 14-18; Romans 16:17).

God commands His people to be holy in all aspects of lifestyle.  In order to do so believers must combat the pressure to be conformed to worldliness.  Erecting barriers of separation through the establishment of standards for living is not an end in itself.  It is designed to prevent being entangled with the world so as to be free to please Him who hath chosen us to be soldiers (2 Timothy 2:4).

Because the commands to separate from false teaching are so clear and repeated, believers must apply the commands to separate from brothers walking disorderly to fellow believers whose compromise is distorting the gospel.  Consequently we do not participate in any form of ecumenical evangelism or fellowship or engage in corporate fellowship with other believers who do.

  • We believe that every believer should aggressively seek to seize and create
    opportunities to speak the gospel     (John 3,4; Acts 1:8, 20:20-21, 25-27).

Witnessing is a responsibility given to every believer and one evidence of a Spirit-filled believer.  Along with special occasions and a variety of appropriate methods we do strive to periodically go to every home in the primary sphere of the harvest field in which the Lord has placed us.

  • We believe that every believer ought to be actively involved in discipleship ministry (Matthew 28:19-20).

Discipleship is helping another believer make biblical change toward Christ-likeness.  Within this broad definition, special care must be given to the reproduction of leadership (2 Timothy 2:2).

  • We believe that a special target of our evangelism and discipleship must be God-honoring marriages that bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 5:22-6:4; Psalm 127:3-5, Malachi 2:15).

Attention given to our families will not be for the primary intent of enjoying a good life together but to be a special instrument to model and develop Christ-likeness and train servants that will be thrust out to reach ongoing generations to the glory of God.

  • We believe in every-member ministry and accountability (Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 16:2, Hebrews 10:24-25).

The continuing gifts of a pastor/teacher and evangelist are given to the end that the saints may be equipped to do the work of the ministry.  Every believer has been given spiritual gifts to minister to and with the rest of the body of Christ, consequently we attempt to organize the ministry in such a way as to give members the opportunity to serve as their character, credibility, gifts, and abilities direct.

  • We believe that prayer will be an all-encompassing activity of a church that whole-heartedly and effectively labors to glorify God. (Ephesians 6:18-19; Colossians 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2)

 

  • We believe that we ought to prayerfully seek to be individually and corporately involved in seeing all of the ideals stated here reproduced in likeminded churches around the world through aggressive involvement in missions ministries at home and abroad (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:47, Acts 1:8, 13-14).