Vision
Southside’s Vision can be broken down into three parts:
- We want to Be Missionaries - We want to be a sent people into the world to bring the lost to know Christ. We are a church on a mission to our neighborhood, city, and the world. (read more)
- We want to Show Mercy - We are to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those around us. We want our church to be known as a place people can come and find hope – no matter who they are or what their past is. (read more)
- We want to Bring Transformation – We want to be a place where lives can be changed through God’s Spirit. A change that is so comprehensive, it makes different all facets of life and puts Jesus Christ at the center. (read more)
1. We want to be a church of Missionaries
From the very beginning of time, God has been a God of mission. When sin entered the world for the first time, God stopped resting and began pursuing. He started on a mission to bring back his people to himself. He set out to restore the earth to its rightful place. Everyone who has been rescued by God has now joined the force. So the church is not a group of adherents but it is a family of missionaries! A force configured to be unleashed into the world focused on the goal of God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven. This is the desire of Southside! To not be consumers wanting spiritual services or pew-sitters who want to keep the status quo. But a family, led by God’s Spirit, ready to spread out into the neighborhood and south Forth Worth bringing God’s kingdom into the world. We want to follow the pattern of God and the model of Jesus and be pursuers, people who are constantly calling, rescuing, and wooing those who are oppressed and lost to come find rest in God. Ultimately, the dream of God’s mission is for the whole world – every nation, every tribe, and every tongue – to worship Him. (Rev. 7:9). At Southside, we seek to be a part in accomplishing that dream! (back to top)
2. We want to be a church of Mercy
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, one consistent description of God is full of mercy. It is the first description God gives himself in Ex. 34:6. Paul uses the phrase “Father of mercies” in his doxology (2 Cor. 1:3). When God’s Son walked among us, his ministry was literally filled with mercy. He saw the crowds and had mercy on them (Mt. 9:36). He did miracles, fed the multitudes, and raised the dead all because of mercy. It drove his ministry. It was the beginning of his mission. Most notably, God’s mercy is demonstrated in His desire to send His Son to die for us on the cross. The greatest act of mercy ever seen! In order to follow our God’s footsteps, mercy must be a central component of Southside if it is to be a true church of Christ!
What this means is developing a feeling of empathy and care towards other people. It means seeing in others what we once were without the gospel. It means having a heart of compassion that wants to help others. It means extending loving hands of forgiveness to prostitutes, homosexuals, AIDS victims, and the materialistic wealthy. Simply put, it means “being Jesus” to others by being “His hands and His feet.” At Southside that is what we want to be – a church that cares, helps, extends, forgives, and loves anyone that is in need. (back to top)
3. We are to be a church that is Transforming Lives
God’s desire for his people has never been for them to stay where they are. He has always had a greater goal. In fact, ever since sin entered the world, his ultimate goal has been not to leave the world as it is, but to change it. As Jesus went about interacting with people, he did not sell them some goods or just give a hand out. He wanted to change their life! He wanted to reorient the priorities of a person’s life around a different set of values.
That is the point of God’s Spirit within us: to start this remodeling process. It goes from the inside-out. A process that takes our old values, attitudes, and thinking and makes them into new ones. That is the call of the Great Commission as well. It is not to “Go and baptize.” It is “Go and make disciples (Mt. 28:19-20).” Disciples are learners, followers who have aligned themselves behind a Master. They have made the commitment not only to have their sins forgiven (although that is a part of the deal!), but to learn how to be like someone named Jesus. At Southside we want to be a church that helping that process along.
This transformation process is holistic in nature. It affects body and soul, physical and spiritual. It is rebuilding lives around the center of Jesus Christ. Transformation means offering Bible studies and job training. It is giving food and the Bread of Life. It is providing physical health care and spiritual health care. It is providing the means for one to live, not as a middle-class American, but as a faithful Christian in a stable, dignified manner. At Southside we want to be a church that offers people a new way of life by giving physical help they need and the spiritual rebirth they crave. (back to top)
