Our Mission
At First Baptist Owasso we are leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ.
Our Core Values
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Matthew 9:36-38
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.”
John 4:34-36
The Core Values of a church answer the “why?” behind what we do. Because we are diverse people we all have slightly different values with regard to how we go about serving Christ. Yet certain common values unify our efforts and define our distinctives. We can summarize our core values using the following 11 statements:
CORE VALUE 1:
We believe the Bible is both God’s love letter to us and His instruction manual for life.
Our lives and ministry will be guided by the teaching of Scripture. The Bible is infallible, perfect, and without error. The anointed teaching of Scripture is the catalyst for transformation in a person’s life and in the church. Isaiah 40:8; 2 Timothy 2:15-16, 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 119:105.
CORE VALUE 2:
We believe the church should be culturally relevant while remaining doctrinally pure so that truth is communicated in such a way it grips a life for Christ.
This includes using the Arts, printed/visual/audio material that relates the timeless truths of Scripture to the needs of the culture surrounding us. God leads us to engage and penetrate the culture to the end that lives are rescued from sin and transformed by Christ. The ripple effect of this will make a difference in homes, the marketplace, schools, and government. James 1:23-25; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23; Malachi 1:6-14; Proverbs 27:17; Colossians 3:17; Matthew 5:15-17.
CORE VALUE 3:
We believe lost people matter to God and are hopeless without Him; therefore lost people matter to His church.
This includes training every Christ-follower to share Christ, develop relationships with the lost, understand the process of evangelism, and balancing ministry to give a clear and compelling presentation of the gospel. Luke 5:30-32; Luke 15; Matthew 18:14, 28:19-20; Acts 4:12
CORE VALUE 4:
We believe every member should commit to a lifestyle of spiritual growth with honest accountability.
Genuine love for God is the first priority. Every Christ-follower should yearn for continual spiritual growth and personally devote themselves to Bible Study, prayer, and service. Therefore discipleship through Sunday School, small groups, and open honesty is critical to maturing in Christ. Mark 12:29-31; Acts 2:44-47; 1 Peter 2:2; 1 Timothy 4:7-8; Proverbs 27:17.
CORE VALUE 5:
We believe in every member living in moral, physical, spiritual, relational, and financial purity.
A river is purest at its source. Therefore the leadership will model purity. Not perfection, but purity. Purity manifests itself in attitude, speech, dress, conduct, and ways of interacting. We practice gratefully returning at least a full tithe (10%) to God through His church. Christ-followers should manifest the same standards they see in leaders since they are Biblical and are best for anyone. 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Hebrews 13:4-6; Matthew 5:27-29; Ephesians 5:4, 33; 1 Corinthians 4:16-17; Malachi 3:8-10; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Matthew 23:23
CORE VALUE 6:
We believe that every member is a minister who has been given gifts by God to be discovered, developed and deployed.
We are a gift-based, purpose driven, volunteer empowering church. Each Christ-follower will find their greatest joy and fulfillment when serving in their gifts and passion. Every Christ-follower is created for ministry, gifted for ministry, and needed for ministry. We believe 100% involvement of every physically qualified member is the norm. The concepts of unity, servant-hood, accountability, unselfishness, and generosity pervade our ministry. Romans 12:1-18; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, Psalm 133:1; Ephesians 4.
CORE VALUE 7:
We believe genuine love and caring relationships should permeate every aspect of church and family life.
Refusing to give audience to a spirit of complaining, we will instead be courageous in solving all problems in a way that honors God, builds character, and encourages full devotion to Christ and His church. It is sub-Christian to point out a problem without looking for God’s solution to redeeming the situation. We value healthy relationships by protecting the unity of the Spirit in our church. When needed, we gently, firmly and clearly “correct back to the heart.” Our ministry is purpose driven in an atmosphere of love and accomplished in teams and relationship building. James 1:2-3; 1 Corinthians 13; Nehemiah 3; Luke 10:1; John 13:34-45; Romans 16:7; Ephesians 4:3; 1 Peter 3:8-9; Matthew 10:41-43; 18:15-17.
CORE VALUE 8:
We believe excellence honors God and inspires people.
All things must be done with excellence, for Jesus is worthy of nothing less! Consistent evaluation and an eagerness to improve will permeate every life and ministry. Mediocrity is a sin. We believe in honing the organizational structure of the church in such a way that ministry is maximized and bureaucracy is minimized. We are stewards of time, money, resources, and opportunities. Colossians 3:17; Malachi 1:6-14; Proverbs 27:17; John 3:16; Ephesians 3:20; John 6:11-14.
CORE VALUE 9:
We believe churches should be led by those with leadership gifts.
We believe in identifying and training emerging leaders who are fully committed to Christ and who reach their generation and culture with the gospel. This includes the concepts of empowerment, servant leadership, strategic focus, and intentionality. God is raising up Christians who will take the baton of Godly character, authentic faith, and servant-hearted leadership into the next generation. FBCO is a mission base whereby we fulfill the purposes of God beginning here to the ends of the earth. Nehemiah 1-2; Romans 12:8; Acts 6:2-5; Psalm 78:6-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Timothy 3:1; 2 Timothy 2:2; Matthew 16:13-19, 28:19-20.
CORE VALUE 10:
We believe in submitting to Biblical authority.
The Senior Pastor is the God-anointed and appointed human leader of the church. This involves following the Senior Pastor’s leadership and implementing the vision in effective, creative and Scriptural ways. In the Bible God raised up leaders like Moses, David, Paul, Peter, and John as point leaders. God still raises up “point man” leaders to shepherd the church today. Oversight is given to spiritual leaders who demonstrate integrity and excellence. Ministerial staff are the Equipping Pastors of the church and every member is a minister. God also supplied supportive leaders like Joshua, Aaron, Silas, Mark, and Barnabbas as equippers. Honest dialogue to capture, refine, and apply the vision is encouraged. Everyone is accountable and loyalty is vital. Hebrews 13:7,17; Titus 1:5-9; 2 Timothy 4:1-8; Acts 6:1-7; Joshua 1:2-9.
CORE VALUE 11:
We believe that the pursuit of full devotion to Christ and His cause is normal for every follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This includes the stewardship of all resources (time, money, ministry, physical and relational health), servant-hood, and the pursuit of Kingdom goals. We are to cultivate passion for God and compassion for people. Each member shall take the initiative to steward their life and ministry. We are open to correction leading to improvement. Mentoring is a self initiated ministry of improvement and “shadowing” is actively learning from others. All things must be done with excellence, for Jesus is worthy of nothing less! 99% devotion to Christ is sub-Christian. Consistent evaluation and an eagerness to improve will permeate our lives. Full devotion demands knowing and applying Scriptures and joining God where He is already at work. 1 Kings 11:4; Philippians 2:1-11; 2 Corinthians 8:7; 2 Samuel 7:18-29; Philippians 4:11-13; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 6:33; James 1:19-26.; Matthew 10:37-39; Luke 7:6-8.
The Result We Want to See When We Stand Before Jesus:
We will see through the ministries and members of FBCO that “Irreligious people became fully devoted followers of Christ”. In short, atheists were transformed into missionaries by the power of God!
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’”
Matthew 25:21
