Jesus gave each Christian a personal mission statement, known as the Great Commission. He said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you" (Matt. 28:19-20). Here at First Alpharetta, we take this command personally, as it was given as a command to all Christians.

The "Go!" part of our strategy focuses on equipping our members to engage in evangelism and laying the foundation for discipleship. Because evangelism is just the first step in the Great Commission, we focus on impacting lives instead of having one-time encounters. This attitude helps prepare all of us for whatever encounter the Holy Spirit provides in our daily lives.

We have a diverse congregation living in a diverse community, so we provide diverse methods for evangelism including: lifestyle evangelism, servant evangelism, local community projects, national and international short-term mission trips, as well as partnering with other groups and churches to have the most impact for Christ.

We use Jesus' statement to all Christians to help define the boundaries of our ministry. Before Jesus left the earth, He said: "You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8). In that statement, He supplied the mandate to be His witnesses (or share His message and His Truth) in our local community ("Jerusalem"), in our nation ("Judea and Samaria"), and globally ("the remotest part of the earth").

We also take defending our faith seriously, which is referred to as "apologetics." You can access the "Apologetics Toolbox" to learn more by clicking here.

For more information, email the Associate Pastor responsible for "Go!"