Our God is a missionary God. Jesus, who is God the Son, left heaven to come and rescue us from our sin. He came that we might have life. After he had finished the work he came to accomplish, he said:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Matthew 28:18-20

Christians know this passage as the Great Commission. We are to make disciples of all nations (i.e., of all the different ethnic people groups around the world). This commission was not only given to the first disciples, but it is given to us as well.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus said:

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

We are to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Roughly speaking, this means we are to witnesses for Christ locally (in the communities and towns in which we live), regionally (in the region in which we live), and internationally (to the ends of the earth).

At Potomac Heights Baptist Church, we seek to faithfully live out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8) by intentionally targeting these areas of influence.

Our Jerusalem consists of Southern Maryland. Within Southern Maryland we are active in proclaiming the name of Christ. We do so individually through our work places and through our social contacts, and we do so through our church by promoting and participating in activities such as Vacation Bible School, Awesome Autumn, and NETS.

Regionally we participate in spreading God's good news by encouraging our members to take the message of Christ wherever they go. Some of this is also done through short-term trips (for example, our youth group typically takes a week-long regional mission trip each year).

Internationally PHBC has been active in going to many countries to share the name of Christ (for example, Bolivia, Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, Rwanda, Jordan). We are currently in a relationship with missionaries in South Asia, and we are exploring a partnership with missionaries in Germany.

On the second Sunday in every December we take a special offering. We call this offering our "March to the Manger for Missions." The majority of the monies raised on that day go to support the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering of the International Mission Board. Beginning in 2015 a smaller portion has gone to The Water Project to provide clean, drinkable water to people living in remote locations. Here is a video of the village that received a water-well from our 2015 offering.

If you would like to know more about getting involved in missions at any level, please contact Pastor Brian Sandifer.