INTRODUCTION

Located just outside of Dublin in the heart of middle Georgia, Olivet Baptist Church was founded in 1902 to provide a local church for the Harville Community. Over the years our church has grown in both the depth and breadth of its ministry. Long known as “The Church with a Warm Welcome,” we have a deep love and concern for the people of our congregation and community. That same love and concern overflows into the churches abiding commitment to support the work of evangelism and missions at home and around the world through the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention and other opportunities that God continually provides.

Because the passion of our church goes deep beyond the practice of religion to the development of a personal and daily walk with God, we have developed the vision statement: Knowing God Every Day.

"And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we are in God because we are in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and He is eternal life" I John 5:20 (NLT).

If you are seeking to know God and develop a full and dynamic relationship with Him, we invite you to come and join us at Olivet. Together we can glorify God, overcome through prayer, study and apply His word to our lives, share the Good News, live as family and minister to people near and far.
 

PURPOSES

The ministries of our church are rooted in our God-given purposes. We believe that God has called us to fulfill (1) the Great Commandment of loving God and our neighbor (Matt. 22:37-40) and (2) the Great Commission of making disciples (Matt. 28:19-20) through six biblical purposes: Worship, Prayer, Evangelism, Discipleship, Fellowship and Ministry.

Worship: While we ultimately worship God by living our lives for him, we also express our worship to God through musical praise. The music ministry here at Olivet has a place for everyone from the very young to the young at heart. Our Children’s Choir enhances the worship services and special events with songs and hand bell selections. Our youth share their musical talents each Christmas by delivering singing Christmas cards to the shut-ins, friends, and families of our members. The adult choir leads the worship service each Sunday and blesses the congregation with special programs throughout the year. We would welcome you as a part of our music program as we seek to bring praise and glory to God through His gift of music.

Prayer: Prayer is the most important tool a Christian has to use join together with God in accomplishing his kingdom work and in resisting the opposition of the world, the flesh and the devil.
At Olivet we are committed to prayer. We meet every Wednesday night to join together in corporate prayer. We enter into God’s presence with thanksgiving and praise, we share prayer requests and we pray for those needs. We also meet on Tuesday mornings at 6:00 a.m. for early morning prayer. These prayer times are open to all. We share prayer requests and praise reports through the cards located on the backs of the pews and in the foyer and Fellowship Hall. You can drop your cards in the offering plate or in a response box.
If you would like personal prayer you may contact the Pastor or one of our deacons to make special arrangements.

Evangelism: Jesus said that he came to seek and to save the lost. He has ascended to the right hand of the Father, but he has left us here so that he can continue his work of seeking and saving the lost through us. It is our privilege and duty to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with all peoples.
The Good News is that Jesus Christ, God the Son, became human, lived a sinless life and then died in our place on the cross to pay our sin debt. He was raised from the dead so that we might have eternal life. If we will:
Confess our sins and turn from our sins to God,
Place our faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation through his death and resurrection alone,
And confess that Jesus is Lord
Then we can have the assurance that our sins are forgiven and that we have eternal life (Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-13; 1 John 5:13).
We join together with the Lord and his angels in rejoicing with everyone who turns to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

Discipleship: In Matthew 28:19-20, Christ gives what is known as the Great Commission to the Church. In it He commands believers to make disciples of all nations. Many consider sharing the Gospel the fulfillment of this commission. However, making disciples goes beyond evangelizing the lost. The commission continues by instructing us to teach new believers to observe all things that Christ commanded us. At Olivet Baptist Church, we seek to carry out our commission not only by leading others to a saving faith in Christ Jesus, but also, by helping believers grow an intimate personal relationship with the Savior.

While we seek to accomplish this through all the ministries of our church , we specifically seek to accomplish it through our Sunday School classes and Discipleship Training courses.

Our Sunday School is the heart of our ministry here at Olivet. Classes are grouped by age and through these classes we have the opportunity to build close and lasting relationships through which God can accomplish his purposes.

Our Discipleship Training courses are offered on Sunday evenings at 6:00 p.m. for all ages. The children participate in Bible study, Bible Drills and Children’s Choir. There are also youth classes and adult study courses which focus on spiritual growth through the practical application of God’s teaching to our everyday lives.


Fellowship: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Psalm 133:1. True Fellowship can only be experienced by believers in the body of Christ. Fellowship extends beyond socializing; it is the building of a unique relationship with other Christians through shared experiences, service, instruction, and focus on the common goal of spreading the Good News of Christ. We invite you to become “Partners in Christ” in the ministry of Fellowship.

Ministry: The Bible tells us that Jesus went about “doing good.” Motivated by his love we too seek to do about doing good and meeting the needs of others. Olivet is very involved in practical ministry. We focus the sharing and meeting of needs locally through our Sunday School classes. Our classes are actively involved in ministering to our members as well as our community. We also minister through Women’s Missionary Union, Brotherhood, benevolence ministry, and local ministries such as the Helping Hand, WINGS (Women in Need of God’s Shelter), Sav-A-Life, Promise of Hope, Teen Challenge, the Baptist Children’s Home and other ministries. All together we give approximately 25% of our tithes and offerings to missions and benevolence in Laurens County and around the world through the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program.
 

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Our Children’s ministry has many activities for children up through the 6th grade.

We have Sunday School each Sunday morning for all ages. On Sunday evening at 6:00 we have Children’s Choir for 30 minutes and Discipleship Training for 30 minutes.

Our children enjoy the music and fellowship part of our Sunday morning worship service, then after the Children’s Sermon they are dismissed to Children’s Church for ages 3—5 year olds and for 1st—3rd grade.

On Wednesday evening at 6:45 following our 6:00 supper our children have Mission Kids for boys and girls 3-5, RA’s for boys 1st—6th grade, and GA’s for girls 1st—6th grade.

Our children enjoy many other activities such as Vacation Bible School and other fun and ministry-related activities throughout the year.
 

YOUTH MINISTRY

Under the leadership of Tony Harmon, the Olivet Youth Group is Building a Foundation on Jesus Christ.
Our youth meet regularly on Sundays for Sunday School and Discipleship Training. They gather on Wednesday evenings for Unleashed . They have many other fun and ministry-related activities such as Sunday Night Fellowships, retreats, lock-ins, away trips, mission trips and more.