Our aspiration: We aspire to live our lives in the light of these foundational truths:

Vision:

1) Loving God (Mt 22:37-39)

2) Loving one another (Jn 13:34)

3) Make disciples (Mt 28:19&20)

Beliefs, Values, and Aspirations:

We build our foundation on the Rock (Luke 6:48) as we live in light of these truths:

1. The love of God: He is passionately in love with His people (Zeph 3:17).

2. Justification: The Father sent His beloved Son into the world to pay the full ransom for His people (John 3:16). Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has given His children holiness as a free gift. We are justified by faith, living under a covenant of unlimited grace and not by works (Heb 10:14, Eph 2:8-9). Taking communion reminds us of what Christ has done for us.

3. Relationships: God is so passionate about relationships that He died on the cross: relationship with both God and one another. During the 1440 minutes of each day do we set aside time to chat with Him? Do we prioritise building intimate relationships with one another? Are our home safe places of love, joy and peace where we honour Him and one another? We are called to love one another as Christ has loved us (Jn 13:34)

4. Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one but three persons.

5. Holy Spirit: Jesus said “I will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:18). There are two experiences of the Holy Spirit: being born again (salvation) (Jn 3:3, Ezek 36:25-27) and being baptised with the Spirit (Rom 8:15-17, Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit is very God—He has a personality, a voice, a will, can be grieved, and is our Lord (John 14:16, Acts 15:28, Acts 1:16, Rom 8:14, Eph 4:30). This can happen at the same time but not necessarily. We are to seek an ongoing filling (John 7:37-39, Eph 5:18).

The Spirit shares His divine attributes such as joy, peace, love etc (Gal 5:22-23, 1 Cor 6:19).

Jesus said:

•  “I will not leave us as orphans, I will come to you. (John 14:18)
•  “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me.” (John 15:26)
• “But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7). Nb. What could possibly be better than having Jesus physically ‘with’ us? Jesus being ‘inside’ us moving our hearts and filling us with His wonderful love and grace.
• “However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.” (John 16:13)

In John 20:22, after Jesus had died and risen from the dead, we read that He appeared to the disci-ples and ‘…He breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit….”.

But there was still more for them as in Acts 1:4&5 He ‘ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father….but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” and Acts 1:8 “…you will receive power to be My witnesses when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…to the ends of the earth”

An example of the above: Acts 8:12-17: They had become Christians but when Peter and John came, they taught them about Holy Spirit and laid hands on them and the Christians experienced a second experience – the baptism of Holy Spirit.

We believe that the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:8-10) are for today (1 Cor 14:26).

6. Bible: We treasure all Scripture as God-breathed truth (2 Tim 3:16-17).

7. Jesus: very God, laid aside His divine powers, becoming a man, was tempted in every way yet overcame. He understands our weaknesses. He bore our sin on the cross, rose on the third day, ascended to the Father, is now ruling and reigning and will return one day to judge the world, including us (Phil 2, 1 Cor 15:3-4, Ps 2).

8. Being a disciple: is someone who learns to follow God in the context of the church. Jesus said, “Make disciples… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20). Small groups are important for growing together.

9. Finance: Jesus taught, “Do not store up treasures on earth… but store up treasures in heaven” (Matt 6:19-21) and “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. Our financial decisions are made in the context of team and go toward:

1. Manpower

2. Giving to the poor through relationship

3. Church running costs.

10. The poor: both emotionally and physically, are precious to God and to us. We aim to make a difference by supporting and loving them, primarily through relationship (Gal 2:10, James 1:27, Isa 58:7-10, Matt 25:36-40).

11. Leaders: God calls and commissions servant hearted leaders (shepherd to watch over the flock – 1 Ptr 5:2). They genuinely care for and humbly serve, by encouraging, empower, equip, teach, and fast and pray for, the flock of God (Eph 2:11). Leaders give account to God (Heb 13:17), and we believe in a team-based approach, as shown in the New Testament.

12. Serving: Jesus, the Servant King, calls us to serve others. “I did not come to be served, but to serve and lay down my life…” (Matt 20:28, Mk 10:45, Jn 13:1-17).

13. Humility: Is demonstrated by each serving the other in the most menial tasks. “This is the one I highly value: whoever is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2). Humility is key to healthy relationships. Conflict is natural in relationships, but we aim to resolve these with humility, avoiding division, gossip, and slander. Conflicts are an opportunity to go deeper in understanding one another. Unity is a blessing that comes from humility and we work at preserving the unity of the Spirit (Eph 4:3, Mat 18:15, Psalm 133:1).

14. Repentance: When God is right and we are wrong, we change, because sin destroys (Rom 3:23, Matt 3:8, Rom 12:1-2, 2 Cor 7:10). Repentance by definition is a combination of deep sorrow which leads to a change in our thoughts and actions. It is the gateway to blessing, as God forgives, washes us, and fills us with His power and love. We acknowledge the wrath of God against sin and strive to live lives of repentance (Mat 5:3-10, Ezek 16:49, Lk 11:4, Matt 6:15). The command to repent, believe and be baptised is the beginning of our journey with God (Mt 25:19&20, Acts 2:38).

15. Being Set Apart from the world’s values: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14). There are simply two different worlds (Eph 2:1-8) with totally different values. Take an example: “Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13).

We have been saved from the world’s values and are called to live according to the kingdom of light, transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:1-2). We know that ‘flirting with the world and its values

is hostility toward God’ (James 4:4) and that ‘…the whole world lies in the power of the evil one’ (1 John 5:19)

16. Judging: For a healthy church, like a human body, it is vital that an immunity system is working well. Without a good immune system what is bad will come in and infect and damage a body, including His church.

When not to:

Jesus said in Mathew 7:1 & 2 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Jesus is encouraging us not to take His place… for as it says in James 4:12 ‘There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbour?’

We have no right to try and control anyone just because of our own set of expectations. We ourselves are also all growing in God. God expresses great grace toward us every day as ‘He does not treat us as our sins deserve’ (Ps 103:10).

We were all made by God and He alone knows us and our lives and therefore we are told in Romans 14:4 ‘Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.’ And then again in verse 10-13 of the same chapter ‘Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore, let us stop judging one another.’

As we all know, it’s easy to find fault. If loving one another was so easy it would not be a command. (Jn 13:34). So, we need to strive to live at peace with one another (Rom 12:18) for love covers a multitude of sin (1 Ptr 4:7-11).

When and how to?

Mathew 18:15-19 when a brother or sister sins against you Jesus gives a platform to bring resolution.

In Luke 17:3 Jesus also tells us to “watch ourselves” and “If your brother sins, rebuke him and if he repents forgive him”

In Mathew 7:3-5 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” So, Jesus says for each of us to make sure our lives are firstly right, otherwise it affects our own judgment and how you see things.

Jesus is not saying that we should avoid speaking into one another’s lives when we see issues that are wrong. Directly the opposite: “How can you say to your brother “Let me take the speck out of your eye”.

If we love one another and know one another, then this is a natural outworking in our relationships.

As it is written, ‘Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” (Pr 27:6)

So, we are encouraged to resolve issues of sin; gently, prayerfully, knowing that we also have been forgiven a

mountain of sin and therefore need to be gracious and loving.

17. Faith: “Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6). We live by trusting in God’s Word, knowing that “the righteous will live by faith” (Rom 1:17).

18. Commitment: We believe in showing up to meetings and being present for one another because we are a body (Acts 2:38-47, 1 Cor 12:12, Rom 12:4&5, Heb 10:25).

19. Outreach: We are called to demonstrate unconditional love to others. This includes social events, inviting people, being led by the Spirit, and sharing the love of Christ with the lost. Hell is an eternal reality (Mt 28:18-20, Mt 25:31-46).

We welcome feedback and are happy to clarify any points.