Our 3 Priorities
Our fundamental purpose is to be and to make radical, faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus. Currently we focus on three priorities based on our intention to establish a firm foundation of equipping and support so that we are ready to respond as the Lord leads. As very useful background to our thinking, we recommend everyone read this article by J.I. Packer on the evangelical church: A Stunted Ecclesiology.
OUR THREE PRIORITIES
1. Discipleship (Matt. 28:18-20)
We seek to “make disciples” not just converts (though that’s important). It’s a lifelong process of undoing the influences of acculturation and ingrained sinful habits of thought and deed while living in the same cultural and life context as before. We seek to give people a vision of who God is and how He is at work in the world, and therefore how we should thinkand be as people redeemed by His Son and renewed and transformed by His Spirit. As a community of God’s people (the church), we take seriously our responsibility to teach people to live Christianly, to nurture growth in Christlikeness, to engage with the community around us, and to speak God’s truth in love. We understand discipleship as equipping, enabling and encouraging radically new life in Christ.
2. Outreach (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:18-20)
We are entrusted with the responsibility of taking the message of reconciliation between God and humanity to the world. This message is not only (though it includes) verbal passing on of information; it is very importantly about living a new life in Christ and offering this to others out of love for them. A key part of making and being disciples is that we live our new life in the power of the Holy Spirit and experience the fruit of His presence in our lives. As we take the step of boldly passing on what we know and experience, God is not only at work in those we speak to, but He is also at work in us. In our closed and alienated cultural setting this responsibility for outreach is also a call to boldness and prayer.
3. Body Life —Community (Rom 12:3-8; 1 John 2:10-11)
The centrality of the Body of Christ for nurturing all God’s people and bringing them to maturity in Christ has been lost in many churches, but there is a fundamental contradiction in thinking that we can be “in” Christ yet not “in” His Body (the Church). We strive to recover this core part of Christian life and growth. We cannot be God’s agents of reconciliation when we are alienated from one another. Loners are simply not disciples. We need each others’ help, encouragement and support, both to walk with God and to reach out to others. We most clearly display our new life through loving one another. Therefore, we work hard at undoing the self-absorption, self-sufficiency, self-indulgence, and self-centredness that is so rife in the culture around us and, unfortunately, in the church at large.
Last Updated Apr-11-08