Beliefs - Our Vision
The teaching on this page assumes the reader has been a born-again Christian for some time and knows and understands the background issues. If you're new or still investigating the Christian faith we suggest you first examine "The Gospel" and "Apologetics" sections.
TO LOVE GOD AND HIS PEOPLE
Isaiah 43:7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him."
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light
We have been created for a purpose. This is to glorify God and give praise and worship to Him.
A PROVOCATIVE STATEMENT:
A church centred on evangelism is seriously misguided. But church that isn't overflowing with evangelism is half dead!
A church that puts healing and deliverance as its main activity is also misguided. But church that sees very little healing and does not see its people becoming freer every day is also half dead!
MAINTAINING OUR FIRST LOVE
I've made these strong statements because we believe the church needs to constantly refocus itself on the purpose for its existence. We are always losing our first love and need to maintain a spirit of confession and repentance.
Revelation 2:3-5 says: "You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."
CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR FIRST LOVE
What characterises our first love? It's clearly not that we "have persevered and have patience, and have laboured for His name’s sake and have not become weary," because it says this in the previous verse.
The key to the answer is found where the first 3000 were converted in Acts 2. It is that amazing desire to BE with God and His people! To be with one accord praising God in the church, to listen to His Word being preached, to invite one another for meals, to share our possessions. God adds to such a church. That's what real love is! When you love someone, you want to be with them. Anything else is not real love at all.
The solution is also given here: simply repent! Start doing the first works again.
MAIN CHURCH ACTIVITIES BASED ON OUR VISION:
MEETINGS
Our main activity is therefore to praise and worship God in the congregation of the saints. It was for this we were created. Regular church gatherings are our priority, and we try to ensure that nothing stands in their way.
PREACHING
Expounding the Bible is an essential part of the meeting. This allows each individual to meditate on God's word, letting it burn in their heart. Like gold or silver refined in a crucible, the Word of God heats us up, burns up all impurity and then builds into us faith, strength, love and hope. Listened to prayerfully, it also causes us to grow in wisdom.
FASTING TOGETHER AND ALONE
There are over 56 references to fasting in the Bible. Without consistent fasting I believe it is impossible to maintain and develop a close walk with God. Over 200,000,000 Christians today are thought to be living under some sort of persecution or deprivation simply because they choose to be believers. In the West, we run the risk of being left well behind if we don't seek to maintain a sharp edge to our faith. Fasting is the best and most Biblical way of doing this
FEASTING TOGETHER
Fasting without feasting produces a sad, individualistic and unbalanced church. Throughout the Bible a major activity of God's people is to share a banquet together. The Bible contains over 140 references to feasts. Jesus also announces that when He returns, the first thing that will happen after the rapture is that we will be invited to a meal! More than this, he will actually wait on us Himself! Frequent "breaking bread" together causes our love for one another to grow daily.
FINALLY
We believe in church planting, beginning with small seeds planted in each and every village and town. Jesus went about the villages in a circuit. One of the most distressing phenomena is that so many Christians travel for miles and miles to go to the big city church. God has purposely put us where we are. By all means we should seek out good strong churches with good teaching, praise and worship, but our main mission field is where we live! Let's start by meeting together with our household. Where two or three are gathered together, there is the seed of the church. A word of warning - don't act independently, but put yourself under the covering of a good strong church. If you are already travelling a long way to church, don’t change church, but pray about a branch of your church being established in your village or town.