Our Values
God
We believe in God the Father, who is creator of all. We place primary value on God our loving Heavenly Father who has uniquely revealed Himself in His only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and who is known and enjoyed in His Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. We thus believe in one God who exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus
We believe in God the Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who came to this earth as our Saviour. He lived a perfect sinless life, died on the cross and rose from the dead as the basis of our salvation. On the cross our Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself to pay for the sins of the world and he thus obtained our full salvation. The cross is the greatest expression of God’s love; and on the cross and in the resurrection, Jesus decisively conquered the powers of evil. The risen and ascended Christ, who now reigns in glory and is taking back all control over creation, will return in power and glory at the end of the age.
The Holy Spirit
We believe in God the Holy Spirit, the Lord who is giver of new life to all who repent and believe in Jesus. We seek His presence, fruit, power and gifts. We encourage our members to keep in step with the Holy Spirit and to continue receiving more and more from Him.
The Bible
We believe that the Bible is God’s inspired, authoritative and true Word. As God’s Word written, the Bible has authority over human reason and tradition. The Bible is our rule of faith and conduct. What we believe and how we live must be based on what it teaches, requires and promises. We emphasise the preaching and teaching of Scripture and encourage our members to read, study, interpret, believe and obey the Bible.
Worship
We value worship as the offering of our love and devotion, praise and gratitude to God. We encourage a sacrificial lifestyle of worship. In our services, we value established ways of worshipping God and we also seek to be led into emerging ways of doing worship. Holy Communion is an important part of our Sunday worship.
The Church
We value the church as the family of God’s people, a community of love, care and warmth. We encourage our members to share in fellowship and to support one another, especially those in need. We understand baptism to be the sign of church membership and more.
Every-Member Ministry
We value every-member ministry and encourage all our members to seek and develop their gifts; to manifest spiritual gifts given situationally by the Holy Spirit; and to become active in faith and in the service of God in a wide variety of ways.
Mission
We value mission, which involves both evangelism (helping people find the way to heaven through faith in Jesus Christ) and social responsibility (helping to make this earth a more heavenly place under the re-established control of God in Christ).
Discipleship
We value discipleship and are committed to helping all our members become more and more like Jesus. This happens as we learn what the Bible requires of us, and as we allow the Holy Spirit to keep on working in our lives, changing us, producing his fruit in us, and giving us the desire and energy to obey God’s Word. And it also happens as we continue to play our part and make every effort to “work out” what God is working in us.
Eternal Life
We value eternal life and continue to thank God that He “so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Eternal life means the life of the age to come. We are people who live, not just for this world, but who have been changed and have begun to taste the world of the future; a new creation under the restored full control of God in Christ. And so:
- We wait for heaven, where Jesus is,
- We witness to help others find their way to heaven through faith in Jesus, and
- We work and pray to make this earth a bit more like heaven, where God is fully in control