Gospel-Centered +

To be gospel-centered means that we hold to a ministry philosophy that puts the gospel message at the centre of all ministry in the church, both for non-Christians and Christians. Non-Christians are urged to enter the Kingdom by turning from sin and putting faith in Christ. Christians are urged to grow in the Kingdom (sanctification) by turning from sin and putting faith in Christ in the specific areas of their lives where they are failing to believe the gospel. Furthermore, Christians are urged to think through all aspects of life and ministry through the lens of the gospel (ie: adopting it as a worldview) and to live out the implications of doing so.

We have a reformed soteriology, which means in sum that “God saves sinners”. God acts sovereignly to save sinners from first to last. We believe in justification by faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone, revealed by the scriptures alone, to the glory of God alone.

This gospel-centredness therefore shapes how we structure our worship services, how we counsel people, how we understand the central message of the bible, how we preach the bible and how we see sanctification working out in the lives of God’s people.

Biblical Leadership +

Churches are led by a plurality of male elders who are biblically qualified according to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Elders are responsible for shepherding the flock, guarding the doctrine of the church, and governing of the church. Whilst eldership teams have a leader, this leader does not have institutional authority over the other elders, but rather exercises a leadership role in that team. Churches within the family of churches are free to be elder-lead churches or elder-ruled churches, or a combination of the two. We adopt a complementarian view of men and women, meaning that men and woman are created equally in the eyes of God, and yet play distinct, complementing roles within the safety of both the Christian home and church. This does not mean that men and women operate in isolation from each other, as that would not be complementary: they work together as members of the same team, helping one another to the glory of God. Exactly how this complementarianism is worked out in each local church is up to the elders of each church. The only absolute requirement is biblically qualified male eldership.

Meaningful Membership +

Elders are accountable to God for shepherding the flock, which implies that both the elders and the flock know who the members of the church are through some process. Members are baptised believers who have made a credible profession of faith.

Members understand that they are vital to the health and gospel growth of the church, and are committed to building up the body by speaking the truth (ie: the gospel) in love and serving the body with the gifts God has given them. Church discipline is understood and carefully practiced in the life of the church in a way that guards the witness of the gospel and graciously aims to restore those who need restoration or have fallen away. The Lord’s supper is received regularly as a sacrament by which God’s people remember the work of Christ that binds them together as His people.

Biblical Preaching +

We believe that biblical preaching is central to the life and health of any local church. Our goal in preaching is to present the entire counsel of God to the people of God, in order that we might present them mature in Christ. We believe that the best way to accomplish this goal is through expository preaching.

Therefore, we believe that regular preaching in a church should be expository in nature, meaning that the sermon is based upon a passage in which the main point of the passage is the main point of sermon, and the sermon helps God’s people to see how His Word shapes their lives. Topical sermons can be both helpful and necessary at times, but they shouldn’t be the regular preaching diet of the church; and must still show that the main points of those sermons are clearly rooted in biblical truth. We believe that every part of scripture points to or is resolved in Christ, and hence that all preaching reveals and urges faith in Christ’s finished work.

Whilst not insisting on this as being a necessary requirement of biblical preaching, we believe that one of the most helpful practices in biblical preaching is for churches to preach through books of the bible, so that the passages of scripture that are being preached are located within the context of that book.

A commitment to expository preaching isn’t enough though: Preachers must endeavour to apply the passage to their context, help their people see its impact on their lives, and be reliant upon the Spirit’s power.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit +

All believers are aware of being empowered by the Spirit, in the following ways:

i) this empowering of the Spirit means that we are made alive to God and have His Spirit dwelling within us by which we cry out “Abba Father";

ii) this ongoing empowering of the Spirit is the power in our lives that enables us to be sanctified. Because the Spirit is at work in us, we are able to believe the gospel and say no to the passions of the flesh and bear the fruit of God’s Spirit;

iii) this empowering of the Spirit gives us gifts for the building up of the church. The gifts that are taught in Scripture are still given today for the building up of the church and forwarding of the gospel in the world. We believe that to honour Scripture, we are not only to believe in the continuation of the gifts but to earnestly seek them (1 Cor 14.1) in love for the building up of the church.

iv) we live lives in fellowship with God by His Spirit and dependent upon His power for our lives and ministry, seeking to be continually filled with the Spirit.

Corporate Kingdom Prayer +

We see prayer as being a vital means of seeing God’s Kingdom come, both in our own hearts as we submit to God, and around us as we intercede in prayer for those around us. Prayer demonstrates our dependence upon God and seeks Him for His leading in our lives and churches. We value corporate prayer where the church gathers as one in the presence of God to make requests of Him, and wait upon Him as His people.

Contextualised Gospel Engagement of the Culture +

We are committed to fleshing out the implications of the gospel within the context of the church. Each church is actively helping the church community as one body and its individual members flesh out the implications of the gospel in their everyday lives, specifically in the following areas:

i) Faith and work: Every human being is a worker made in the image of God. Whether we are studying, raising children, working for a company or farming, our vocations are God-given opportunities to represent God. We want to bring the gospel to bear on every part of our lives.

ii) Mercy and Justice: Whilst social justice is not the gospel itself, those who have been changed by the gospel are moved to pour out themselves in loving service to others in need. We aim to help our people live lives of mercy towards others in response to Christ’s love.

iii) Relationships: The gospel shapes how we relate to our parents, raise our children, love our spouses and conduct our friendships. We want the members of our churches to be demonstrating the new life of the Kingdom in their relationships.

Commitment to Gospel Advance / Multiplication +

Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations. Therefore, we are committed to the advance of the gospel in 3 primary ways, namely the multiplication of: Christians (through evangelism), ministry workers (through discipleship training) and churches (through church planting and revitalization).