Many years ago, God made a passage of scripture become a vision that beckoned our church:
Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched out. Do not hold back—lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will settle the desolate towns. -Isaiah 54:2-3
This vision has inspired and called us and it still does so today. We are called to spread out everywhere, which means taking the life and message of Jesus to the community around us and to the wider world.
We are a church on a mission.
And in doing that, the Lord requires us to make the foundations of our life strong and deep and to keep growing our life in Jesus. We need to give ourselves to this, to not hold back (to spare no effort).
What does that mean in practice?
a) We need to take great care that our life together pleases God in every way. That requires us to be careful to keep putting Jesus at the centre of our life and to keeping asking questions about this, such as: What does it mean in practice to put Jesus at the centre of our life and how can this be tested? How are we doing now in this regard?
The foundation of the church is Jesus himself and we need to ensure this stays that way.
b) We structure the life of our church to make disciples of Jesus of those who become part of our life in the way Jesus told us to in the great commission in Matthew 28 - people who know God as Father, Jesus as Lord and the Spirit as the abiding presence of God and who have been taught to treasure and keep all that Jesus commanded us, remembering always that he is present to enable everything he asks of us.
c) We hold the vision very close to our hearts. We do not exist for ourselves, but to fulfill an ancient call.
Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched out. Do not hold back—lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will settle the desolate towns. -Isaiah 54:2-3
This vision has inspired and called us and it still does so today. We are called to spread out everywhere, which means taking the life and message of Jesus to the community around us and to the wider world.
We are a church on a mission.
And in doing that, the Lord requires us to make the foundations of our life strong and deep and to keep growing our life in Jesus. We need to give ourselves to this, to not hold back (to spare no effort).
What does that mean in practice?
a) We need to take great care that our life together pleases God in every way. That requires us to be careful to keep putting Jesus at the centre of our life and to keeping asking questions about this, such as: What does it mean in practice to put Jesus at the centre of our life and how can this be tested? How are we doing now in this regard?
The foundation of the church is Jesus himself and we need to ensure this stays that way.
b) We structure the life of our church to make disciples of Jesus of those who become part of our life in the way Jesus told us to in the great commission in Matthew 28 - people who know God as Father, Jesus as Lord and the Spirit as the abiding presence of God and who have been taught to treasure and keep all that Jesus commanded us, remembering always that he is present to enable everything he asks of us.
c) We hold the vision very close to our hearts. We do not exist for ourselves, but to fulfill an ancient call.