Finding God in all things
Community :: Worship :: Mission
Acts 2:42-47 gives a beautiful picture of the birth of the church and the result of lives inspired by Jesus and the inbreaking of his Kingdom on earth. There was the formation of deep community, awe inspired worship and the natural embrace of mission; seeking first the Kingdom ways of God. We seek to be a people who will embrace this same inspiration.
Community
Community is the relational framework in the Bible and the means by which we do life together. We were made for relationships and we – as individuals, couples, and families – need each other. We believe that we best discover who God is, who we are, and what we were made for in the context of community focused on Jesus.
We are a collection of diverse and broken people being put back together by the grace and love of God. We come from a variety of backgrounds and stories and places and we believe that the breadth of these stories matter. Community, as a collection of imperfect people, is messy and challenging, but at its core breaks past the individualism of our culture and says that you have a place here: a place where you can be real and authentic and to invest and love and do life – with all of its twists and turns and challenges – alongside us.
We are called to walk out together, with hearts mutually linked to one another what it means to be the people of the presence of God. With God as our Father, we as brothers & sisters in Jesus make up the family of God. A family that is even now seeking to live out what will be the future life of the world when Jesus returns.
Worship
The early church experienced the presence of Jesus and this encounter inspired a deep reverence and awe. We believe that we were designed to worship, meet with and encounter God with intimacy and passion. In worship we are drawn closer to the heart of God revealing his character and deep love for us.
We believe that fixing our eyes on Jesus, individually and corporately – in the midst of both the joys and heartbreaks of life – realigns our hearts to His goodness and hope, that worship and prayer are some of the most powerful places where the Lord renews and equips us for the things He’s called us to and, that worship is a lifestyle that moves beyond our corporate gatherings on Sundays and overflows into the ways we live our everyday lives.
Most important is the condition of our hearts. Style or skill doesn’t matter much as long as it is an honest offering of ourselves to God.
Mission
The safety, growth, and fellowship of this type of family gathering should equip us to share the love of Jesus with others. Ministry both in and outside the four walls of our corporate gathering. To love God well is to love our neighbour, and to love our neighbour well is to love God. Mission is the natural overflow of the love that Jesus has given us. To live a lifestyle of mission is to put actions to what we believe: to stand for mercy and justice, to love the broken and hurting, to care for the orphan and the widow, to serve our neighbours and love our city, and to labor with love for the renewal of all things.
This renewal includes restoration and healing for body, mind, emotions and spirit. We believe that God’s plan unfolds in our ordinary lives and that we, as members of his church and filled with his power in us, have the joy and responsibility to be a part of God’s mission and the work of the local and global church in all the places where He leads us.
To help us facilitate the value of mission our church intentionally meets in a neighbourhood with plenty of opportunity to serve. We partner with Crystal Kids Youth Centre and meet in their facility for our Sunday gatherings.
