Jesus did not come just to show us the way, but he also
declared “I am the Way”. In Him, we discover and experience
all that God has designed and desires for us to enjoy
in life. To be “in Him” is to have come to trust in Him
as our Savior and Lord – that upon the cross he offered
up his perfect life as a sacrifice for our sins (our imperfect
lives lived independently of God and his ways). Through
his death and subsequent resurrection Jesus broke the
power of sin and death and made possible a newness of
life through spiritual rebirth. This is God’s gift to
us as we trust in Jesus’ work for us and submit to his
reign over us. The way we appropriate and grow in this
new life is through the Spirit (of Christ) as he comes
and dwells within us and seeks to live through us. This
is the first fruits or down-payment of what we will get
to experience in its fullness when Jesus returns.
Jesus emphasized the importance of abiding or remaining
in Him, through faith. The Way is only possible through
a life lived in ongoing fellowship with God - Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. But it is also a life to be lived
in new-found relationships with other followers of Jesus,
his Church or as Paul calls us, his Body. We each represent
a part of Jesus’ body on the earth and therefore each
have an important part to play in conjunction with other
‘members’, whilst all of us remain under his headship.
It is a life characterized by sacrificial, covenant
love for one another and for our God, but it is always
a life that is only found in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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The Way of Jesus is one of relationship or love.
The incarnation was a relational initiative in which God
seeks to make himself known and facilitate relationship
with humankind. We believe that everything regarding life
and faith must build upon this foundational truth. Additionally,
our way of following can be simplified in three building
blocks of engagement and/or connection.
First Level
The goal in the Christian life is in part to grow into
maturity, until the church attains "to the whole
measure of the fullness of Christ", as the Apostle
Paul put it in Eph 4:13. We believe that this is best
effected through intimate, loving friendships with other
believers. To a certain extent this should grow within
our home churches, but we see a pattern in the Scriptures
of the Lord working with groups of 2 or 3. This is picked
up by Neil Cole in his book, 'Cultivating
a Life for God'.
Using Neil's model, we invite people into a Life
Transformation Partnership
(LTP) which is our basic discipleship process. In relatinship
with 1 or 2 other people of the same sex, we invite people
to truly connect with one another and with the Lord through
the following;
| - |
Read a mutually agreed portion of
the Scriptures between meetings (this
is the only curriculum) |
| - |
Meet weekly for an hour or so to share waht is
happening in your lives and hearts, reflect upon
what God is saying through his word and pray for
unbelievers |
| - |
Develop a personal devotional life, including
regular prayer for those you know who don't know
the Lord Jesus Christ yet. We would also encourage
you to consistently pray the prayer from Luke 10:2b
... "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore,
to send out workers into his harvest field." |
For a more detailed description of LTPs, click
here.
Second Level
The Simple Churches facilitate an environment
where individuals can edify each other, experience joy
through a shared life, and extend mercy to those in need.
Our Simple Church operates like an extended family fleshing
out a network of relationships rather than a meeting.
This creates an experience where multiple individuals
of multiple different backgrounds and generations (children
are included) may learn and experience Christ through
each other.
Practically, with groups ranging from 6 to 20 members,
we typically meet once (potentially more) a week, to
find support and encouragement as we seek to faithfully
follow Jesus Christ, the Lord. We often eat together
during these meetings, believing that sharing in the
Lord's Supper is a worshipful experience. Additionally,
we may sing songs, tell stories, reflect upon God's
word and minister God's grace (for healing, deliverance,
provision, etc) through prayer and the laying on of
hands. Our time is guiding by the guidance given by
Paul as to how are gatherings are to work:
| "Well, my brothers and
sisters, let's summarize what I am saying. When
you meet, one will sing, another will teach, another
will tell some special revelation God has given,
one will speak in an unknown language, while another
will interpret what is said. But everything that
is done must be useful to all and build them up
in the Lord." [1 Cor 14:26] |
We desire to foster a focus beyond ourselves
also by looking for opportunities to serve
others in need, either personally or as a
group.
Third Level
Once a month on the third Sunday,
we collect all the Simple Churches together
for a large group celebration of praise and
thanksgiving which is open to other Simple
Church networks across the city. Our time
involves stories of of God's working among
us, teaching and envisioning about the work,
apostolic input to the network, and a chance
to 'meet and greet' over a shared supper.
See Contact Us for
times and location.
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Jesus came not just with a message of good news for the
poor, but his life exemplified the message as he brought
transformation to people's lives through the power of
God. He was motivated by God's great love and compassion
for all people and became the very source of life and
freedom to those who responded to him. His approach was
one of humility and servanthood. He invites all his faithful
followers to walk the same road, with the same purpose.
Our desire is to help others experience freedom from injustice,
rebellion and aloneness in their lives.
"He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice,
to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
" [Micah 6:8]
To see more on how we are seeking to put this into
practice, please click on our ‘Community Impact’ page
above. We also seek to work with other ministries in
our city who are working to relieve injustice and meet
the needs of the poor:
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We have purposely sought to minimize our financial overheads
for buildings and staff teams so that we can increasingly
devote our financial giving towards those in need, both
locally (within and beyond the faith community) as well
as overseas.
We still encourage people to be generous in their giving
and to hold loosely to material resources in their lives
(as taught by Jesus).
Money is collected in our Simple Churches and at our
larger FamilyGathering, but our desire is to see an
increasing proportion of our giving channelled to serve
the needs of people with whom we are in relationship.
For an insightful teaching on giving, click
here.
The people and organizations we currently support include:
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Primarily, we believe this is best achieved through partnership/relationship
with others on the same journey, being part of a Simple
Church. Our LTPs are a basic building block for this and
provide a framework for sustaining your spiritual life
in the Lord, but ideally an individual should participate
in all three levels as life is meant to be experienced
in larger community.
More practically, we believe that living your spiritual
life openly, acknowledging your dependence upon God's
power and being ready to give a reason for the hope
that is in you communicates the gospel. Commit to serving
Christ in the world by living life with eyes and ears
open to what God is doing in the lives of people you
ordinarily meet, and then being willing to help out
where needed.
| "I pray that you may
be active in sharing your faith, so that you will
have a full understanding of every good thing we
have in Christ." [Philemon 1:6] |
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