Connect
We believe that human beings are created for relationship – with God and
others. We desire to be intimately connected with God, Father, Son & Holy
Spirit and His life and love permeates our relationships with others.
Grow
We believe that if we don’t grow, we die. We desire to grow in love,
character, and spiritual maturity.
Serve
We believe everything we have is from God. We desire to use our gifts to
serve Jesus and others.
Go
We believe we are called to reach out to our community and the world with the love of Christ.
Building Community
We love God, enjoy travel, cherish people and thrive on adventure – not necessarily in that order. We share a passion for community, meeting and connecting with people from all walks of life. We have discovered that there are so many amazing, generous and kind people all over the world. Our strongest desire is for a world where in spite of a lack of uniformity, people are able to live together in unity and love.
It may sound a little bit like the much-maligned answer to the question in the Miss Universe pageant or in Miss Congeniality – “I really do want world peace”. So what do we really mean?
Well, firstly, it’s not something we take lightly and acknowledge that it is an ambitious undertaking – a bit like the aforementioned world peace. But we believe God has charged us and is equipping us to be the links between people, societies, churches, organisations and leaders to impact the world. By no means do we expect to do it on our own. There is power in the force that is built up when people do it together. Like the way the laser beam cuts through materials. And this energy is intensified through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let us explain how we see it – as simply as we can.
Connect
We believe that human beings are built for connection, for relationships. God loves us and wants us to love Him and develop a relationship with Him. He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for us so that we can be reconciled to a relationship with Him. By connecting with Jesus, we get to know God intimately. We are attached to Him as the branch is to the vine, an integral part. We live from Him through the branches. As the sap seeps throughout the plant, His Holy Spirit permeates our very beings with life.
God also wants us to form meaningful relationships with others. The church is a community of people loving and serving God and each other (Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Corinthians 12:7). That means our local body of believers and all those across the entire globe that trust in Jesus. We are all parts of God’s family. How incredible is that – we have brothers and sisters at the ends of the earth!
God does not intend us to stop there. He calls us to build relationships with those that don’t know Him. To love them as He loves us. To do this, we again rely on being one with the vine, drawing off the sap. Not only is the Holy Spirit the giver of life but the source of love.
Grow
We are extremely grateful that God accepts us as we are. But He doesn’t intend to leave us there. God wants us to grow in love, character, and spiritual maturity in our relationships with Him and others. To know God deeply, we have to listen to Him and talk to Him as we would with any relationship. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He speaks to us and reveals truths about Himself through His Word. We speak to Him through prayer. We desire to grow deeper with Jesus, learning what it means to walk with and depend on Him all the more.
I personally believe that the sap in the vine is the Holy Spirit. Mr. Webster defines sap as the juice that circulates through a plant, bearing water, food, etc. If there is no sap going through the vine, in and through the branches, the branches will die and therefore will not produce fruit. Spiritually speaking, the sap can be thought of as the Holy Spirit. So if the juice sap is not circulating through a plant or branch, bearing water, food, etc., it will die.
We need to be in Christ and Christ in us, and the Holy Spirit indwelling in us. Dead branches will not produce good fruit and will be removed and thrown on the fire. If we are producing good fruit, the God will prune us so we will produce even more fruit.
Serve
God has given us our talents. We use our time and talents to help others – we believe that serving others is a vital part of growing in our relationship with God and with others. (Colossians 2:6-7; Ephesians 4:15-16) Serving people and God. Wow, this is hard! What does it mean for us to serve? Serving is a great way to grow. Serving with others is a great way to develop relationships with others and grow in connection and appreciation of community.
Serving is about growing servant hearts as we serve Jesus together, matching servant hearts and hands with needs; matching God-given gifts with opportunities to serve. Serving is about being open to new challenges and discovering new gifts as we serve Jesus. The mission to reach our cities and the world is too big for pigeon holes. It’s too big for us to believe there is only one way we are gifted. There is more than one way we can serve Jesus and others!
Go
Reminds us that we do not exist for ourselves alone. We believe we are called to reach out to our community and the world with the love of Christ. We should be ready to demonstrate God’s love for others through compassion and acts of service…in our neighbourhoods, workplace, reaching out in our community, and globally. We are called to go out into the world equipped to serve, share, and invest in the lives of our community – near and far. (Acts 1:8; John 13:12-20).
Jesus said: “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” (John 15:16). The disciple Paul told Christians they were “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” (Eph 2:10). Jesus said: “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away.” (John 15:2.
Matthew 28: 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”