OUR MISSION, CORE VALUES AND VISION
What is our Mission?
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age
Matt 28:18-20
What are our Core Values?
1. God is Sovereign
2. People matter
3. The local church is the most effective agent of change in society
What is our Vision?
To see the Kingdom of God extended in East Grinstead through the building of a New Testament local church where Individuals are saved, added and equipped for service in a loving and real community whereThe Word and the Spirit are central in all areas of Life, worship and discipleship.
A NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH
The church we want to be like is that described for us in Acts 2:42-47. This was a church that knew radical commitment both to Jesus and to one another. This was a church that was very practical – selling possessions to provide for the poor; yet very powerful – performing many wonders and miraculous signs. It was a church that met to celebrate together in the temple courts and met from house to house.Like that first church, we want many others to join with us. Often people will belong before they believe. That is, they will be attracted by the life they see among us before they give their lives unreservedly to Jesus. But like that first church once people are believers we look for a high level of “devotion,” expressed through church membership.
WHY IS CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IMPORTANT?
Why is it necessary to become a member of a local church? And what should we expect of one another as members of New Life Church?
Identification
One mark of the true disciple of Jesus Christ is a desire to be identified with other believers. Belonging to a local congregation of Christians is how this is worked out in a Biblical way. In some nations such clear identification is very costly, leading to persecution.
"... I felt I could not be happy without fellowship with the people of God. I wanted to be wherever they were, and if anybody ridiculed them, I wished to be ridiculed with them, and if people had an ugly name for them, I wanted to be called by that ugly name, for I felt that, unless I suffered with Christ in His humiliation, I could not expect to reign with Him in His glory."
Charles Haddon Spurgeon The Early Years
Commitment
The New Testament knows nothing of spectator Christianity or drifting in and out of local congregations. Joining the local church is fundamental to working out commitment to Christ, the Gospel, and fellow believers. It indicates seriousness of purpose about being a disciple of Jesus Christ. The local church is to resemble a battleship crew rather than a luxury liner full of strangers seeking their own pleasure. See Philippians 1:3-9
"When people are added to a local church they must sense they are enlisting as soldiers of Christ. If local churches are going to become communities of friends who want to express loyalty to Christ and to one another and be trained for the warfare to which Jesus called us, it is vital that they know who belongs to that community and on what basis they are joining."
Terry Virgo Restoration in the Church
Accountability
Local leaders need to know who they are responsible for, and thus who they will have to give an account to God for; and believers need to know, and acknowledge who is "over them in the Lord", as a shepherd with sheep. Accountability also makes responsibility possible; those who willingly submit to godly authority can be entrusted with responsible roles and ministries in the life of the local church. Biblical guidelines for church discipline - which safeguard the individual, the witness of the church, and the honour of Christ's Name - can only be exercised where there is clear accountability. See Hebrews 13:17
"When an individual joins a local church he should not only see himself as joining a company of believers but also as placing himself within the sphere of a particular group of elders or pastors. By joining their flock he becomes one for whom they feel a sense of responsibility. They have to care for him. Their aim should be to build him up in the faith and present him mature to Christ."
Terry Virgo Restoration in the Church
Health
Joining a local community of believers is crucial for the health of the individual who joins, as well as the health of the church itself. Each church is a local expression of the world-wide Body of Christ. When you join such a community you become part of a living organism rather than an organisation, and this becomes God's setting for you to develop and grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ towards maturity in your faith. See Ephesians 4:15-16
"The spiritual development of a believer can hardly be considered without reference to the body of Christians of which he forms a part. As the body grows in knowledge, edification and love, so are individual members affected. It is not surprising to find that individual believers who cut themselves off from genuine involvement and fellowship 'with the body' are often spiritually sick or stunted and fail to progress in grace and knowledge as they should."
Erroll Hulse Baptism & Church Membership
Relationships
You need friends of like heart and mind. When you join a local community of believers you are united with others who have experienced the same grace of God in their lives. And you are plunged into relationships, with all the delights and challenges they bring! 'One Anothering' is a key to Christian growth and effective local church life. It is one of the most important witnesses to the world of the love of Christ in action. See John 13:34-35
"Local churches must become churches where true friendships are formed and a framework is built for their outworking. New converts called out of a way of life must find that they are called not simply to attend meetings - even charismatic ones. They are brought into a family; they are a part of a living community."
Terry Virgo Restoration in the Church
Vision
Disciples of Jesus Christ can do more together than apart. Joining a local church is an expression of that. It should, therefore, involve embracing the distinctive values or prophetic vision that church lives with. Those who join churches which have a particularly clear sense of the call of God for some purpose or mission, must be willing to own it too, bringing their own contribution to it. See Acts 4:32 : "All the believers were one in heart and mind."
"I want every member of our church to be aligned to the will of God for London and to be equipped to work together for His purposes in this great city. There is no limit to what we can do for God together as we cry out to the Father for His grace to be poured out upon our city and as we fight side by side in the Holy Spirit's great offensive against the works of Satan."
Colin Dye Building a City Church
Apostolic mandate
New Life Church is part of the New Frontiers family of churches. This is not a denomination or organisation but a movement based on relationship and shared calling to change the expression of Christianity throughout the world. Our relationship with New Frontiers is very important to us. We are not simply one lone church but part of something much bigger. We believe that New Frontiers has an apostolic mandate to plant and support churches and we recognise and embrace the ministries within New Frontiers.
The word ‘missionary’ obscures rather than clarifies, since it does not honour biblical definitions and categories. A modern missionary may be an agricultural worker, a nurse, a school teacher, a Bible translator, or a literature distributor (all very worthwhile and wonderful ministries). They may even be an evangelist or an apostle.
It is vital that these categories are clarified for the sake of world mission – it is not merely an academic matter. We are called to world evangelism. (We are also called to change the expression of Christianity throughout the world.) The biblical method is planting vibrant churches (E.g., 1 Thessalonians 1:5-8) which benefit from all of the Ephesians 4 ministries.
Terry Virgo The Church in its Unity, Diversity and Maturity Newfrontiers Leadership Conference 2002
These seven principles are seen in action in the New Testament description of the Early Church. "They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Acts 2:42
HOW IS CHURCH MEMBERSHIP WORKED OUT AT NEW LIFE?
How can these principles be worked through by church members here, today, at New Life?
Introduction
· We are saved into the church, we are baptised in to the church, and the Holy Spirit seals us in to the church.
· We must remember that church membership is first and foremost a response to what God has done in my life, not a matter of joining a club by keeping all the club rules.
· The following therefore represent the outward overflow of an inner work of the Spirit
1. By making it a priority to be at the key gatherings of the church, especially Sunday worship each week and Church prayer meetings. There are also special weeks of Prayer when the church is gathered to call out to God; these should be seen as a high priority for every church member. Hebrews 10:19-25
a. Why is this important?
i. Vision
ii. teaching
iii. Growth – a key growth engine
2. By being an active member of one the church's Small Groups where the following are worked out:
a. Pastoral care
b. spiritual gifts
c. application of the word
d. prayer for the lost
3. By readiness to serve in some area of church life. The opportunities for involvement are many and varied, matching your time availability, abilities, age and experience.
a. talent and time
b. kids,youth,alpha,daytime,ladies,men.discipleship,worship,debt,poor etc
c. some serve outside local church more than inside
d. all are called to serve local church to some degree
4. By giving financially to enable the work of the church to continue and expand.
a. not about amounts, its all about attitude
b. giving of the first fruits
c. giving in faith
d. giving consistently
e. giving strategically – Gift Aid
5. By communicating promptly with another member when you are in need, or when you know of another's need which you cannot meet. Receiving, as well as giving, is an integral part of church membership.
6. By being receptive to teaching and counsel brought publicly or personally from the Scriptures by the leaders of the church or those trusted by the elders.
· we try to follow NT model
· we place ourselves under authority
· we are responsible for keeping in good relationship
· discipline,when used, is always focusing on restoration
7. By reaching out in friendship to newcomers and all within the church family; at the same time being welcoming to our frequent visitors as well as those who are outside the church who need to know the love of God in Christ.
8. By embracing the Biblical values we hold as one of the New Frontiers Family of churches, and owning the church's growing passion to see God's Spirit poured out in Sussex the UK and the nations (always working as part of the wider Body of Christ).
What to expect of your leaders
1. We will do our best
2. We will make mistakes
3. We will pray for you
4. We will try to release you in to all that God has for you
All these practicalities are basic expressions of Christian discipleship, as well as local church membership. Behind them lies the need to maintain your own daily relationship with Christ through prayer, the reading of God's Word and continued seeking more of the Holy Spirit in your life.
This is our understanding of membership of the local church. Because we are "the church of God which he bought with his own blood" (Acts 20:28) nothing but our best is good enough for Jesus. To dilute the meaning of being part of the Body of Christ is to demean the Lord, diminish the Gospel and set back our Christian growth.
God's perspective on His church is one of love and honour. Let your membership of New Life Church reflect this also.
"And God placed all things under Christ's feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." Ephesians 1:22-23