"There are two types of people in the world: those who live a life that they don't have, and those who have a life that they don't live."

What do we believe?

"There are two types of people in the world: those who live a life that they don't have, and those who have a life that they don't live." [I think it was Ian Thomas who said this]

    * To my mind, this second category so eloquently describes the Christian.
    * We hold to the fundamental evangelical truths. We believe:
    * in the Trinity
    * in the inspiration & the inerrancy of scripture
    * that Jesus Christ, the second member of the Godhead, was born of a virgin
    * in a literal creation and fall
    * in the substitionary death of Christ which was provided universal propitiation of sin
    * in the resurrection & ascension of Christ
    * in the new life hidden in Christ, by grace through faith
    * in the second coming of Christ
    * in an eternal consciousness of either the presence or the absence of Christ

In addition, or perhaps because of these fundamental truths, we also believe: in the indissoluble union between the Son & His Sons, that not only are we safe as sons but as we abide in him we become safe sons

    * that there is a clear division between the Old and New Covenant dispensations ['Law' & 'Grace'], and a Christian is not under Law, but under Grace
    * all our sins, past, present & future [and indeed those of the entire world, lost or saved] have been forgiven
    * in universal forgiveness, not universal salvation. The sins of the world have been forgiven, but the sin of the world ["unbelief", Jn 16:9] cannot be 'forgiven of', it must be 'repented from'
    * that nothing needs to be added to the finished work of Christ, and that to add to the Cross is to detract from it
    * the very nature of salvation [the reception of eternal, divine life as a free, unmerited, unconditional gift of God] means the believer is eternally secure
    * that salvation is a work of God for man, and not a work of man for God or even a joint-venture. It is all of God, and none of man
    * that sanctification is "by grace through faith, and not of works that any man should boast" [Col 2:6]
    * that tithing is not a new covenant principle [see article "The Tithing Controversy - No Laughing Matter"]
    * the kingdom of heaven is within
    * that the gospel promises deliverance from both the penalty and the power of sin

What is a Christian?

Some years ago when we first began working with church leaders, we posed this question to them... and their answers were very revealing. Almost all of them replied in terms of things that Christians are supposed to do or are not supposed to do.

[What about you - did you think first in terms of behaviour or identity? As a supplementary question, you might like to ask yourself, "What is the purpose of the Law?"]

Consider the metaphors employed by the New Testament writers:

Branch [Jn 15:5]
Vessel [2 Cor 4:7]
Temple [1 Cor 3:16]

What do each of these things do? They are created in order to contain something: a Christian is a container [or conduit] of Christ. The New Testament describes this condition as being 'in Christ'. How does this answer compare with yours?

[On the subject of the law, most Christians think that it was given to us as a code to live by or a set of rules to keep... but that is not its purpose at all! Quite the opposite in fact, it was given to us to prove that we couldn't keep it, forcing us to accept our human condition and seek out a divine solution.]
Planted in God

God is Spirit [Jn. 4:22] and as such He makes Himself known through His creation. Through the pinnacle of his creation - man - He manifests His nature, described by John by one word: love [1 Jn 4:18]. God is love, and so in the same way trees bear fruit through their branches, Christ in us bears His fruit [Gal. 5:22-23] through His 'branches' - His body, the church. In His own words: "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, because you have love one for another" [Jn 13:35].

This agape love [1 Cor 13, the famous 'love chapter'] is the fruit that we bear, and thus the church expresses its inner life like the vine, its hidden resources through its branches. The branches do not themselves produce the fruit; they bear fruit because of their abiding in the vine.

So the question "What is the point of going to church?" is really a non-question... the true question is "What is the point of being the church?"
What is an ecclesia?

You will have noticed our use of the word 'ecclesia' and may well have wondered what it means! Ecclesia was the word favoured by Paul to describe 'church'.

'Ecclesia' was used to describe any regular assembly of citizens that decided matters of welfare; in Christendom, it was simply a gathering of Christians in a local community. Paul identified the Christian ecclesia as distinct from its civic equivalent, being 'in God' . We tend to prefer the word ecclesia not only because it is the word that the Apostle Paul favoured, but also because the word 'church' is now so tainted.

It is impossible to separate our beliefs about 'church' from our understanding about the essence of what it is to be a Christian: if an ecclesia is a gathering of Christians, then what we have to ask what a Christian is. The answer is not as obvious as you might imagine - yet any answer colours just about everything that you say, do, and think - not only about church, but your entire Christian experience.
The Purpose of the Church

The point of being the church is to magnify His love nature - the purpose of the church is not primarily missions, or even worship, but edification. The people making up an ecclesia gather together to edify one another and "grow in grace" [2 Pet. 3:18], "building one another up until we attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" [Eph. 4:12-14].

This is the nature of Christian interdependence. This is unified oneness, and it is that which Jesus alludes to in his mystical prayer [Jn 17].
What do we believe about worship?

Worship is often defined in terms of singing slow songs as opposed to praise which in some circles is singing faster songs. However, in truth worship is a lifestyle. We define worship as "Loves response to love." Our "worship" is progressive and free and through facilitation of very sensitive "leadership" is allowed to express itself in various ways including song, art, poetry & prophecy praying the Scripture.