As Christians today, we live in the middle between the manger and the Kingdom come. We have received the promise of the presence of Christ in us, the hope of glory. We know the promise that He is coming back again to establish His rule and reign in a new Kingdom on earth.
We know that what we hope for will be delivered because He who promised it is trustworthy and true. But until that day, like Christians of old, we wait with anticipation, with preparation, learning His way and living it well.
The crowds that followed Jesus did so at their own choice, in fact they did so at the deference of the religious establishment. No one guilted them to be there. They were drawn to Jesus for a variety of reasons, but it wasn’t power or control or shame or fear that kept them there…
As Jesus manifested Himself in the Church and people were drawn to the beauty of His being, people gave themselves in devotion to not only Jesus, but to His Church… Devotion to Jesus manifested itself in corporate worship and teaching, fellowship, hospitality, prayer, generosity and repentance…. There is always a horizontal element to the vertical…
Our posture towards people who sin needs to change because we are all sinners. So our posture towards others both inside and outside of the church needs to be that of compassion and grace. Openness about our own struggle, understanding of our common spiritual position and need for Jesus. Instead, we openly confess our sins to one another and graciously support one another in our quest for healing. Sin is a universal disease and can only be cured when it is referred to Jesus for healing…
Our purpose as a church is to know Jesus and make Him known, by making disciples who bring the light of Jesus to the world. We are the light of the world, the workers in His harvest field.
Being Jesus centred describes an approach to life and faith in which every belief and practice is oriented around Jesus. Every truth claim is measured against Jesus.
Jesus is the interpretive key to understanding the Bible.
When we consider the fact that Jesus is the ultimate expression of who God is and the ultimate expression of what God expects from humanity, the Gospels naturally become the peak of God’s revelation in Scripture.
We want to honour the God of truth, as people of truth, so we aim for honesty and transparency in all our dealings… In doing this, we honour God – He delights in, blesses and rewards those who deal with integrity… Because this is how He acts towards us...
As followers of Jesus, we are learning self-awareness – truth in our inward beings, cultivating humility, so that God can access those places and bring healing and wholeness. If we are out of touch with the truth of ourselves, it’s next to impossible to pursue health and healing.