Revive, Reform, Relate
Without us knowing it, God had been shaping our thinking through a preaching series we did in the church for around 10 months in 2009. We spent the best part of this time plumbing the depths of Ephesians 1 through 3 where there is an ovearching emphasis of Positional Christianity as a vital and significant part of the Gospel that undergirds the church. The Gospel unpacked here in these chapters is as follows : Ch1vs3-14 ... we are 'In Christ' saved, sealed and satisfied as Sons, Ch1vs15-Ch2vs10 ... we are seated 'With Christ' as Sons to serve with Throne-room power here on the earth, and Ch2vs15-Ch3vs21 ... Christ has broken down every dividing wall in the Gospel that He would 'Dwell in Us' by His Spirit! All this explains that Revive - Reform - Relate has its roots deeply set in this Gospel truth. This is not a clever catch phrase, but rather a deeply Gospel-saturated, Christ-centred, Kingdom-focussed statement.
Revive - Reviving the heart of man, both believer and unbeliever, to the Prize and Priority of the Person and Presence of God through the Pre-eminence and Power of the Gospel of the Kingdom. (Eph 1:3-14)
At first mention this word conjours thoughts of mass crusades, revival meetings, prayer cloths, old revival hymns, altar calls and so on. While these are all good and true, this is not what 'revival' is in essence. It is our firm conviction that before the lost are reached on mass with the mercy and grace of God, He is reviving His people to the greatest Prize, Passion and Pursuit ... and that is Himself! It is a revived church that will revive the hearts of the lost, and while we believe that a harvest of salvations is most definitely part of 'Revive', it begins with a church revived! So, here, our vision and mission is to first facilitate a family of faith where Sons (and daughters of course) prize the Person and Presence of God, revealed in Christ Jesus, above all else in all areas of life. Whether through preaching, teaching, worship or any other form of in-house ministry, this is our first pursuit - the Person and Presence of God in us and with us! This clearly facilitates 'church-ward' type ministries where our endeavour is to set each believer on fire with passion for their 'First Love'. We believe that this is only done through the perfect and complete work of God the Son on the Cross on our behalf in irrevocably opening the way to God the Father, being made alive eternally through God the Spirit. This emphasis opens the way to live a life of personal and overflowing revival where we long for all to know 'First Love' as we do, through personal lifestyle evangelism, or organised regular events together as a community.
Reform - Reforming families, communities, cities, countries, and continents with Transforming Power through Sons Seated with Christ specifically positioned in various spheres of society bringing impact and change through a heart of Service. (Eph1:15-2:10)
While 'revive' expresses the establishing and flourishing of Sons saved, sealed and secured in Christ with Him as the first passion and pursuit, 'reform' expresses the natural and intended consequence of this. And that is that saved and satisfied Sons are seated 'with Christ' presently in order to serve in this world with the life, love and Power of God! In as much as the first is generally 'church-ward', this is expressly 'world-ward' where we are the salt of God in all places and spaces of society to effect kingdom change. We are not just here to evidence that we are obviously different as Sons of Light, we are here to be Salt and bring impact and change. We believe this includes the reaching of the lost with the Gospel and transforming society from the inside out, life by life; but we also are convinced that we are called to positively engage society with Kingdom ways, life and power. So from people to policies, from hearts to the family, from sports fields to the halls of government, we are called to be light and SALT so as to bring about transformation and ultimately a reformation of thinking and living in this day. In as much as we want to raise up Wigglesworths in this day, we long to ignite new Wilberforces for the sake of the Gospel. The latter, along with William and Catherine Booth and many others, is an example of a revived man who could not help but bring reformation in the place and the space he found himself in, politics. Our vision and mission is to engineer and mobilse Sons who heal the sick on the streets and other who have creative insights and wisdom in business to positively impact society for the flourishing of the Gospel!
Relate - Being a Family of Unity and Faith where the Culture of the Kingdom preceeds all other cultures wherein the Spirit of God makes His Habitiation and all are loved and joined together as we change the world.(Eph2:11-3:21)
Relate - With all the energy and passion of the ‘Revive’ and ‘Reform’, together with its subsequent ministries and endeavours, this will all fall apart if it is not held together with the glue of love and 'one anothering'! After all, before Jesus declares the Great Commission, He establishes the Great Command, which is to love one another extravagantly. It is this that sustains the revival and reformational move of God - the Spirit of Unity - where God commands His blessing. Faith will result in a Visitation but faith expressing itself in love will result in God's Habitation and it is that which He is on about. So, we want to facilitate passion for God and the People of God as we win the world. From how we minister, meet and greet, live together, administrate our facility ... people are very important, not as members and congregants, but people with names who are significant and treasured. Of all things this is truly the most difficult to ongoingly sustain, but we will continue to hinge many key values and belief systems thereon! Also, in endeavouring to be family, that most importantly means that we celebrate each and every son and daughter in the house uniquely. We do not seek to conform people to a particular style or preference, but rather create space for them to be who they are under God. Our longing is that the 'conservative' and 'crazy', while not necessarily 'getting each other', will love each other and celebrate each others uniqueness. So, family is not about slinking and moping around at home, it is about celebrating and honouring one another under God! Biological families are diverse in so many ways as they flourish under a Dad and Mum, and we believe God has called us to that. Inasmuch as we will not put up with the erosion of the family unit in society, we will not put up with critical and conformist church!
