THE MASTER BUILDER

When the disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us how to pray’, it was a genuine, heart-felt cry. It’s a cry that needs to echo daily in our own lives as believers. We must cultivate a heart for prayer if we are going to create the lifestyle of a praying believer.

Our world is changing at a rapid pace, and despite the advances in technology, life is still fragile. The church is the Bride of Christ, God’s instrument to bring about His purpose on the earth. Our core conviction is that in everything we do, we put church first. Without that conviction we can be easily swayed by the culture and behaviour of the world.

When we walk together, we must do it in a spirit of love and with a measure of grace. We must see each other as brothers and sisters – regardless of age, race or any other natural difference we may have. Believers who focus on love and harmony over riches and legalism flourish, moving beyond the natural into the supernatural.

The local church is God’s instrument of change. There is no substitute for it and it is very important to our core beliefs. Jesus himself laid His life down for the church. We believe that church is above all other forms of Christian organisation and that God will use the church to accomplish His purpose in our city and nation.

Every local church should have a sense of destiny and mission given by God. At the heart of that call are the commands of Christ Himself to every church. But each local expression of the body of Christ has a specific role to play in extending the Kingdom of God in its city, region and around the world.

Jesus, in the Gospels, commissioned his followers to ‘give and it will come back to you’. We can go as far as to say the mark of a true convert is one who lives the exchanged life: a life that reflects Christianity as Jesus intended it to be; a life of love under-pinned by giving and receiving; a life of generosity and obedience.