1. The Gospel of Grace

The Gospel is that Jesus Christ came, lived, died and resurrected to save His own people. We do not want to outgrow or lose sight of this central message–ever! And we also must emphasise the grace aspect of our redemption, which the Reformers championed. The consistent application of biblical grace will not only help us to get the gospel right, by keeping away from works-salvation or legalism, but it will also ensure that our lives are loving and patient towards one another, making our witness winsome and authentic.

2 Corinthians 5:19-21, Mark 1:14-15. John 16:33b. Romans 1:1-4, 1:16-17. 1 Corinthians 15:1-5. Philippians 2:5-11. 1 Timothy 2:5-6. Titus 3:4-7. 1 John 1:8-2:1, 3:8b, 5:1. Revelations 5:9-10. Romans 12:3. 2 Corinthians 8:7. Ephesians 2:8-9. 1 Peter 5:5

2. Discipleship Training

The church’s mission was never to go and make converts, but to make disciples who follow Jesus with their whole heart, mind and body. The aim is to know Christ in such a way that our relationship with Him itself manifests the very reality of the Heaven we seek. Conversely, when Christians do not move beyond salvation, their life of faith is stunted into confusion, guilt, apathy and dysfunction. Christian life is about growth and transformation in the knowledge and wisdom of God. We believe that intentional training and nurturing of the believers ought to be an integral part of the ministry of the church, not just in classroom settings but in the context of shared journey and godly fellowship.

3. Love for the city of Sydney

God is compassionate towards big cities whose many inhabitants desperately need Him. Cities are where people gather for refuge and opportunity. It is where the image of God, even in fallen form, is displayed through massive culture formation, and still reverberates its spiritual longing. We believe that reaching the city will reach our culture, our region, and the whole world; and in turn, it will deeply penetrate our own hearts with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Loving the city, for us, means displaying God’s own mercy and justice, reconciling sacred and so-called secular spaces, and breaking down the walls of hostility through racial, social, cultural and class integration. This is the picture of the Kingdom which Christ intended for us to realise here on earth, even while we wait for the final perfection that is to come with His return.

Jonah 4:1-11. Genesis 11:1-9. Hebrews 11:10. Revelations 21:9-27. Genesis 18:16-3

4. Church Multiplication

We believe in church planting for its effectiveness in reaching the uninitiated with the gospel. However, our goal is not to erect one mega-church. Rather, we seek to grow deep and wide, even while we grow in number. The way to accomplish this is by duplicating our healthy “DNA” in multiple church planting projects, raising and resourcing church planters and church planting teams throughout the life of our ministry. Stating this intention from the start will help to alleviate the difficulty of physically parting with dear brothers and sisters we will grow to love and cherish, and at the same time preventing unhealthy attachments that can idolise our social structure rather than obeying the gospel mandate. We desire to saturate the greater metropolitan area of Sydney with biblically viable and relevant churches with multiple congregations in multiple sites.

Matthew 28:18-20. Acts 2:37-47,8-11

5. Local and Global Mission

While local church planting is absolutely critical for our region and culture, the entire universal church of God is called to reach every tongue, tribe and nation of the world. Therefore, even while we live and serve locally, we must be equally concerned for those at the “ends of the earth.” The definition of mission is to be culturally displaced for the sake of Gospel ministry, therefore, we want to actively mobilise, support and partner with those who are called to serve away from Sydney, as well as being prepared to go ourselves. We believe that such missional work applies to Australia and overseas both. Therefore, we desire to cross local and global boundaries in order to share the gospel of Christ, and invest sacrificially as a church in order to obey the Great Commission Mandate.

Psalms 2:8, 67:4, 72:17, 96:3, 10, 111:6, 117:1, Matthew 28:19-20. Acts 1:8

6. The Covenant Community

The word “Covenant” is a rich term in our biblical faith and tradition. Firstly, it refers to a divine pact made between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in order to redeem mankind. Secondly, it refers to the way God makes and fulfils His promises in the course of saving His people as He unfolds His plan of redemption in history. Thirdly, because of God’s loving desire to save us, we can now hope to have a loving relationship with Him. God expresses this when He says, “I will be YOUR God and you will be MY people!” He also calls us His “treasured possession, people belonging to God,” meaning that those who belong to God also belong with one another as a community. Our identity in inseparable union with Christ joins us inseparably to one another and provides our unique identity as a church. This is no small thing. We believe that church is not simply a voluntary spiritual organisation. Rather, it is a living organism, the body of Christ. Being eternally covenanted to God covenants us to one another, enabling us to worship God in spirit and truth, and also to love one another as God loves us, so that the world may believe that God has sent Christ.

Genesis 17:6-8. Exodus 6:7, 20:2, 29:45. Leviticus 11:45. Jeremiah 32:38. Ezekiel 11:20, 34:30, 36:28, Psalms 124:1-5. Romans 8:31. John 4:23. 1 John 4:7. John 17:21. 2 Corinthians 6:16-18. Revelation 21:2

7. Balanced Perspective

D. Martin Lloyd-Jones once said, “Ever since the fall, we have lost all sense of balance.” This is absolutely true. However, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our lives give us hope to try, even though we may do so imperfectly in this life. In history, the pendulum of perspective has swung from one extreme to another on every issue, acting and reacting. Even the church under the headship of Christ is fraught with every kind of discord imaginable. Often, the church’s language is highly polemical, and its heart is tired and hard from battling. We hope, however, for a new heart and mind in Christ, that we may be sensitive to His leading, and that we will be willing to be changed. We will strive for balance between theology and practice, doctrine and devotion, historical and contemporary, holding fast and giving grace, serving and leading, already and not-yet, corporate and intimate, missional and communal, building and maintenance, etc.

Philippians 2:1-3. Colossians 2:8. James 4:1-12