What can I expect when I visit, and what are your values?

We welcome people from all nations and desire to see the good news of Jesus spread to all people. We aim to make those visiting us feel welcomed and included.

We dress informally but more importantly whatever a person feels comfortable wearing. For some this may actually mean a suit and tie, but for others it maybe jeans and a tee shirt.  Our attitude is that God has created us all uniquely and what we wear and how we look come together to make up that uniqueness. We love how different God has created each of us and celebrate this diversity.

We sing songs to God rather than trying to perform for an audience. Our musical style is contemporary yet not over the top loud. We take seriously Paul’s command to “speak to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (see Eph 5:19-20; Col 3:16). As such, we keep the lights turned on, and the volume turned down, so that we can see and hear each other sing and worship.

This may seem uncomfortable at first, but it is truly encouraging to hear brothers and sister in Christ lifting their voices in worship of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. God inhabits the praises of His people and we believe that to be able to hear ourselves and others singing to God is a powerful means of being built up spiritually. It is in this attitude of common worship that God is honoured and we are drawn closer in our experience of Him.

We preach and teach from the Bible as this is the most relevant form of teaching there can be for believers and those who are looking into the Christian faith. We believe that the preaching and receiving of the word of God is genuine worship no less than singing songs to the Lord. Jesus Christ is the focus of our worship, whether sung or preached.

The Bible is as relevant for our lives today as it was when it was written to its first hearers. Motivational speeches are not what we are on about, but when the Bible is preached under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it is hard not to be motivated to live for and love God more and to love and care for our neighbors, whoever and wherever they may be. For more on this, see the Ministries tab above.

We make much of Jesus because as He said when He is lifted up, He will draw all men to Himself. We aim to be a place you can bring those who don’t know Him and allow them the time and space to hear about Jesus and come to know Him as the Saviour of the world. We want those who don’t know Him to come along as many times as they like and to ask as many questions as they have so that when they do commit their lives to Him it is a decision that has not been forced in anyway and has been made with intelligence and faith.

We are open to the Holy Spirit and make room for Him in our gatherings through gifts of the spirit (1 Corinthians 12-14). God is a God of order and we believe that leadership is set in place to help facilitate this functioning of God through His people to help edify or “build up” His church for His glory and our good.

We have been created for fellowship with God and one another and this takes place throughout the whole week whether informally over coffee or dinners as relationships grow and develop or during the times that we have arranged together as a church. Our Sunday mornings are simply one expression of this fellowship and we want our Sunday gatherings to have a feel of unhurried time together.

We start at 10:30am but you are more than welcome to come along around 9:30am for coffee and our prayer together at 10:00am to 10:15am, or simply sit and listen to the musos practice together before we get started.

The first Sunday of the month we have a ‘bring-and-share lunch’ after the service. This is a wonderful time to connect with people, and enjoy a variety of different foods in a casual atmosphere.

We work with an Ephesians 4 team known as NCMI who seek to build up the body of Christ by providing, friendship, training, church planting and invited accountability into the local church. Each local church that relates to NCMI is autonomous and Elder governed and the working relationship is more of a gospel partnership to see the kingdom of God advance across the globe. While this relationship has a primary character, it is never to be exclusive and we celebrate all of God’s work through the various denominations, streams and movements that He is blessing.

The whole of life is to be one of worship to God and that we worship Jesus through our fellowship together, through hearing and responding to God’s word, by loving our nation, our city, our families, our neighbours, our work, our holidays, our friends, and our appreciation of God’s wonderful creation, as John Piper has said, “God is most glorified in us – when we are most satisfied in Him.”