Our
Our vision and prayer is to see God glorified in Shepherd’s Bush through the gospel of Jesus Christ. This gospel brings:
People are brought to new life through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Disciples grow to become deeply mature followers of Jesus
The church develops a deep concern for and involvement with those in need, both within the church family and around us.
As disciples’ lives are renewed, we in turn engage with and impact our surrounding culture.
All of these aspects combine to bring our ultimate aim - magnifying our amazing God and bringing him great glory!
“Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!” - Psalm 34:3 (ESV)
Our
Our vision statement above is accompanied and undergirded by the following convictions we aim to live out:
God’s word, revealed, living and active in scripture is central to people coming to know Jesus and grow in him. We want God’s word taught faithfully in every aspect of our ministry. We want the lives of all our members to be conformed to his word. (Matthew 4:4)
As Psalm 127:1 famously says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain.” We want to be a church who love to come to our Father in prayer individually and communally, to speak to him and depend on him. We want to see him answering prayers and glorify him for that.
We believe leading and caring for God’s flock is a serious and sober responsibility that only a few should take on (1 Peter 5:1-5). We desire to raise elders who meet biblical standards, and to have a plurality of elders in order to have diverse wisdom and gifts in the leadership, shared burden and accountability.
We want our members to be a deep community who are regularly and deeply meeting together to love God and love one another. Our primary places will be a weekly Sunday gathering & mid-week Community Groups. We also desire to have weekly Seeker Groups for those exploring the Christian faith. (Acts 2:42-47)
We believe the scriptures call us to love each other deeply and part of that is being honest when someone has wronged us or is behaving in an unhelpful way. We want to have a culture where we take issues to each other honestly and humbly, with an aim to work through them together. We are committed to challenge unhealthy relational behaviour and believe the church thrives when they know it is a place of honest, humble, trustworthy, forgiving love. (Ephesians 4:15-16)
We believe Jesus gave pastors and other leaders to lead and equip the saints for the work of ministry. We are a family on mission! We desire that every member of the body is actively serving and building up the body to maturity. Part of this is discerning and using their spiritual gifts. (Ephesians 4:11-16)
We don't exist to build a name for ourselves, but to be part of God's wider church to make Christ known. God's generosity in Christ drives us to want to be generous in prayer, with our people, and any other resources that can serve the wider church.
Our
Below is our statement of faith which outlines our position on the essential truths of the Christian faith.
There is one God, who exists eternally in three distinct but equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is immortal, eternal, omnipresent and omniscient. God is unchangeable in his holiness, justice, wisdom and love. He is the almighty Creator; Saviour and Judge who sustains and governs all things according to his sovereign will for his own glory.
God has revealed himself in the Bible, which consists of the Old and New Testaments alone. Every word was inspired by God through human authors, so that the Bible as originally given is in its entirety the Word of God, without error and fully reliable in fact and doctrine. The Bible alone speaks with final authority and is always sufficient for all matters of belief and practice.
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper have been given to the churches by Christ as visible signs of the gospel. Baptism is a symbol of union with Christ and entry into his Church. The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of Christ’s sacrifice offered once for all and involves no change in the bread and wine. All its blessings are received by faith.
The Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory. He will raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness. The wicked will be sent to eternal punishment and the righteous will be welcomed into a life of eternal joy in fellowship with God in a new creation. God will make all things new and will be glorified forever.