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Our vision
The only real way to understand someone’s vision is to spend some time with them, ask them questions, and see how they live. So if you really want to understand us, come and pay us a visit and we will gladly welcome you, and tell you about ourselves face to face. But to give you a basic outline of what drives and motivates us – here’s a brief outline.
We believe there are 4 main areas that define what we are about and what we are reaching for.
Belonging
We are passionate about God’s people, whether they are part of our congregation or not. We recognise that in Charnwood, God has people other than ourselves that he has given us the privilege of working with, and the joy of being friends with. More and more, much of what we are doing is with other congregations, and we thank God for that. Our desire is not to emphasise minor differences of opinion that keep God’s people apart, but to risk getting to know other Christians in the belief that we can learn from each other, and draw close to God together. We have long standing relationships with people that we feel vitally joined to, men and women that we have worked with for many years. This too is a joy to us. Our vision is to see different congregations delight in their relationships with others, embracing diversity, prophetically listening to one another, and refusing to be separatist because of an emphasis placed on points of difference.
Growing
Our aim is that everyone has someone to look up to, and someone to look out for. This means that we all have a responsibility to encourage and stimulate one another to love Jesus, develop every gift we have to serve him, and engage in every process God uses to form our characters and personalities so that we are more and more like Jesus. Really, it’s about worshipping Jesus with our whole lives, and devoting ourselves to what the Bible teaches us and how his Spirit leads us. With an emphasis on discipleship, we ensure that we all learn and grow together. Our vision is to see the whole church come to maturity.
Reaching
We thank God that the good news about Jesus has reached us and radically transformed us. Good news is always worth telling, so we are committed to maintaining an outward focus, doing all we can through various different means, to make sure that we don’t keep this good news to ourselves, but share it with all kinds of people of all kinds of ages. Someone once said, ‘Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.’ Our aim is that as individuals and as a congregation, we live lives that Jesus will be pleased to use to draw others to himself, and that at every opportunity, we are ready to speak about the life of God in us. Our vision is to see the gospel reach people from the cradle to the grave, and from every tribe and language.
Transforming
The book of James in the Bible, talks about religion that God accepts as pure and faultless – and it is religion that expresses itself in genuine godly living, and ‘hands on’ compassion for all in our world who are in need of it. While we do indeed live in a wonderful world, some people have found themselves unable to enjoy it or exploit its opportunities, sometimes because their private world is not so wonderful. We are always looking to develop ways that we can use all the resources God has given us, to develop sustainable worthwhile projects that take us, God’s people, to people who are in real need in some way. While we seek to reach out in this way, we don’t forget that ‘charity begins at home’ and we always endeavour to look after those who are in need, within our own congregation. Our vision is to see society affected by recognition of the value added to it by the diligent life bettering work undertaken by the church.
Three final things:
- If you spend any time with us, you will realise that sometimes we get it right, and sometimes we get it wrong. The grace of God is powerfully with us, and even when we do get it wrong, God in his majesty turns it for good.
- We’ve set our sights high because our God is so ambitious. What he seeks to achieve in and through his people is mind blowing. While we rely on his Spirit and his strength, it doesn’t take away from the fact that living to serve God can be hard work.
- Thankfully, God invented rest. It’s not all work, work, work. If the gospel is good news, then life with God should be enjoyable as well as demanding. Informality and fun are integral to a healthy life, and we don’t mind admitting that we like them a lot.