Vision Statement
Our vision is to start house churches/fellowships that are culturally sensitive and welcoming for PMBBs. These are to be places where they can experience family and community; participate in worship which is socially and culturally sensitive to the believers and seekers; to spread the transforming love of Christ to their families, relatives and community in the UK which will create a ripple effect in their native county as well.
Theological Background
We affirm the following statement of belief written by Dr. Benjamin Warfield:
THE BIBLE: I believe that my one aim in life and death should be to glorify God and enjoy Him forever; and that God teaches me how to glorify and enjoy Him in His Holy Word, that is, the Bible, which He has given by the infallible inspiration of His Holy Spirit in order that I may certainly know what I am to believe concerning Him and what duty He requires of me.
GOD: I believe that God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and incomparable in all that He is; one God but three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sanctifier; in whose power and wisdom, righteousness, goodness and truth I may safely put my trust.
THE CREATION: I believe that the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, are the work of God’s hands; and that all that He has made He directs and governs in all their actions; so that they fulfill the end for which they were created, and I who trust in Him shall not be put to shame but may rest securely in the protection of His almighty love.
MAN: I believe that God created man after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, and entered into a covenant of life with him upon the sole condition of the obedience that was His due: so that it was by willfully sinning against God that man fell into the sin and misery in which I have been born.
THE FALL: I believe that, being fallen in Adam, my first father, I am by nature a child of wrath, under the condemnation of God and corrupted in body and soul, prone to evil and liable to eternal death; from which dreadful state I cannot be delivered save through the unmerited grace of God my Saviour.
GRACE: I believe that God has not left the world to perish in its sin, but out of the great love wherewith He has loved it, has from all eternity graciously chosen unto Himself a multitude which no man can number, to deliver them out of their sin and misery, and of them to build up again in the world His kingdom of righteousness: in which kingdom I may be assured I have my part, if I hold fast to Christ the Lord.
CHRIST: I believe that God has redeemed His people unto Himself through Jesus Christ our Lord; who, though He was and ever continues to be the eternal Son of God, yet was born of a woman, born under the law, that He might redeem them that are under the law: I believe that He bore the penalty due to my sins in His own body on the tree, and fulfilled in His own person the obedience I owe to the righteousness of God, and now presents me to His Father as His purchased possession, to the praise of the glory of grace forever: wherefore renouncing all merit of my own, I put all my trust only in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ my Redeemer.
THE LORD: I believe that Jesus Christ my Redeemer, who died for my offenses was raised again for my justification, and ascended into the heavens, where He sits at the right hand of the Father Almighty, continually making intercession for His people, and governing the whole world as head over all things for His church: so that I need fear no evil and may surely know that nothing can snatch me out of His hands and nothing can separate me from His love.
THE HOLY SPIRIT: I believe that the redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ is effectually applied to all His people by the Holy Spirit, who works faith in me and thereby unites me to Christ, renews me in the whole man after the image of God, and enables me more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness; until, this gracious work having been completed in me, I shall be received into glory: in which great hope abiding, I must ever strive to perfect holiness in the fear of God.
THE GOSPEL: I believe that God requires of me, under the gospel, first of all, that, out of a true sense of my sin and misery and apprehension of His mercy in Christ, I should turn with grief and hatred away from sin and receive and rest upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation: that, so being united to Him, I may receive pardon for my sins and be accepted as righteous in God’s sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to me and received by faith alone: and thus only do I believe I may be received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.
GOOD WORKS: I believe that, having been pardoned and accepted for Christ’s sake, it is further required of me that I walk in the Spirit whom He has purchased for me, and by whom love is shed abroad in my heart; fulfilling the obedience I owe to Christ my King; faithfully performing all the duties laid upon me by the holy law of God my heavenly Father; and ever reflecting in my life and conduct, the perfect example that has been set me by Christ Jesus my Leader, who has died for me and granted to me His Holy Spirit just that I may do the good works which God has before prepared that I should walk in them.
THE CHURCH: I believe that God has established His church in the world and endowed it with the ministry of the Word and the holy ordinances of Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and Prayer; in order that through these as means, the riches of His grace in the gospel may be made known to the world, and, by the blessing of Christ and the working of His Spirit in them that by faith receive them, the benefits of redemption may be communicated to His people: wherefore also it is required of me that I attend on these means of grace with diligence, preparation, and prayer, so that through them I may be instructed and strengthened in faith, and in holiness of life and in love; and that I use my best endeavours to carry this gospel and convey these means of grace to the whole world.
THE FUTURE: I believe that as Jesus Christ has once come in grace, so also is He to come a second time in glory, to judge the world in righteousness and assign to each His eternal award: and I believe that if I die in Christ, my soul shall be at death made perfect in holiness and go home to the Lord; and when He shall return in His majesty I shall be raised in glory and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity: encouraged by which blessed hope it is required of me willingly to take my part in suffering hardship here as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, being assured that if I die with Him I shall also live with Him, if I endure, I shall also reign with Him.
And to Him, my Redeemer, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, three Persons, one God, be glory forever, world without end. Amen, and amen.
Our Values
RADICAL MBB FAMILY/COMMUNITY
For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them (Matt 18:20) which is a form of church/fellowship of believers. As this is mentioned in the book of Acts 2:42-47: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. It was a “church” in nascent phase which was called “fellowship of believers”.
According to John Stott, “The church is part of the gospel”. The kingdom of God is most fully and clearly expressed in the people He has redeemed, the community of the kingdom, who have been forgiven, cleansed, delivered from the powers of the kingdom of darkness and come under the redeeming power of Christ. We believe the church/fellowship of believers, as God’s new community, is the primary and best expression of the gospel, and so the house/place and agent of God’s special purposes. We should be seeking corporately to incarnate in our body the vision, values, and characteristics of the redeemed community of the Jesus Christ. These include: deep and intimate fellowship, which means the radical sharing of lives both spiritually and practically, seeking first the kingdom together, sacrificial Christ-like love, and acceptance of others. The way we live together and love one another is a first fruit of the new age of the Kingdom which we enjoy, and a dynamic power that reaches into a world of fractured relationships and broken lives. Such church/fellowship of believers should be ideal for MBBs and their extended family, and more.
The gospel of the kingdom is inherently linked with reaching out to others, as it encompasses God’s plan and purpose of cosmic and final restoration of the world through His Spirit commissioned church/fellowship of believers. It is impossible to believe the gospel without also embracing God’s purpose, for the Gospel just is the good news of that mission being accomplished through Christ (and his church/fellowship of believers).
We want God’s heart for the world to be clearly understood, and a passion for His special purposes consciously cultivated. We want to see in every MBB of the church/fellowship of believers a strong awareness, ownership of, and participation in God’s special purposes. We want every MBB to have a passion for God’s special purposes for the immediate family and the majority community in the world, an understanding of the church/fellowship of believers’ place in the world, and to be equipped for and involved in the spread of the gospel through personal and corporate witness.
We want to have an “outward” orientation in all that we do: in our individual callings, gathered worship, teaching and preaching, prayer, social and cultural activities, and life together. We want to develop a commitment among the MBB leaders and the advisory council first and to every MBB to being part of a MBB church planting movement in the UK.
CENTERED IN CHRIST AND HIS KINGDOM
The gospel is the GOOD NEWS that Jesus Christ has arrived and the kingdom of God is dwelling in this fallen and broken world. He has brought the light that is over-powering the forces of darkness, and bringing with it the reconciliation and restoration of the whole of creation. The gospel is more than just personal forgiveness, assurance of a life in heaven, or even personal sanctification, though it is all these things.
The gospel is therefore holistic, and must address all the effects of sin. Not merely, the personal and private spiritual issues of the individual, but also the social, cultural, economic, political, and even natural consequences of the fall which destroys the family and community of MBBs and seekers after they come to know Christ personally. Every force that conspires to destroy the glory of God in man, society, and creation, falls within the transforming scope of the gospel of the kingdom. We want to encourage in church/fellowship of believers a vision for this grand scope of the gospel and a consuming passion for the pursuit of the kingdom of God.
CENTRALITY OF GRACE
The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of GRACE. We thus want to see MBBs being taught and encouraged through example of other MBBs and opportunity to own their weaknesses, repent, and to look to Christ in faith; moralism/legalism is not only to be avoided, but exposed; self-righteousness and condemning attitudes are challenged with encouragements and admonitions to love, extend grace, forgive, and accept others as we have been accepted by God himself.
We emphasise the grace of God in the gospel by reminding ourselves that we are far worse than we think and that God’s grace is far greater than we can imagine. We practice this by encouraging a lifestyle of repentance and dependent faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the centre and source of (the kingdom of) grace. Our relationship with Him determines the quality and character of all else. Therefore we want to encourage MBBs to engage with Jesus through faith, and to have a church/fellowship of believers in which everybody is living by renewed repentance and faith and encouraging others in the same.
SOCIALLY, CULTURALLY AND SPIRITUALLY RELEVANT & BIBLICALLY FAITHFUL: Balanced and Appropriately Contextualized Church/Fellowship of Believers
A church/fellowship of believers will seek to make its worship, teaching, fellowship and all that it does to be relevant to the MBB & PMBBs communities in the UK which God has called us to reach. Thus the languages used will seek to reflect the constituency of MBBs and PMBBs. Worship will be flexible, contextually sensitive and appropriate for MBBs and PMBBs. The assumptions, values, and issues (religiously, culturally, socially and physically) will be understood and engaged in preaching, teaching, discipleship and counselling and etc. We will expect to have and be sensitive to seekers and unbelievers in our midst. In all of this, the eternal Word of God is the governing rule without any compromise. We are seeking to bring the eternal word to the majority community, they may not read the Injil (Good News) of Jesus Christ but they read you and me, therefore, we should reflect the Love of Christ and the MBBs and (PMBBs) are his living letters for the majority community.
EVERY MBB and PMBB MINISTRY
The task of MBB leadership is to “equip God’s people for works of service” (Eph.4:12) for Jesus and His Kingdom. Each MBB brings gifts necessary for the building up of the Body of Christ. Hence the whole body of Christ must be mobilised, envisioned, trained, encouraged and facilitated for ministry, both evangelistic and within the church/fellowship of believers and outside. We want to see every MBB of fellowship of believers exercising their gifts for the good of the body of Christ, in service to the world, and for the glory of God.
TRANSFORMING LOCAL COMMUNITIES OF MBBs
The gospel we believe is not merely private and spiritual, but is the power to address all of the effects of the fall: theological, personal, societal, social, cultural, economic, political, and natural. We therefore will seek to bring kingdom transformation in all of these fallen structures.
RADICAL KINGDOM CENTRED PRAYER
The priority of the Kingdom of God in the life of the church and the individual Christian should have a two-fold effect: First, the vision of the Kingdom of God (“Thy Kingdom come …”) should inform the breadth and depth of our prayers: nothing less than replacing the effects of the fall with the new creation of the Kingdom, “far as the curse is found”. In other words, we are called to believe and work for the eradication of sin, curse and evil, to be replaced by SHALOM, in every corner of this universe!
Secondly, this vision exposes any pretensions that such a transformation could occur through man’s wisdom or ability. It is simply impossible for God’s kingdom purposes to be fulfilled through man’s ability.
Prayer is thus absolutely essential. Prayerlessness is often the result of attempting things which are in fact humanly achievable; and that amounts to having a small vision. But God’s Gospel purpose of cosmic shalom in light of our frailty and sinfulness, drives us to our knees.