Church is not a place you go to. It is a HOME you belong to.
Church is more than a building, it is more than a place and it is more than an event. Church is people, it is a home. Every home is made up of different people, different languages and different cultures. Through our ‘Home' series we want to look at the essential parts of a church home. For some, these will be a reminder and for others a new way of thinking. However, just as you renovate a house, we constantly need renovation and reminders as a church. Just as a house has different materials and parts that combine to make into a place fit for living, so too, does the church. We are the church. We want to be the best church we can be. Be sure not to miss a weekend as we explore what makes church a home.
Last year, in our ‘home’ series we looked at what makes our church a home. This year we will continue with this theme and look deeper into what makes it a home. We also want to celebrate the stories that make up a home. A home without people and stories is just a building. While our sermons will look into the different parts of a home, the stories show the transformation that takes place in this ‘home’ that is our church; this is where our vision comes from to see 10,000 stories of transformation by 2016.
Evangelism
Home is a place where everyone is invited. You don’t have to act or pretend when you are at home. You can be yourself. We want to live our lives being ourselves and inviting others into our world. Evangelism is not something we add to our home, it is something that our home adds to ourselves and those around us.
Prayer
Home is a place where we pray together. Home is not about doing things alone, isolated and in our own strength. We need each other. We want our home to be a place of prayer. God’s plan for the church was that prayer was to be one of the foundational pieces. If we want to be the home God has called us to be then prayer must shape everything we say and do.
Community or Small Groups
Home is a place where family is made. Family is given and chosen. We don’t choose the family we are born with but we choose the family we live with. Home is meant to be a place where we journey with people who know the real version of ourselves. Small groups are not something we add to our home, they make our home real!
Spiritual Gifts (One Body)
Home functions only as everyone is united around a common cause but diverse in our created gifts. Home is not built on the effort of a few but on the sacrifice of many. We want to create a home where each person is using what is in his or her hands to build the best type of home we can build.
Joakim L (Guest Speaker)
Joakim Lundqvist, senior pastor of Word of Life Church in Sweden, returns as our guest over this weekend.
Spiritual Warfare
Home is not a place where there is an absence of conflict but where conflict is dealt with. As a home we need to know that our church will be threatened and attacked both within and without. Yet the battle we fight has already been won. We do not fight for victory but from a place of victory.
Mission
Home is a true home only as we know our place within our street and our world. We exist to serve, not just to be served. Mission is something that involves being aware of the influence we have around us. Our home has both a local and global impact.
Serving (VAN Weekend)
Home is not simply a place where you are served (that is a hotel) but a place where we all serve (that is a true home). On this weekend we will be thanking and honouring all of our amazing volunteers.
Light/Welcome
Home is a place where the lights are always on. God’s light shines in us and we are called to walk in his light. Yet God also shines his light through us so we can be a light to the world. As we begin the month of December we want to make sure the lights are on in our walk with God and in our reflection to the world.
Direction
As a church home we all long to live and be part of a home of meaning. How do we know we are in the right place? How do we walk alongside other people in our home? How do we make the right decisions in our home? So much of life involves making big decisions. As a church home we want to step into the future not with fear but faith that God is with us.
Necessary Endings
Life is lived in seasons and seasons are made up of beginnings and endings. As a church we want to be a place that helps people transition well through necessary endings, letting go of the past and moving on to the future God has in store. Change equals loss and losses need to be appropriately grieved.
Celebration
Home is a place to celebrate and engage in meaningful traditions together as a church family. This week is our Christmas carols service, as together we will celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ into our world, forever changing its future.
Forgiveness
Home is not a museum for perfect people but a hospital for the broken. As imperfect people we will hurt and be hurt by one another. Learning how to forgive and be forgiven is foundational to every church. We want our church to be a place where forgiveness reigns over revenge. We are forgiven and are empowered to forgive.
Lessons from the Year
Home is a place where we learn and grow together. We take time to pause and reflect, seeing what God has done, being grateful and sharing wisdom from our journey together.
Contact