The Salvation Army - EastlakesEASTLAKES JOURNEY
We are a group of Christian people who are committed to God and to each other. Our desire is to develop a Church for the community in our area here at Eastlakes, who are committed to being “community” to our community in building community life. Committed to God and to each
other: It is important to recognise the importance of belonging to a group of Christians. God’s emphasis has always been with people in a community not with individuals in isolation. There is a biblical emphasis on people working together to fulfil His purposes. John 17:21 expresses Jesus prayer … “I pray that they will be all one., just as you and I are one … as you are in me, Father and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” Essentially, it boils down to relationships. We all recognise the value and importance of good relationships. Yet, within this busy society we realise that good strong relationships are often rare … we hide behind the walls of our busyness so that we don’t have to worry about anyone wanting to be our friend. Instead, as a Church, we want to emphasise the opposite, namely … the importance of becoming busy in building genuine relationships. Our example is Jesus who not only shared his life intimately with 12 friends, but was constantly to be found in other people’s company for meals, parties and relaxation. Luke 15:2 notes Jesus as a “friend of sinners”. One of the phrases that we have on our front notice board is “You matter to us and to God” That means that our Church should place a priority on people not program. It is often hard to work out in practice. However it is essential that within this Church we strive to work together in unity and harmony. We choose to be committed to each other … it is a part of our commitment to God. This obviously does mean that we sacrifice personal preference for the sake of the Kingdom. All of the above is due to the fact that we are committed to the cause of Jesus and we demonstrate His love by having a hand to man and a heart toward God. “Community” to our community. The Church is rarely noted for being actively involved within the local community. This is sad partly because it is often not strictly true … a lot of work goes on behind the scenes … we want to be known as a Church that is interested in the needs of those within the community. We are trying to be aware of the specific needs of our local community and aim to have theses needs reflected in the Church’s outreach. We are called to live within our
community to give witness to the gospel, and carry out it’s mission
(Matthew Jesus said … “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbour as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) Building in Church and Community We want to emphasise the fact that when we become Christians we were immediately put right with God and have a new relationship with God then Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we come into this new relationship, all those who have ever trusted Christ become brothers and sisters, in Christ. Acts 1 and 2 are best examples of purposeful interaction in the life of the Church and had an explosive opening which then culminated in the powerful description of the Church given in Acts 2: 42 – 47. This is the Church that we want to become, characterised by strong relationships and heart to our fellow man. We seek to communicate and demonstrate the life changing message of Jesus in ways relevant to those outside the Church. Back to
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