Inviting everyone to encounter Jesus

We take God at his word, trust in his promises and by faith believe him for breakthrough

We delight in joyfully sharing the invitation of Jesus with the World around us

We encourage, empower and release people into their Holy Spirit given calling and gifts

We are committed to train, equip and send many to see many saved

Our vision explained

1) Inviting

The meaning for us as a church has both a missional and pastoral edge to it, we have grown over the last 5 years in developing an invited culture across the church when it comes to loving those who don’t know Jesus. A big part of who we are and what we are about is inviting others to come to know Jesus. From smiling to serving we are seeing The City Church grow at sharing an invitation to the world around us to come and know Jesus Christ.

Inviting doesn’t just refer to our relationship with those who don’t know Christ, it also refers to our relationship with one another inside the Church family. We are committed to being a genuinely loving and supportive community that brings the best out of one another for the glory of God. We are a family that shares life in both a gathered and scattered way.

2) Everyone

We believe the Church is called to be a diverse people that reflects the heart of God and the society around them. Our desire is to see anyone and Everyone encounter Jesus. The story of the bible ends with a picture of people from all tribes worshipping the King and we long to see a glimpse of that here on earth. Whatever someone’s social class, race, gender or age we want to see them encountering the king and living in that transformative power.

3) Encounter

The meaning of Encounter for us as a church is all about the truth that Christianity in a nutshell is a relationship with the living God of the universe. We don’t want to do church, but want to grow at knowing and following Jesus Christ. Growing in our walk with him on a daily basis, encountering him through his word, his power and his presence. Our desire is that everyone, whether they call themselves a Christian or not would encounter the God of the bible through their time with us. Both in our gathered moments as a Church family, such as on Sunday mornings, at Small Groups and other events, but also our scattered moments when we are at school, work, university or home, everything we do is to allow opportunity for a divine encounter.

4) Jesus

We exist for the glory of God, pure and simple, we do what we do because we are convinced that Jesus Christ is worth knowing and worthy of our all. We want everything we do to be honouring of him and making much of who he is and what he has done. Our ultimate goal is that Jesus would be made famous across Kent and the nations.

Our values explained

So if our vision is the God given expression of what we are heading for specifically here at The City Church, then our values are how the journey is going to feel as we head towards that God given destination. The values together paint a holistic picture of our desire to be a church that makes disciples who make disciples. Seeking to develop healthy Christians who understand the three dynamics to discipleship of Love for God, Love for the Church and Love for the Lost.

Value One

“We enjoy encountering the grace and power of our Father God every day”

We are a worshipping people who believe that God is worthy of all honour and praise. We delight in who our God is and what he has done and will passionately and joyfully celebrate these truths whilst also being a people who reflect and contemplate the depth and riches of our God and his gospel.

We are a people of grace because God has lavishly poured his grace out upon us, our position as Children of God is because of the Lords kindness, love and mercy. We have been saved by grace and we delight in that truth on a daily basis. We want to be a family that lives in the good of grace, enjoying the security, hope and assurance it brings for us. We also want to express that grace to one another and the world around us. Freely we have received so freely we give.

We are also a people that recognise our daily need for the lord to help us in every aspect of life and so we treasure the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We want to position ourselves in a way that means we are regularly filled with the Spirit and are walking in step with him. We eagerly desire spiritual gifts when we are both gathered and scattered and encourage all believers to be baptised in the Holy Spirit.

Value Two

“We take God at his word, trust in his promises and by faith believe him for breakthrough”

We are a people that believe that the Bible is the ultimate authority for our lives, that it is the inspired, inerrant word of God that is essential to every aspect of our lives. We aim to ensure all that we are and do is shaped by the Word of God. We place scripture at the centre of our gathered times and believe through the preaching and hearing of the word the Lord will work supernaturally to inspire, encourage, console and equip his people.

Because of our high view of scripture we are a people that live in obedience to Gods word, not believing that this is what allows us right standing before God but in response to all the Lord has done for us. We are a Holy people set apart by God for his glory and we live in light of that truth. We are light in darkness shining the hope of the gospel to the world around us and are salt bringing a distinctness to our communities as we live for Jesus. In all areas of life from our words to our relationships and our attitudes to our actions we want all we are and all we do to reflect who our God is and what he has made us in Christ.

We are also a people of faith who walk in the victory of Jesus and seek to see his Kingdom break into every area of society. Through persistent, audacious and passionate prayer we expect to see God move in many powerful and often surprising ways.

We are a generous people who want to follow Jesus with our all. We give our time, our energy and our money to Jesus and his Church as we believe he has called us to give cheerfully, willingly and proportionately to the blessings he has given us.

Value Three

“We are devoted to sharing, living and modelling life together as family”

We are a people that are committed to being a family together. We celebrate the diversity of the family of God, welcoming all to be part of his local family with us. No matter their social class, race, age or gender we invite all to be part of the adventure with us.

We are a people that champion leadership, believing that it is a God given gift for our benefit. We value the importance of biblical eldership, a team of men who seek to father the family through their God given authority with a servant and humble heart. We honour, encourage and bless our leaders by seeking to follow them with joy, love and faith.

We are a people that delight in the natural expressions of family. We guard biblical marriage and see the raising of children as a God given responsibility that isn’t just for the parents but for the entire church family to play a role in modelling, protecting and supporting all the children in our family. We also celebrate the gift of singleness and seek to hold it in the same esteem as the apostle Paul and all the opportunities it brings for gospel advance.

We are an honest family that seek to live lives of transparency and vulnerability. We don’t hide our sins, weaknesses or fears from one another but instead bring everything into the light knowing that it is through repentance and confession that we will grow as a family.

Value Four

“We delight in joyfully sharing the invitation of Jesus with the World around us”

We are an inviting people who seek to share the good news of Jesus with everyone that we can. We are convinced that it is both a privilege and a responsibility for the believer to be someone who proclaims the gospel of Jesus through both their words and actions. We long to see many people’s lives transformed by the saving grace of Jesus.

We are a welcoming people, always wanting to make anyone and everyone that joins us as a family to feel as at home as possible. We go out of our way to create a warm, relaxed and friendly environment that is understandable and accessible for all.

We are a people committed to the well-being of our community. We want to serve, support and love the people of our town and city through acts of mercy and love. Through our individual lives of mercy to our corporate projects we want to be a blessing to the world around us.

Value Five

“We encourage, empower and release people into their Holy Spirit given calling and gifts”

We are a people that seek to build one another up and fully grasp our identity in Christ. We want to see men and women free to be who God has made them to be, confident in their own skin, clear on their call and strengthened to walk into it.

We are a people that want to equip each person so they can be effective for Jesus in the areas he has called them too. We celebrate others successes and put their needs before our own. We want to see those younger than us go further than us for the Kingdom of God and so we invest in our children and young people. believing that they will be do great things for God.

We are a people that take Jesus very seriously but not ourselves. We aren’t looking to be the best or to put on a performance but are looking to release every person in our church into all that Jesus has for them.

Value Six

“We are committed to train, equip and send many to see many saved”

We are a sending people who take the call to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’ literally. We want to help people work out what God is calling them to, train them so they can be effective in that calling and then send them so we can see many lives impacted for Jesus. We are always ready to send our best. We give our money to bless beyond ourselves.

We are a people that stand by those we send, remembering them in our prayers, and going out of our way to encourage and support them in any and every way possible. We want to stand with them through the difficult times and celebrate with them in the good.

Our sermon series Distinct unpacks our values further. These are available to listen to on the sermon library.