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What to expect

What to expect from the people of Impact Christian Centre

“We are a passionate community believers, determined  become authentic disciples of Jesus!”

The Bible describes the Church as many things, one being a family. The local church and a family have a lot in common. Families are people who should be committed to each other through mutual love and acceptance, through good and difficult times. A local church is no different; in fact it should function in a deeper and closer way as Jesus joins and holds all together.  The Bible also refers to the church as the ‘body’ of Jesus, therefore it is the responsibility of all to love, support, encourage and build-up one another.

The people who make up Impact Christian Centre overall, are seeking to be authentic followers of Jesus in every way. Part of our aim is to provide not only a safe environment where people are loved and nurtured, but just as importantly, an effective environment where people are challenged, equipped and released to be all that God is calling them to be.

We take Jesus’ prayer seriously:

“I pray they (believers) will be one as I and the Father are one” (John 17). This is more than friendship and just being social; it means doing life together, outside of ‘meetings’, reflecting the relationship of the Trinity.

We want to build transparency and trust in our relationships so people are loved and encouraged and are able to share pain and failure as well as successes.

 Our relationship with Jesus is a ’given’, as you cannot call yourself an authentic Christian without knowing, loving and obeying Him.  We emphasise His unconditional, relentless love and grace towards people.

We want Him as Lord of our lives, and central to all we do.  We see in scripture that Jesus embraced all who walked ‘towards’ Him no matter how far away they were. We recognise that individuals will be at different levels with regards to their personal relationship with God; we encourage each other to become closer, stronger and better. We talk about Jesus, His death and resurrection, His love, His power, Him being glorified, His return, etc. It’s all about Jesus!

The Word of God:We are not just “Bible based”, we are passionate about trying to live God’s Word no matter how difficult that may be and this is a goal we constantly pursue.  If principles and truths are not in the Bible, then we don’t live by them, even if they ‘work’. We recognise that, at best, God may at times use other things such as seminars, courses, counseling, etc. as tools that may benefit some, but our reliance is not on any psychological, technical, man-made ‘formula’ or strategy that we cannot reference in scripture. We fully seek His Word and the power of the Holy Spirit.

We talk about His forgiveness, His blessing and abundant life. We are not afraid to talk about sin, heaven, hell and the blood of Jesus, “dying to self” (our own natural desires and agendas), “serving the community in the community” and being on a journey where God is changing us to “look more like Jesus”.

The Body of Christ (the local Church):We take being with each other seriously, because the Bible does. We talk about “100% body ministry”, encouraging everyone to take responsibility, to love and to serve. The Bible does not exempt anyone from this. What we do when we meet together we see as ‘house-keeping’ and fellowship; our real ministry is what God has called us to do Monday to Saturday. Using the analogy of a football game, ‘spectating’ and or ‘shouting instructions or abuse’ from the sidelines is not compatible with New Testament Christianity. It is fine for people to sit on the ‘bench’ for a time as they may not be ready to ‘play on the field’, so they can receive nurture, ‘training’ and equipping.

Leadership:

We believe in Biblical leadership (not controlling or manipulative).  At times you may have difficulty spotting the leaders at ICC as they attach more importance to their function than to their position and they consider themselves no more important than anyone else. We have no CEO; Jesus is the ‘Head’ of His Church. The leaders won’t be calling or visiting you every week for a ‘cuppa’ to see why you did not attend meetings.  They have not been appointed to ‘please’ you or to make sure that you are ‘happy’ with Church.  The leaders will not simply devise programs to satisfy needs or just answer complaints. Their mandate is to make you ‘God’ dependant.  You can expect the leaders at ICC to love you (which will mean caring, sharing, teaching, challenging and even rebuking you at times); they will certainly seek to equip you for “works of service” and help you grow in maturity. We acknowledge that leaders also need support and will not be perfect.

Programs:We have minimal activities going on; we do not offer countless programs just to occupy people or to make them feel good or important.

We encourage individuals to ‘tap’ into, find and do anything that will help them grow as authentic disciples of Jesus. We also understand from scripture that the Church is bigger than our local church (ICC) and that we are called to pursue oneness with the wider body of Christ where possible.

Where we meet: We put little emphasis on the buildings where we gather. At present they are all rented. We understand that our bodies are the “temple of the Holy Spirit” and the church building is not the ‘House of God”, we are. We do not emphasise finances and numbers of people. We seek to love and disciple one another, but only Jesus builds His Church (a community of disciples).  We also meet in homes.

Our Meetings:Though relatively ordered, we do not have an ‘order of service’, specific finish times, ‘seeker’ friendly services or gatherings where we try to put on a good ‘show’ to impress people.  Our singers and musicians do not have to be ‘excellent’, but rather devoted to Jesus and willing to serve to the best of their ability. At times we may even have technical problems with our sound system, etc.

We have vibrant, joyful and expressive singing, at times the raising of hands, voices, clapping, dancing, etc.; we believe we have much to celebrate. We believe in prayer and study of the Bible. We pray regularly, we expect the supernatural power of God to be at work in our lives, speaking, comforting, delivering, healing, etc. When this doesn’t happen we do not blame God or ‘seek’ man-made attempts to compensate or justify why.  Rather we look at ourselves and keep crying out to God.  We seek to live in the experience of God’s unconditional love; we seek to live by His Spirit.

Not Just a Church: We take our pattern from the Bible, not from the pervading world or even church culture.  We are looking to be Kingdom-minded which produces Kingdom action. We want to help people to be refreshed, but we are not just a ‘spiritual oasis’. We seek to be a channel of healing, but we are not just a ‘spiritual hospital’. We seek to walk alongside people as God deals with their issues, but we are not a ‘counseling centre’. We seek to help practically in the community, but we are not just a ‘charitable organization’. We seek to be practical in the application of scripture, but we are not here just to teach ‘life skills’.

Our Primary Purpose, and why we exist, is God’s Primary Purpose, summed up in John 3:16.  We emphasise reaching the world with the gospel (good news of Jesus). We define the gospel as showing the love and glory of God in words, deeds and signs with the aim of connecting others to Jesus. All we do must have a ‘redemptive’ purpose and must help us fulfill our ‘Primary Purpose’ better.

Outreach and Missions: This is our ‘Primary Purpose’, to show the world the love and glory of God. Even though we financially, prayerfully and physically support local and other mission ventures outside of ICC, we have no mission’s committee or budget.  We understand missions and evangelism are a lifestyle and not an event; it’s what we do, everyday, 24/7.

We love to reach out to the poor, broken and hurting (with no strings attached); we do this because it is on the heart of God and we understand and love to reflect our Father’s heart. There is no instruction or excuse in scripture that Christians have to be completely ‘whole’, ‘healed’, etc. before they can obey the command of Jesus to love lost people.

Finances: We do strongly believe, teach and practice Biblical principles on giving, as part of our obedience and worship to God.  You will not hear a tithe/offering message every time we meet; at present we do not take up an offering or collection. We believe that authentic disciples of Jesus will give and give generously into the life of the local Church to support workers, ministries, the poor, etc.  If people choose not to be generous, then workers, ministries, etc. are restricted.  Facilities are made for people to give electronically via their financial institutions and there is a tithe/offering box available at the venues where we meet.