Jesus brought God’s love to people wherever he went. In fact, often whole cities were transformed as a result of one of his visits. In Mark 6:53 it says,
“And wherever he went – into villages, towns or countryside – they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.” (NIV)
What a scene! Imagine, a whole city without a single sick person.
But this isn’t all that Jesus did. He was also a man of prayer. He was one who befriended the outcasts of society. He was a powerful preacher of the Gospel. And he invested in people, empowering them to reach their full potential.
At the Forresters Beach Seventh-day Adventist Church, we believe that God wants us to have this kind of impact upon the Central Coast Community.
But how? We believe that if we want to impact our community like Jesus did, then we need to follow His methods. With this goal in mind, we have adopted the following mission statement:
We are here to PRAY, CONNECT, SERVE, SHARE and GROW.
These five words represent five key aspects of Jesus’ ministry. They are also the five areas that we want to excel at.
Here are some of the practical ways we do this at our Church:
PRAYING – At our Church we have a network of people who are organised to support all that we do through prayer. In fact, everyone who comes regularly to our Church is put on a roster to be prayed for by name by our Prayer Team.
CONNECTING – We don’t want your experience with Church to consist only of learning. We want you to also feel connected. With this aim, our Connect Team organises regular social events such as trivia, bush walks, and Church camps. Some of these bring together our whole Church, while others take place in a Community Group.
SERVING – Our Serve Team’s goal is to transform our community through acts of kindness. One recent initiative was a simple project called MOWvember. During the month of November we offered people in our community free help with their garden work. It’s was a fun and easy way to show God’s love in a hands-on and practical way.
SHARING – We believe that the best news in the whole world is the message of Salvation. The apostle John put it this way, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV). The Share Team at our Church exists to create opportunities to share this life-transforming message with our community.
GROWING – The Christian journey doesn’t end when we put our belief in Jesus, in fact, it begins. After we become followers of Jesus, we are then to grow into the men and women that God has purposed us to be. The Growth Team’s task is to ensure that our Church has the best environment to promote healthy Spiritual growth. One way that they do this is by regularly making contact with each church member to ensure that they are receiving the care and support that they need.