What are we here for?

Find out what makes St John’s tick...

• Our Mission Statement
• Why do we stand for what we stand for?
• Who shares with us in such an understanding of the Christian faith?

Our Mission Statement

Our mission as a church is:

‘To know Jesus Christ better and to make him better known'

In this way we hope to express two aims:

(1) ‘To know Jesus Christ better...'

The apostle Paul says, ‘I want to know Christ...' (Philippians 3:10) and ‘For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.'

We believe this happens:

• As the scriptures are taught, explained and applied.

‘Now I commit you to God and the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified...' (Acts 20:32)

• As we unite in fellowship with God’s people.

‘And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.' (Ephesians 3:17-19)

• As we serve Christ.

‘It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.' (Ephesians 4:11-13)

• As we suffer for his sake.

‘I want to know Christ and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead.' (Philippians 3:10-11)

This process of getting to know Christ better - through teaching, uniting, serving and suffering - is aided by many of the formal activities in our fellowship. These include Sunday Meetings, Midweek Fellowship Groups, Sunday Clubs for younger children and Youth Groups for older ones. But of course it’s not limited to these activities.

We recognise that the Christian life is being lived out in the varied lives of those who make up the fellowship here - lives lived in homes and families, in places of education, in the work place and in all the ways we spend our time in leisure and relaxation. The overarching aim of life - whether at home, work or ‘church’ - is ‘to know Jesus Christ better.’

(2) ‘...and to make him better known.'

For Jesus said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.' (Matthew 28:20)

We believe this happens:

• Through public proclamation.

Paul said to the idol worshippers of Athens, ‘Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you' (Acts 17:23). And to the Roman church Paul argued, ‘How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”' (Romans 10:14-15)

• Through the distinctive lives of Christians.

Jesus prefaced his teaching in ‘the Sermon on the Mount' with a call to his disciples to maintain their distinctiveness visibly: ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.' (Matthew 5:13-16)

• Through the united witness of the Christian fellowship.

Jesus said, ‘A new command I give you: Love one another. By this will all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.' (John 13:34-35)

• Through individual Christians speaking about Christ as they have opportunity:

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” (1 Peter 3:15-16)

This task of making Christ better known is also accomplished through the formal activities of the fellowship, including opportunities to meet on Sundays, and at dinners, barbecues and a regular course for people wanting to explore the Christian faith or have a refresher course. But once again, this overall aim to ‘make Christ better known' is the essential task to which we are committed in our day-to-day lives at home, school or work.

Why do we stand for what we stand for?

Behind all that we aim to be, do, practice and proclaim, is an understanding of the Christian faith that is consistent with the fundamental truths revealed in Holy Scripture.

We believe such an understanding of the Christian faith - that represents the central truths of the gospel, and which is the basis of our unity, the foundation of our ministry and the content of our message - includes the following doctrinal propositions:

1. There is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
2. God is sovereign in creation, revelation, redemption and final judgement.
3. The Bible, as originally given, is the inspired and infallible Word of God. It is the supreme authority in all matters of belief and behaviour.
4. Since the fall, the whole of humankind is sinful and guilty, so that everyone is subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.
5. The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate Son, is fully God; he was born of a virgin; his humanity is real and sinless; he died on the cross, was raised bodily from death and is now reigning over heaven and earth.
6. Sinful human beings are redeemed from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death once and for all time of their representative and substitute, Jesus Christ, the only mediator between them and God.
7. Those who believe in Christ are pardoned all their sins and accepted in God’s sight only because of the righteousness of Christ credited to them; this justification is God’s act of undeserved mercy, received solely by trust in him and not by their own efforts.
8. The Holy Spirit alone makes the work of Christ effective to individual sinners, enabling them to turn to God from their sin and to trust in Jesus Christ.
9. The Holy Spirit lives in all those he has regenerated. He makes them increasingly Christ-like in character and behaviour and gives them power for their witness in the world.
10. The one holy universal church is the Body of Christ, to which all true believers belong.
11. The Lord Jesus Christ will return in person, to judge everyone, to execute God’s just condemnation on those who have not repented and to receive the redeemed to eternal glory.

Who shares with us in such an understanding of the Christian faith?

We recognise that these essential articles of faith have been adopted by many Bible-believing Christians, including the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), the Church of England in the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal and (in this form) the Universities and College’s Christian Fellowship (UCCF). We are also wholly sympathetic to the position stated in the Reform Covenant of 1994.