Vision and Foundations
Our vision statement says that ‘We are a community of ordinary people whose lives have been changed by the living God. We are passionate about following Jesus Christ and are committed to the courageous discovery of fresh ways to worship together, to build up one another, to serve in our local community, and introduce people to Jesus.’
Passionate about Jesus
At the heart of the gospel is the command to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. As a church, we will be committed to developing deepening discipleship in the lives of one another. We will spur one another on in our understanding of Jesus Christ and his kingdom. We will correct one another so that we increasingly resemble the character and behaviour of Christ. We will worship together faithfully, magnifying the Lord and revealing his glory to one another.
Serve in our local community
The command to love your neighbour as yourself demands an active response. We will serve our local community in a variety of ways that respond to the changing needs. We will be careful not to over-commit ourselves but will seek opportunities where both the individuals that make up the church and the community of the church can collectively offer love, joy, peace, and hope to those living in the Denny district.
Build up one another
Just as the early church shared all that they had to meet the need of the whole church, we willingly offer our gifts and resources to serve one another. We will also be quick to forgive one another, encourage one another and meet with one another for worship, service, and recreation.
Courageous discovery of fresh ways
We will resist institutional preservation by challenging old habits and attitudes. Instead, we will choose to behave like a startup church, exploring new approaches to being a church. We will regularly ask questions about what we are doing, whether they are fit for purpose and how they might be improved on. We will be willing to start and stop activities to enable creativity and
innovation.
Introduce
people
to Jesus
The Bible clearly speaks of people’s lives being transformed by a living encounter with Jesus, the Saviour of the world. It will be among our highest purposes to intentionally share this good news, embodying and announcing God’s reconciling, healing, and future for Denny District.
This is the people we are seeking to become.
As a church, we recently became an SCIO, and with the arrival of our new minister in September 2022 it feels like the start of a new adventure in the life of Denny Baptist Church. We are passionate about Jesus. We will seek to serve in the local community. We will build one another up. We will discover fresh ways to worship and grow together, and we will introduce people to Jesus, sharing our faith.
As we started this new adventure, we have spent some months working on our foundations and making sure we get these right for all the Lord is going to do moving forward. We want to be a people who live that ‘Jesus is Lord and he is our king, seeking to live out the great commandment and play our part in the great commission.
As people passionate about Jesus and his Kingdom, we seek to be a people of prayer, a people of unity and forgiveness, a people of the word and the Spirit, and a people where we are all playing our part in the life of the church and the mission of God. As we move forward, we want to hold tight to our vision and our foundations, remaining open to the Spirit and keeping in step with the Spirit, believing that the Lord will build his church as we faithfully follow him.