"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her... This mystery is profound, and I
am saying that it refers to Christ and the church." (Ephesians 5:25,32)
This new church-plant will be Christ-centered and Gospel-driven, foster thoughtful believers, raise able leaders
through discipleship and ministry trainings, spawn other church-plants, and commission many Christian workers to
the Pacific-Asian nations. We desire to be a strategic and effective tool in God’s hand to take part in the remaining
work of the Gospel ministry in Austral-Asia.
A Closer Look at the Vision
Our Vision... We personally and with great joy embrace this vision as God's providential calling in our lives.
Inwardly and outwardly, the Lord has made known to us His desire to redeem His own in and through Sydney,
Australia, and Asia.
To Plant and Serve... There are at least two ways to plant multiple churches. One way is for particular church
planters to raise a church in one area, then move on to plant the next one elsewhere, then the next, etc.. Another
way is to plant a strong resourceful parent church that will train, equip and launch multiple church planters with the
same vision to do likewise. We are of the second stock. We will seek to build wide, not up.
Dynamically Reformed Evangelical... Why not just be non-denominational or inter-denominational? This is a
well meaning question in the midst of many denominational splits and lack of unified voice in the Christian
community. I truly empathize with this regretful and often sinful reality. However, even non-denominational and
inter-denominational churches stand to be distinguished from traditional denominations. They are saying what
they are not, but not what they are. Having a doctrinal and theological position is to plainly communicate what the
church believes, and how the leaders will be serving its people. We are evangelical in our commitment to the
Scriptures and redemptive mission; we also value our fellowship with other evangelicals. We are also Reformed,
connected to the historic faith that sees the Bible as a living unit of redemptive promises and fulfillments between
God and His people. It is a wonderful heritage of faith for a rootless, drifting postmodern society. However, static
traditionalism can hide the beauty of the Gospel; therefore, we are also committed to the ongoing work of the
reformation, transforming and being transformed according to the pure standard of God's Word.
Church Community... Church is the gathering (ekklesia) of the called-people (qahar) of God. It is a community of
God's families (oikos). It is not just a building or an organizational institution. It is an organic entity, with all of
human dilemmas and triumphs. We will seek to minister God's grace to our eternal family members by loving,
teaching, admonishing, counseling, laughing, living, visiting, helping, crying, sharing, waiting, celebrating, praying,
and hoping. The Church is indeed primarily about worship and mission, but not limited to a narrow definition of
them. We desire to minister to the full breadth of Christian living, from Sunday through Saturday.
In Sydney... Sydney is a brave new world city, poised in the heart of the East. It is an exciting, emerging, and
important city. It is also becoming a hub of the Eastern-Western commerce and culture. There is some evangelical
church presence now, yet hardly enough to make a significant difference, and the statistics for church attendance is
steadily declining. Therefore, our goal is to join the existing Christian churches of Australia in praying and working
for the revival of the land. We hope our new church plant will add to the vitality and spiritual momentum of this
strategic land.
Relevant... When Luther translated the Bible into modern vernacular at the time, it was a big controversy; but we
benefit from his sensible action even today. We are not seeking to be hip or cool, or use gimmicks and
sensationalism. Rather, we simply want to be sensible and sensitive to the people of our own generation, our
contemporary. We want to communicate using modern words and grammar, minus the pomp and faddish slangs;
we want to use the available technology when helpful; we want to employ and encourage creativity and
innovation; we want beautiful and skillful worship music; and we want to deal with real and contemporary issues in
the lives of our brothers and sisters.
Diverse... This can be a sensitive issue for some, resisted by others, and embraced by a few. However, there is
no debate that the Kingdom of Heaven will include people from all tongue, tribe, and nation. Shall we be
segregated until then? I believe that the only biblical basis for separate worship is when language is confused.
But, since our ministry will be in English, the new lingua-franca, we hope to dialogue with the general population of
Australia and Sydney residents. The flip-side of such openness is an unhealthy agenda to include every kind of
people, an ecclesiastical affirmative action of sort. However, a more sensible way is to teach and promote
unprejudiced compassion, model it in evangelism and staffing decisions, and just let the people share the Gospel to
those around their lives and bring to the fold of the church. The Gospel is still shared from faith to faith, whenever
and wherever the Holy Spirit leads.
Great Commission Mandate... What leads us to the new land, to plant a church there, and to evangelize will not
only be taught at the new church, but characterize the very faith and identity. Dr. James Kennedy, of Evangelism
Explosion, calls the Great Commission Mandate of Matthew 28:19,20, "His last command... our first concern." We
believe with all of our hearts the urgency of the call unto faith, to be reconciled to God, for the day of salvation is
here, and Christ will come soon. This sense of redemptive urgency will ring throughout our church's emphasis on
evangelism, church-planting endeavors, and foreign missions.
