Motivation

What moves us?

“Mission is not merely an activity of the church. Rather, mission is the result of God’s initiative, rooted in God’s purposes to restore and heal creation. . . The biblical message is more radical, more inclusive, more transforming than we have allowed it to be. . .God’s mission is calling and sending us, the church of Jesus Christ, to be a missionary church in our own societies, in the cultures in which we find ourselves.”

—Darrell Guder

Jesus

Jesus. // He’s our motivation. For life, for love, for everything.

 

We believe that as the ones who use his name follow the mandate of loving him and loving others, the world is transformed. Heaven comes to earth—not at some arbitrary point in the future, but here. Now.

 

John Lennon penned it and a generation sang it: “All you need is love, love, love. . . all you need is love.” We’ve danced to it, we’ve sung it, and perhaps we’ve even believed it. But have we lived it? Do we really know what Love is? No doubt we’ve often misunderstood it—the real meaning of Love.

 

Our commitment is to learn to receive and give Love as if our lives depended on it. Because guess what? They do.

Sydney

Sydney. // The city itself motivates us, too. She is wide and influential and strategic.

 

We believe Sydney is nearing a tipping point where the heavens will open as never before and we’ll see the city rise in the hope of Jesus, taking her place as a blessing to the world and joining in God’s purposes as she participates in the ministry of reconciliation—his redemptive work of making all things new. Sydney is poised to be hugely influential in mobilizing the Church to missions—even while helping to redefine what ‘missions’ even means—and we want to be a part of seeing that happen.

 

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” —Jesus

Nations

Nations. // We are motivated by a love of nations. Sydney is a city of nations—an urban village of villages. Nearly half of all Sydney-siders (40%) were born overseas. Imagine those same first generation Aussies being transformed by Love. How might they go on to influence their home nations—places where traditional western “missionaries” are not even allowed access? And what if together we grabbed hold of God’s heart and vision for missional living and applied that in our workplaces, in our neighbourhoods, and throughout the nations of the earth?

 

Sydney is already a city comprised of nations; we dream of the day when the nations of Sydney go on to share Jesus with the entire world.

Community

Community. // We are motivated by the need for community. The age of innovation is giving us opportunities for connection we’ve never had before. If we’re not careful, all of the connectivity and noise can cause us to become more isolated and lonely than ever before, but it can also foster community in ways previous generations never dreamed of. That’s what we’re interested in—connecting people with one another and connecting them with Jesus, both through the use of innovative technology, but—far more importantly—through face-to-face neighbourly friendship and care.

 

The world needs to see the practical outworking of heaven on earth now, and we believe as they see Jesus they will love him. (How could they not love Jesus once they genuinely meet him?) One of the simplest and most effective ways for people to see Jesus is to see him through believers who love one another and love the community right at their doorstep. There is no fancy strategy that can replace living with and loving our neighbours, adopting them into our family and into the family of God.

A little more about Sydney

Sydney is a city of roughly five million—Australia’s biggest urban metropolis. In fact, one out of every five Australians live here so you can imagine the impact Sydney has on the nation as a whole.  Right now, only 8% of Aussies regularly attend church, and we think this number is far too low. We understand that bums on chairs don’t make for transformed lives, but we do think as people know Jesus they will want to find a faith community with others to grow alongside. We think what this 8% statistic actually means is that people haven’t met the real Jesus Who Loves yet.

 

Sydney’s urban core is considered “hard to reach” by some, but we believe it’s a congregation of honest souls and longing hearts waiting for Love to meet them where they’re at. The inner city is full of people who don’t yet know the hope of Jesus, the love of the Father, and the comfort, guidance, and empowering grace of the Holy Spirit. Jesus already lives here… but he needs us (the collective body of Christ) to help make his presence tangible through our real lives—our relationships, our families, our vocations, our love.

 

 

Over half the world’s population now lives in cities—making urban missions imperative for the next great wave for missionary endeavor across the earth. Cities are on God’s heart… because cities are where the people are.