Home ยป About Us

Core Values

1. Gospel Centred

The Gospel is absolutely central to who we are and all that we do.

  1. It is through faith in the Gospel that we enter a relationship with Jesus Christ and become God's children (Romans 1:16; 10:13-14; John 1:12-13).
  2. The Gospel is our model for live (Philippians 2:4-11) and it actually sustains and grows us in godliness (Titus 2:11)
  3. It is through the Gospel that we are brought together into a community of Christ-like love(Ephesians 3:6-10; John 13:34)
  4. The Gospel entrusts us with the mission to go out and make disciples for Christ this side of his return (Matthew 28:18-20)

In summary, for us to be a 'Gospel Centred' means that we find our roots, sustenance, growth and mission in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Community Emphasis

We place a strong emphasis on community for three reasons:

  1. A loving Community, rooted in and modelled on our triune God, is what we are created for (Genesis 1:27-28; John 17:20-22), God's ultimate and eternal end for mankind (Revelation 21:3). A Christian community is, therefore, a supremely valuable end in itself. Through its simply being it brings great glory to God (Ephesians 3:10).

    2. However, this side of Christ's return, we have been entrusted with a mission - to make disciples of all nations. This mission gives rise to the second and third reasons for our community emphasis.

  2. Christian community is an incredibly powerful mission tool and an ideal context for gospel proclamation (John 13:34-35; 17:23)
  3. Community is the proper context for Christians to build one another up in Christ (Hebrews 10:24-25)

For all these reasons, we are committed to building a gospel centred community of love, acceptance, diversity, challenge and encouragement.

3. 'Organic' Growth and Relationships

'Organic' is one of our defining adjectives. At first, this might seem strange as the word 'organic' does not appear in the New Testament. However, we use it for the following reasons:

  1. Although the word does not occur in the New Testament, the concept runs right through it. Organic language and illustrations are frequently used to describe the slow, messy and involved nature of Christian growth and community (Matthew 13:1-35; Mark 4:26-29; Luke 6:43-45; John 15:1-8; Romans 11:11-21; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8;12:12-31; 1 Timothy 3:5,15;5:1-2). We want to ensure that all of our strategies, programmes and patterns for relating allow for and celebrate this slowness, mess and involvement.
  2. At the level of who we are as Tasmanians, 'organic' is a resonant and positive word. Our beloved island is famous for its organic attractions and produce, from the majestic beauty of our world heritage area to the most humble of artisan sheep's cheeses.
  3. Because of reasons 1 and 2 the organic/inorganic contrast provides an excellent analogy for the kinds of relationships we aspire to. Fake, artificial relationships are like inorganic vegetables. They look pretty on the outside, are cheap and easy to produce, but are completely flavourless and lacking in nutrients. Organic relationships are like organic vegetables. They require a lot of hard work, they are expensive and from the outside they can appear a giant mess. However, they are better for you and when you bite into them, you are overwhelmed by the flavour. We believe that this fits well with the New Testament's expectations for Christian community.

4. 'Outward' Love

We believe it is essential that all Christian relate in a deep and meaningful way to those outside the church. This is true for at least 2 important reasons.

  1. All people are precious in God's sight. All have been created in God's image and are, therefore, special and valuable in and of themselves (Genesis 9:6). Jesus is clear that loving and serving such people is an essential Christian priority (Matthew 22:39; Luke 10:25-37).
  2. A deep, Christian love for people cannot help but find expression in an authentic desire for gospel sharing. After all, to share the good news of Jesus with someone is the best thing you could ever do for that person. However, the New Testament does not envisage evangelism in a vacuum. Instead, the gospel is best presented in the context of Christian sharing their lives with outsiders. As this happens, they both witness and experience the real life difference the gospel makes (Matthew 5:16; John 17:23; Colossians 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:12; Titus 2:7-10). For this reason, we want to engage with and invest in deep relationships with those outside our Church.

5. Biblical Teaching

We believe the Bible to be God's word and, therefore, the ultimate authority by which we live and shape our lives (2 Timothy 3:16). We believe that it contains all we need to know to grow as Jesus' disciples and that it is absolutely essential for maintaining spiritual life (Matthew 4:4). For this reason, we are committed to teaching the Bible to one another in all sorts of ways and within the context of the varied opportunities that life affords. In particular, we are committed to an expository preaching ministry. Through this ministry we seek to intentionally cover every type of biblical genre and take the community as a whole through the entire Bible. This preaching ministry is our main strategy for spiritual growth and is the major focal point of our weekly Sunday meetings.

6. Sanctification of the Secular

In the Lord Jesus, all of life has been redeemed and can be used for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31;Colossians 3:17-23). This means that even the most seemingly mundane and secular of activities, in and of itself, can be a glorious act of worship! As if this weren't enough, all of life can be reclaimed as a missionary opportunity. As we live out gospel sharing lives, the watching world will see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16; John 17:23; Colossians 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:12; Titus 2:7-10).

7. Utter Reliance Upon God

We understand that we can never succeed on our own! Ephesians 2:3 describes us as by nature objects of wrath. If we don't firmly believe that God and God alone is our only means of living the Christian life, and start to rely on ourselves, our strategies and our plans, we will fail. Even our preaching ministry is doomed without the work of God (1 Corinthians 2:12-14). If we rely on ourselves, we will fall into legalism and become frustrated, bitter and cynical. Despair will eat away at us as we continually let ourselves down in our attempts to be godly. We will quickly realise that we alone are utterly incapable of growing a church plant and become overwhelmed by our failure. Instead, we aim to be completely and meaningfully dependent on God to prosper his spiritual work amongst us.
This complete and utter dependence upon God must find expression through bold and expectant prayer. Sadly, people see all sorts of things as 'important ministry activities' whilst sidelining prayer as an inactive extra that doesn't achieve anything. However, if prayer really does lead to the action of God (Matthew 7:7), then it is the most powerful, effective thing we can do.

This is not a complete summary of all we believe. As a Christian Reformed church we uphold the confessions of the European Reformation and look to these confessions to summarise our Christian beliefs. Rather, these core values articulate the key emphases that drive our vision and make Summerleas distinctive when it comes to our life and practice.