vision
and
values

GOD

is the Creator of everything and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three personalities: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. These three are co-​​equal and are one God. (Genesis 1:26 – 27; 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14.)

GOD THE FATHER

is co-equal with the Son and the Holy Spirit. He directed creation through the word of the Son and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Father sent the Son to restore humanity to Him because of His great love for His creation. He is spirit, and so invisible, yet is the perfect expression of love. He sets the standard of love, family and identity, and offers it freely to those made in His image. While humanity was in sin and rebellion, He sent the Son to die for us. (Genesis 1:1-2; John 1:1-2; John 3:16; Ephesians 3:14-16; 1 John 4:8.)

JESUS CHRIST

is the Son of God. He is co-​​equal with the Father and the Spirit. He has eternally existed. Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by suffering and dying on a cross. He rose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to the Father’s side and will return again to earth to reign as King of kings, and Lord of lords. (Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:22 – 23; John 1:1 – 5; John 14:10 – 31; Acts 1:9 – 11; Romans 1:3 – 4; 1 Corinthians 15: 3 – 4; Ephesians 1:20; 1 Timothy 6:14 – 15; Titus 2:13 – 14. Hebrews 4:14–15.)

THE HOLY SPIRIT

is co-​​equal with the Father and the Son of God. He is present in the world to make humankind aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He is God and is the in-dwelling presence of God that resides in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He empowers each Christian for supernatural living, understanding of spiritual truth, conviction of sin and righteousness, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer spiritual gifts to be used in service for God. As Christians we seek to live in His presence daily. (John 16:7 – 13; John 14:16 – 17; Acts 1:8; Romans 12:3 – 8; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 5:18.1 Peter 4:10.)

THE BIBLE

is God’s living and active Word to us. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is the truth without any mixture of error as originally given. The Bible is the basis for all we believe. (Psalm 119:105, 160; Proverbs 30:5; 2 Timothy 1:13; 2 Timothy 3:16– 17; 2 Peter 1:20 – 21.)

PEOPLE

are made in the image of God, to be like Him in character and activity. People are the supreme object of God’s creation. Although every person has tremendous potential for good, all are marred by disobedience toward God, called “sin”. This attitude separates people from God and causes many problems in life. (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3 – 6; Isaiah 59:1-2; Isaiah 53:6a; Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 4:17.)

SALVATION

is an expression of God’ grace and is His free gift to us, but we must personally accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-​​improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty: eternal separation from God. When we turn from our self-​​ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved. The moment one receives Jesus Christ into their life by faith, God lavishes His love and eternal life on those He now calls His children. (John 1:12; John 14:6; Romans 5:1; Romans 6:23; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:8 – 9; Titus 3:4-8; 1 John 3:1.)

ETERNAL LIFE

is a free gift of God as a result of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection, and available through faith in Him. People were created to exist eternally. They will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or together with God as a result forgiveness and salvation. At the culmination of all things, the new heaven, earth and hell are real places of eternal existence. The place of eternal security with God is the restored heaven and earth. People who choose to reject Jesus and His offer of salvation and eternal life choose separation for God. The place of eternal separation from God is hell. Any person who has been genuinely saved, is trusting Christ to sustain and sanctify them through the work of His Spirit, who continues to seek after God, and who is responsive to the discipline of God, can be totally confident of their eternal security. (John 3:16; John 10:29; Romans 6:23; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 10:10; Hebrews12:1 – 12; 1 Peter 1:3 – 5; Revelation 20:15-21:2.)

Church is the body of Christ. The whole church exists to worship God, disciple people and reach the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. At our church we celebrate these things:

REACH

The very heart of God is that people who He created and loves, would be welcomed into His Kingdom, place Him as King and enjoy the benefits of living under His reign. He always intended that if we experienced this for ourselves that we would now reach others as we represent His Kingdom and be kingdom bringers.

God has given each of us a frontline that we can reach with the Good News of the Gospel, a place where we have relationship, relevance and influence. Jesus showed us how to declare and demonstrate this Good News in a naturally supernatural way. As we have freely received from God, so we too are freely able to give materially, emotionally and spiritually to others. (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Peter 3:15; James 2.)

DISCIPLESHIP

Jesus instructed His disciples to make disciples, teaching these disciples everything He had taught them. Today, followers of Jesus are the direct result of this instruction. Our journey of discipleship is our journey into being like Jesus, doing what He showed us to do and loving God and others the way He taught us. That happens in a number of different ways.

Baptism and communion are two essential instructions of Jesus in Scripture. We hold baptism to be the immersion of believers upon their profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and is symbolic of the fellowship of the regenerate in His death, burial, and resurrection. We hold communion to be a celebration and remembrance of the sacrifice of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that was made on our behalf, which we practice by sharing bread and juice. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Colossians 2:12.)

Every believer is on a journey of discipleship and sanctification (being made holy) and is empowered by the Holy Spirit to grow in their relationship with God. This happens through the inner work of God, reading the Bible, prayer, worship, and practicing spiritual disciplines. It is the responsibility of each believer to cultivate this relationship with God. (John 4:23-24; John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 6:2-5.)

Every Christian is called to serving God as a minister, regardless of our vocation. The empowerment for service is intimacy with Jesus Christ through prayer, obedience to His Word, and dependence on the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit supernaturally manifests His presence through His ministers in His power. (John 15:5; John 14:21,23; Romans 12:3 – 8; Ephesians 4:11 – 13; Ephesians 6:7; Philippians 2:4, Philippians 4:13; 1 Corinthians 12:7 – 11, 28 – 31; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6.)

Generosity and giving is an act of worship to God. Recognising that all we possess as Christians belongs to God, we are encouraged to give generously to God’s work in our church through our finances, time, gifts, talents and effort. A simple starting point is the biblical instruction of a tithe (10%) to the work and ministry of the church, and the New Testament suggests we joyfully give offerings beyond our tithe. (Malachi 3:10; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 16:2; 2 Corinthians 8 – 9.)

WORSHIP

Worship is the only eternal activity. When God sets the world right in the new creation, we will no longer need to reach others nor disciple others, as God will be directly present with His people. We have the invitation to participate in worship now by our own choice. Worship means ‘to give worth’, and as we give worth to God, we acknowledge His supremacy over all of creation and created things. Worship is not singing in a Sunday service, it’s any time we are in communion with God. God is present with us when we worship, and as dwelling places of the Holy Spirit, we are each able to lead ourselves into God’s presence in worship. Prayer is an expression of worship, just as worship is an expression of prayer. As we worship God and as we talk with Him, we become like, being transformed into His likeness. (Psalm 22:3; Matthew 18:20; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; Revelation 19:1-8.)

As a Baptist church, we believe in the Priesthood of all believers, meaning that every follower of Jesus stands in the role of priest, with access to God and able to represent Him to the world. We also believe in the direct Lordship of Jesus Christ over each believer, which means that each individual needs no intermediary to come to Christ, and each believer is in direct relationship with God. We believe that the whole local church congregation, under the direct Lordship of Christ, has the final say over the life and affairs of the congregation, facilitated by appointing leaders. At Riverlife, this happens through the mechanism of church membership and the leadership of Elders, Pastors and Staff. We recognise the value of associating and cooperating with other groups of Christians. We believe every local church should be self-​​governing through the leading of the Holy Spirit, yet interdependent with other churches and our denomination. (1 Peter 2:5,9; Matthew 28:18; Philippians 2:11.)