1:4:8
One manifesto
Four statements
Eight values
Our Manifesto
We have distilled The Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20; Acts 1:8) and The Great Commandment (Mark 12:29-31) into our manifesto. Each of the words also embody our core values.
Helping
We are Holy Spirit empowered servants
like Jesus.
1 / Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is our connection with the presence and the power of Jesus. Therefore we live in sincere dependency on Him. He comes alongside us as our Helper, giving diverse gifts to Christians so that they may serve and build up the church and society. Aware of these God-given Spiritual Gifts, we actively seek opportunities in which to exercise them.
2 / serving
We gladly give up our rights and resources, and actively demonstrate sacrificial love by serving others in Jesus’ name. We are not customers who consume religious goods or chase comfortable experiences, but servants who contribute to meet the needs of others.
People
We are the
hospitable family
of Jesus.
3 / hospitality
According to Jesus everyone is our neighbour, especially strangers, and even our enemies! We therefore place a high value on building relationships, pursuing friendship over friendliness; showing no favouritism. We move from greeting to eating, sharing our faith as we share our food.
4 / family
The church is not like a family, it is a family. We are a tight-knit community of brothers and sisters who share God as our Father. We don’t merely get along, but seek to love each other just as Christ loved us. We don’t gossip. We honour each other. We are quick to forgive, and even quicker to ask for forgiveness.
Find
We are strategic missionaries
for Jesus.
5 / mission
We are not merely church-goers, but want to be known as a going church. Some may go to the nations, but everyone can go to their neighbours. Therefore we are all missionaries, no longer of this world but sent into it as ambassadors for Christ.
6 / strategy
Where we live, work or play is no accident. We leverage these as unique opportunities to show and share Jesus in contexts that others may not have access to. As a church, we carefully consider how the never-changing Gospel is brought to bear on an ever-changing culture. We endeavour to use timely methods to best engage with society around this timeless truth.
Follow
We are
disciples devoted
to Jesus.
7 / discipleship
As apprentices of Jesus our Master, we prioritize and reorganize our entire lives to learn from and obey Him. We are both at his feet as students and out in the field as practitioners. This relationship is personal, but not exclusive. Therefore we are always inviting others to join us in imitating Jesus along the way.
8 / devotion
Spiritual disciplines are the habits which characterize a devoted life that is lived wholly for Jesus, and holy like Jesus. Through spiritual formation, we follow Jesus’ example of being dedicated to the scriptures, prayer, fasting, feasting, community, solitude, rest, etc. In practicing these, we learn to love what Jesus loves, and hate what Jesus hates.
As with our manifesto, Jesus literally has the last word in the sentences that describe our values. But He is also at the start, and at the centre of who we are, what we do, and why we do it.
a / relationship
The whole Bible is ultimately about Jesus. Therefore, Christianity is fundamentally not centred around a bunch of precepts, but around a person. Here at City Gates we don’t define our faith in terms of performing religious duties, but rather as having a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.
the / gospel
Our values may seem full of things that you should do for God, but the Gospel is in fact the story of what God has done for you in and through His Son, Jesus. Therefore, our efforts are not an attempt to earn God’s love, but to enjoy it!