New Wine family and friends of New Wine,
In our previous Pastor’s Blog, David Skevington shared that we had been intentional in looking for language that expresses the uniqueness of New Wine Vineyard in our pursuit of becoming a healthy church. David looked at the first value we found language for: ‘Be Real ‘– with Jesus, with Scripture, with others and with yourself. Last week’s blog is available on our website, under ‘News’.
Today, I want to explore the second value: ‘Keep Moving’- inwards, onwards and outwards.
One of the many pitfalls facing the Church of Jesus Christ, is the tendency to vacillate towards comfort and complacency. The result is that we stagnate. We cease to move as the Church of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit’s work in building the Kingdom is frustrated. One way to counteract this, is to be intentional about moving – inwards, onwards, and upwards.
‘Move inwards’ – we want to see every person who comes in through the doors – in our services, connect group meetings or wherever people engage with the New Wine family – brought into the full life of the New Wine family. Our goal is to see people fully integrated into the life of New Wine, where they feel loved, accepted and included. We want to be intentional about engaging with people, being hospitable, and drawing them into our shared life in Jesus. Afterall, we are inviting people to join us in the life-long journey of following Jesus- becoming apprentices to our Master, Jesus. Paul, Peter and the writer of Hebrews stress this important value: ‘welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you’ (Romans 15:7), ‘show hospitality to one another’ (1 Peter 4:9) and ‘do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers’ (Hebrews 13:2).
‘Move onwards’- we want to see every person, who becomes part of the New Wine family, growing in the Lord and reaching spiritual maturity in the faith that is ours in Jesus. Our goal is to see every member of the New Wine family become spiritually mature believers, who have taken their place in the shared ministry of the Body of Christ at New Wine. Through our worship services, connect group meetings, courses that we present, and training that we offer, we will intentionally be inviting every member of the New Wine family to move onwards and deeper in their walk with Jesus and in their apprenticeship to Him. Both Paul and Peter highlight this key value on moving onwards: ‘equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith… and become mature…’ (Ephesians 4:11-13) and ‘you also, like living stones, are being built into a
spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God…’ (1 Peter 2:4-5).
‘Move outwards’- we want to see every member of the New Wine family, serving Jesus both within the New Wine family and in the world, as ambassadors of Jesus kingdom. Our goal is to see every person who joins the New Wine family, moving from a place of just receiving and being spectators to being active participants in the ministry of Jesus kingdom. To this end we will build into our worship services, connect group meetings, and our all courses and
programs, a challenge and encouragement to move outwards- to share, to give away, to practice and to participate in the great ministry and mission of Jesus Church. Paul reminds us of this value a number of times: ‘For we are co-workers in God’s service…’ (1 Corinthians 3:9) and ‘the things you have heard me say… entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others’ (2 Timothy 2:2).
All that remains is for me to encourage you to ‘keep moving’ – inwards, onwards and outwards- in your journey with us in Jesus.
Bless you all,
David Stansbury