Simple, Organic Church

Jesus Christ calls men & women to be His Disciples, who in turn show others how to become disciples too. Through caring & supportive relationships and the rich experience of community, followers of Jesus are called to enrich their world with God's love and invite men & women to connect with Jesus and enjoy the life He gives.

The community of believers associate together for encouragement & support in life. This community is what God refers to in the Bible as "the Church"! Church, the association of believers, may take place in a building, a home, an office or cafe, but it is not the building. It is the people! They honour God & serve Jesus in His cause as they train & equip one another to be His ambassadors in their day-to-day lives. Believers seek to be faithful to Jesus and His cause in a world that He created and which He loves. This is possible as the Spirit of God works in the life of the Christian, through the revelation received from the Bible and through prayer.

Religion is the accumulation of human customs... the cultural practices, rules, routines & traditions of mankind that builds up over time... which become the context for experiencing God. While these can be helpful, they can replace the rich and personal experience of a relationship with God and His Son, Jesus. It is a consequence of human activity and enculturation. Many have been hurt & dissappointed by religion. Christians need to guard themselves against this religious "routine-ness" that can rob them of their personal experience of God and His love. What's more, religion changes the way relationships happen in the Church where rules & traditions take precedence over caring friendships with God and His people.

What did Jesus Christ have in mind? As Jesus served His Heavenly Father in the last three years of His life leading up to His crucifixion, He gathered a community of friends together. At the centre of the community were the original twelve disciples, together with their friends & families. Jesus taught them about the Kingdom of God and the community life that could be experienced. Followers of Jesus are citizens of this Kingdom and are called to live according to its cultural norms, rather than those of the world. The cultural norm for the Kingdom is love. Communities of believers are expressions of the church who belong in the realm of God's Kingdom and whose way of life illustrates the life of the Kingdom.

The intention of Jesus was that communities of His followers would spring up all over the Earth and multiply the love of God in every culture. These communities were to be simple, uncomplicated communities that were alive to God... dynamic & loving in their expression of life. As human beings we struggle to be this way together, but with the help of God's Spirit within, we can grow towards the kind of people... the kind of communities that increasingly exhibit the nature that God intended, as each one serves to build up the community they belong to.

Stonnington ReCreative... is seeking to become a network of Kingdom communities just like this. We have much to learn, but that will not prevent us from pursuing the dream that God has in His heart for His people and His world.

Would you like to join us in God's quest for a simple, organic Christianity that enriches and brings life to the world that He created? Contact me and I will be delighted to help you connect with God and participate in His Kingdom community at Stonnington.

God bless your journey!

Phillip Bradley