Our Core Convictions
We are a reformed, evangelical church in the Sydney Anglican Diocese.
At Christ Church, our mission is to glorify God by making fruitful disciples of Christ in ever increasing numbers.
Our convictions define who we are as a church and help set direction as our story unfolds. Here are the things we hold to as a church of fruitful disciples.
Growth is Important
God wants us to keep growing in our faith. He wants us to press on and know Jesus better and become more like him. He doesn’t want us to stand still as Christians. We can’t be content with ignorance. God wants us to know him so well and understand his Word so deeply that we grow to be strong and fruitful followers of Jesus: godly in character, able to detect error and false teaching, and confident in God’s promises so that we can stand firm in trial.
Jesus Wants Commitment
A lot of Australian Christianity is comfortable, middle class, ‘don’t impact my life’ kind of stuff. That’s not biblical Christianity. Jesus called his followers to deny themselves, take up their crosses daily, and follow him. Our prayer has always been that men, women and children would be so captured by the cause of Christ that they would joyfully pour themselves out to love their church deeply and serve Christ’s kingdom boldly, even at great cost to themselves.
Eternity is Serious
The Bible is clear that heaven and hell are real. Sin is really THAT bad, and God’s grace towards those who turn back to him is really THAT good. The fact that people will spend eternity in one or the other is a reality we cannot ignore. We need to have such a love for Christ, and such a love for those who have not turned to him, that we look outward to the world around us and not just to our own concerns. At Christ Church we are unashamed about wanting to grow because our prayer has always been that God would use our church to change as many eternities as possible.
God is in Charge
God is the one who is in charge of his Church and so we cherish his Word. We believe that God’s will and His purposes, as revealed in the Bible, are always right and good and so we seek to submit our lives to him and joyfully live under his rule. That’s why the teaching of the Bible (both Old and New Testaments) is central to what we do as a church and all we do must be in conformity with it. His will must matter more to us than our own desires, traditions or the opinions of our society.
God is in charge, and so we pray. His rule extends over every aspect of his creation; physical, spiritual, political, and personal. Nothing is beyond God’s ability and he is active in this world. We trust God and so we delight in depending upon him in prayer in all we do, knowing that he loves us, delights to hear the prayers of his people, and will answer our prayers in accordance with his perfect will.
Christians Gather
We are convicted that gathering together regularly as Christians is vitally important. Christ died to redeem for himself a people, a family, a body of believers, not a series of detached individuals. As we meet, we seek to reflect Jesus’ love in the way we relate to and care for each other and we seek to spur one another on in the faith. Our church is full of believers of all ages, stages and nations. The Bible encourages each of us to use our God-given gifts, resources and capacities to serve him and each other. We also value biblical leadership and excellence in our gathered church life.