Our Dream

Imagine a church that is captivated with Jesus Christ – worshipping him because of what He did by saving them through his life, death, and resurrection.  Imagine a church where the people are so filled with the love of God that love spills out and overflows – people actually enjoy, care for, and encourage each other.  Imagine a church where serving others isn’t a slogan – it’s a lifestyle.

And imagine a church that takes the mission of Jesus seriously – the mission to go into all the world and make disciples – a church that prays and works to see more and more people become whole-hearted followers of Christ.  That’s what CentrePoint church is all about.  That’s our dream.

back to the future

A vision is a picture of the future that people are working to create.  The vision God has given us is a vision rooted in biblical history – a vision that God continually  refreshes in each generation of Christianity.  As we go back to the Bible, God gives us a picture of the church he wants to create.

the acts 2/13 vision

Look at this description of the first Christian church: 

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers...And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."  (Acts 2:42, 46-47).

This scripture paints a picture of the very first church in Jerusalem.  What an amazing church it was!  The big take-away is that this church was not just a collection of people – it was an amazing community of believers that genuinely loved each other and were passionately in love with Jesus.  Look at what they devoted themselves to:

  • Bible Study
  • Fellowship
  • Eating Together
  • Prayer

New Testament Christianity was a fairly simple proposal – follow Jesus and worship him, love people, and serve all – centred on the cross of Jesus Christ.

The Jerusalem church was great at being a community.  But it was a community with results!  Look at what was happening:

"The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47b)

That’s a big part of our dream – that people who are far from God can experience the new life, forgiveness of sins, and overwhelming joy.  God saves people through the gospel.  And he adds people to his church – the local, visible community of believers. 

Read this description of a different, but also powerful, first century church:

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers...While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.  (Acts 13:1-3)

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God... (Acts 13:4-5)

This simple scripture describes the first intentional sending of missionaries.  The church in Antioch had experienced the same salvation through the same gospel as the church in Jerusalem.  But being a Greek church in language and culture, God used this church to send missionaries all over the Roman world.  Paul and Barnabas went, they preached the word, and churches were planted in many strategic places.

That’s also a big part of our dream – not only to be a great community that reaches our city, but to develop, train, and send missionaries all over Europe.  We are so thankful that God has given us salvation – we want as many people as we can to hear that message.  And we want believers to be able to experience the joy of Christian community – the thing God calls his church.