Vision 2031
A five-year vision
Transformed in Christ, called to plant hope and life in the Huon.
Transformed in Christ, called to plant hope and life in the Huon.
We are a community of people, embraced by the love of God, transformed in Christ, and called to plant hope and life in the Huon Valley.
Made new. Sent out.
'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!'2 Corinthians 5:17
This is the boldest claim we make about ourselves, and it is not a claim about our effort, but God's work. Paul's language is stark and complete. The old has gone. The new is here.
Everything in this vision stands on that ground. Not on our energy, our giving, our cleverness or our numbers, but on a transformation God himself has already accomplished in us through Jesus. We are not working towards it. We are working out of it.
'Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."'John 20:21
Jesus does not invent a new mission for his church. He hands on the very mission the Father gave him. We are not the authors of what is happening in the Huon Valley. Rather, we have been invited into something God began long before us.
And the word we have chosen for the work is deliberate. To plant is an orchard word, and it means something in a valley like ours: patient labour, entrusted to God's own power to grow it, expecting a harvest.
The true and certain hope we already hold in Jesus, secured by the character of a God who cannot lie. And once received, it is not ours to keep.
Not improved circumstances, or a better version of the Huon. Eternal life itself — the very life God promised before time began.
'Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain.'Mark 4:27-28
One journey, three movements.
Following Jesus is a lifelong journey. So everything we do here is shaped to encourage and equip a person along that journey, from a first step of faith all the way to a deep maturity that builds others up in turn.
We have hope and life because God reached out to us in his Son, and now that same gospel reaches out through his church. We are convinced that the greatest harvest this valley can offer is people for the kingdom of God, and that we are the workers. So we will learn to tell our own story of Jesus and to invite people in — not only through the events we run, but at the school gate, at the shops, at the sports club — everywhere in our community.
Once a first step of faith is taken, a lifelong transformation has begun. God invites us into his family, feeds us on his word, and equips us with his gifts. We are committed to a profound culture of mutual love: sharing our lives deeply, encouraging one another constantly, and being shaped together by the truth of the gospel.
God's design for the church is that its members are released to serve, build up, and equip each other. We aim to celebrate and embrace what God has equipped each of us for. The one who is served becomes a servant; the disciple becomes a disciple-maker.
Ongoing, all our lives — Build and Release feed back into one another.
Two foundations. Three pillars.
We stand confidently on the authority of God's word: our absolute guide for life, teaching, and truth, taught clearly and faithfully.
The grace we have received from Jesus shapes everything: our humility, our forgiveness, our welcome, and our joy in one another.
Without God we can do nothing. Prayer is the vital expression of trust that accompanies and undergirds everything we do.
We expect to be challenged and changed. We meet together because we are meant to be shaped together. We are committed to intentional, lifelong growth.
We are fundamentally driven by the desire to see others know Jesus and that the church exists to carry the gospel hope so that all may receive life in Jesus Christ.
Prayer is not one goal among others, to be ticked off in the first year. Without prayer these are simply our plans, and our plans have never yet raised anyone from the dead. We will launch this vision on our knees, and keep it there.