About Salt Church CQ
- Who We Are - Our Purpose, Vision & Values - What We Believe -
Who We Are
SaltChurch is a church plant which is all about seeing as many people as possible become mature disciples of Jesus Christ. We believe that the best place for us to grow in our relationship with Jesus is within the context of real, authentic and relational Christian community. We see Church not merely as a meeting to attend but rather a community with whom we share our lives.
We believe that the life of the Church ought to be relationship-driven rather than event-driven and as such our focus is on developing authentic, relational, Christ-centered community. In addition to our weekly Sunday gathering, we meet in people’s homes, around fire-pits, on the beach, in coffee shops and pubs – anywhere really – because that’s how Jesus did it.
If you’re looking for a church where you are encouraged to grow in your personal relationship with Jesus and to discover the unique ways that God has gifted you to make disciples, then the SaltChurch community may be just the thing.
Purpose, Vision and Values
Having a relationship with God breathes incredible purpose and value into our life both as individuals and as a community. Below are our statements of purpose and vision, as well as the values which we pray would inform every aspect of our personal and community lives.
Our Purpose
We live to Enjoy the Grace, Grow in the Love, and Proclaim the Freedom, of the Gospel of Christ, to the Glory of God forever!
Our Vision
As an overflow of our purpose as a redeemed people of God, our vision for the Capricorn Coast is to see as many people as possible become mature disciples of Jesus Christ.
Our Values
We value the centrality of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
The Gospel is the good news that God, through the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, has overturned the reign of Satan, sin and death so that now, by grace, the free gift of salvation is given to all who believe. This Gospel not only leads us to Jesus but also carries us on with him in every aspect of the Christian life. It changes and renews us on a daily basis, leading us to more deeply love and worship God and to love one another. We will therefore never move beyond the Gospel, but will place it at the centre of every aspect of our church and personal lives.
We value being a community of grace
The Gospel unites us together into one family in Jesus Christ. Therefore we will not be content to see church simply as a meeting to attend, but rather as a community with whom we share our lives. We desire this life together to be marked with a genuine love for one another. We will sacrificially serve each other, freely forgiving and accepting one another in the context of authentic friendships. We recognise that this is only possible because we ourselves are eternally loved, freely accepted and completely forgiven through the sacrificial death of our Saviour and friend, Jesus Christ.
We value wholeheartedness in corporate and private worship
The Gospel moves us to wholeheartedly worship God. We desire to have Spirit filled hearts that delight in the Lord and overflow into a life of gratitude, praise, service, generosity, repentance and obedience. We will pursue intimacy with the Lord, culminating in our corporate enjoyment of the Lord together. We will seek to worship in spirit and truth knowing that God is primarily concerned with the condition of our hearts as we worship Him.
We value a lifestyle of prayer
The Gospel makes plain that the work of Jesus Christ continues to make God accessible through prayer. The strength of our ministry is dependent upon God and will parallel the strength of our prayer life. We will be a people whose passion is to rest in the intimate embrace of our Father through prayer.
We value reaching all people with the Gospel
The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. Jesus has entrusted this message to us as His missionary people to be proclaimed to the ends of the Earth. We will therefore seek to intentionally shape our lives for the sake of the Gospel, seeking out unbelievers around us. Setting aside our personal comfort we will take strategic risks to bring to them the good news of Jesus Christ. We will do this in the context of a loving, servant-hearted and sacrificial community in which our lives authenticate our message. We will also generously use our resources to partner with others across the globe to bring this Gospel to the ends of the Earth.
We value a life-on-life ministry model
The Gospel calls us to not only become but also to make mature disciples of Jesus Christ. To accomplish this Jesus himself left for us a model of ministry that was multiplying in purpose and personal, intentional, and equipping in nature. We desire our church to be characterised by a commitment to life-on-life discipleship as a central means of helping one another to maturity in Christ.
We value teaching that is Christ-centred and culturally appropriate
The Gospel gives us relevant and redemptive truths to teach. The person and work of Jesus is a powerful message for the Christian and the unbeliever alike, so grace will be our constant theme. We will teach the Bible with confidence that God will continually renew us through His Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit as He enables us to respond in faith and obedience.
We value a decentralised ministry philosophy
The Gospel grants us all the privilege of ministry. Recognising that Christ has uniquely gifted every believer, we will encourage, equip and release each person to use their gifts for the common good. We desire each person to minister as part of a team and for ministry initiatives to rise up from within the body. We affirm the importance of leadership to encourage, foster, support and guide such initiatives rather than exercising control.
We value the multiplication of disciples, leaders and Churches
The Gospel compels us to share in the Lord’s work of actively advancing His Kingdom. We believe this is best achieved by the constant multiplication of disciples, leaders and Churches. We will therefore seek to establish every new believer in a life-long personal relationship with God. Trusting the Lord to raise up leadership for His Church we will equip, pray for and nurture future leaders, striving wherever practical to develop leaders from within. Knowing that God is advancing His Kingdom throughout the World, we are committed to increasing the influence of the Gospel through the regular planting of new churches. It is our desire to scatter disciples, leaders and churches throughout Queensland, Australia and the World.
What We Believe
Diversity among believers is one of the many awesome things which make Jesus’ Church so beautiful. While we don’t believe that all members of the SaltChurch community need to hold to the same convictions when it comes to secondary, non-salvation issues, we do believe that there are some core Gospel truths, which are fundamental to the Christian faith.
Below is a statement of these core Biblical truths.
About God
There is one unique and eternal God, who exists in an everlasting loving relationship of Father, Son and Spirit – one God in three persons.
God is sovereign in all things: including creation, revelation, redemption, judgement and the establishing of his kingdom.
As sovereign loving creator and redeemer, he is worthy of all glory, honour and praise.
About Humanity
Men and women together are created in the image of God, and therefore enjoy a unique dignity in creation and a unique relationship with God.
Men and women together have dominion over the created order.
Tragically, human nature is universally sinful since the Fall and all are guilty before God. This leaves us under the wrath and condemnation of God.
We are unable, without the prior regenerative work of God’s Spirit, to turn ourselves to God.
About the Bible
There is no other way to know God except that he reveals himself to us. The Bible is God’s revelation to us. The words of the Bible are divinely inspired and infallible, as originally given, and have supreme authority in all matters of faith, conduct and experience.
The Bible is sufficient for knowing God. It is not only central to the wellbeing of the Church but is able to thoroughly equip the Christian community for life and godliness.
About Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
He is both fully God and truly human. He entered fully into human experience. He endured temptation and he suffered and died. He was perfectly obedient to God his Father.
Jesus took on himself the consequences of human sin. He died and was buried. On the third day he rose from the dead bodily and is now exalted as ruler over all.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
About Salvation
There is only one name under heaven by which we can be brought into relationship with God: the name ‘Jesus Christ’.
It is only through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, that the guilt, penalty and power of sin can be removed. In that death, God demonstrates his love to us most perfectly and establishes his victory over Satan and all his foes.
The work of the Holy Spirit is necessary to make the death of Jesus effective in an individual’s life. The Spirit enables the sinner to repent and put their faith in Jesus Christ, so that salvation is entirely of God’s grace and not of human merit or works.
Although we enjoy now the blessing of union with Christ and secure relationship with God, we await the final consummation of our hope with the return of Christ, the resurrection of our bodies and life with him eternally.
About The Spirit In The Believer’s Life
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son, and indwells all true believers.
His role is to bring glory to Jesus Christ, thus making Jesus Christ central in all things.
The Spirit works to illuminate believers’ minds to grasp the truth of the Bible, producing in them his fruit, granting them his gifts and empowering them for service.
He grants His gifts for the purpose of service, not self indulgence. Their use is determined – not by personal desire for fulfillment, or satisfaction – but by the principle of building the Church. Not every gift of the Spirit is given to the Church at every moment of its life, only those necessary for building Christ’s body.
About The Church
The visible Church is the gathering of believers around Christ in his word.
It is a community of people intended by God to bear witness to Him and actively seek the extension of His rule.
Within its community both men and women are to seek proper expression of their gifts as they work to build the Church in love.
The Bible makes clear that in Church leadership, as in marriage, the roles of men and women are not interchangeable. We are committed to expressing the differences within relationships of mutual dependence