God's mission and our mission statement

On the top of our weekly service sheet you'll find our mission statement. It reads - "Every person made new in Christ... Maturing in Christ... Making Christ known". This is our attempt to summarize the direction and activity of our church. We believe this is Biblical, and since the Bible is the inspired Word of God, reflects what God wants us to do.

"Every person new in Christ..."

Our mission is to reach every person, regardless of sex, age, race, religion or creed with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says that in Jesus, God so loved the world (John 3:16). It says in another place, 'the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people' (Titus 2:11), and the Lord is 'patient towards us, not wishing that any should perish' (2 Peter 3:9). It is through Jesus Christ, that we are made new in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is through the gospel that we, our society, and our world are saved.

"...Mature in Christ..."

The Bible urges us to mature in Christ (Colossians 1:27). If we are not growing as Christians, we are falling short of God's plan for us. The apostle Paul was probably the greatest missionary the world has ever had, and he was concerned that people came to know Christ, and grew in Christ. He wrote letters, visited and revisited, and continually prayed for the churches he planted. He sent his associates, and asked them to appoint elders, and teachers, to equip God's people for ministry. To be mature means knowing the gospel, and not being tossed to and fro, by false teaching about Christ (Eph 4:14). It means speaking the truth in love, and being transformed in godly character. Our aim is to encourage, train, equip and teach so that we will be maturing in Christ.

"...Making Christ known."

We aim to make Christ known. The making of disciples in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, was Christ's command to his disciples before he left the earth. We share in the responsibility of all Christians everywhere to fulfill this command. We have been blessed in Christ, and it is a wonderful privilege to be used by him to engage with our family, friends, work colleagues and neighbors, that they too may share in the blessings of Christ. Furthermore we understand that we bring glory to God when the gospel is preached, and people from all over the world respond.

The future.

We don't know the exact shape of God's future for us here in Malabar, but we have a dream! Our dream for the next 5 years is to see God's kingdom grow through the ministry at St Mark's. Our initial goal is to grow by 15% each year.