Our Vision

Our Church exists to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever.

Notes on Our Vision

“Without a vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18).

We exist not merely for ourselves, nor for the city of Glasgow, but to glorify God through the growth of God’s people and the discipleship of those who as yet, do not know Him. Our aim is to bring glory to God in every area of our personal, family and communal lives. Our vision must be God-centred and Biblical. The Lord Jesus Christ has given us His vision statement for the church in Matthew 28:18-20. Through the execution of this vision, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we believe God’s people will experience His presence and come to find their chief enjoyment in Him.

1. We exist to worship God – as individuals, families and as a church. Through our worship, God is glorified and God’s people are given a foretaste of their eternal occupation. We will draw upon the riches of Scripture and Reformed tradition to provide an atmosphere where our people experience the presence of God as we worship together (Matthew 18:20). We will encourage, teach and facilitate covenantal family worship, believing that God’s promises extend not just to us, but to our children also (Deut. 6:7; Acts 2:39). We will develop an attitude of personal devotion among our people whereby, seeing the wonder of Christ, they reckon their whole lives as worship (Romans 12:1-2).

2. Through the preaching God’s Word, God’s people grow in their devotion to Christ, and those who are not yet Christians are brought to see their need of Him. We therefore aim to be a centre of excellence for the relevant preaching and teaching of the Word of God. We aim to teach how to live as Gospel-centred, grace oriented Christians in their homes and workplaces. Through the preaching of God’s Word, we believe that God will speak prophetically to Glasgow. We will also foster active listening where people come prepared to worship God and to hear His Word; and leave determined to put His teaching into practice in their day to day lives. We will be devoted to teaching our children the Christian Gospel.

3. We believe that God calls us to make committed disciples. We believe the discipleship process is founded upon the relevant application of God’s Word, through teaching and example. Drawing upon the variety of didactic methods employed by Jesus and Paul, we will encourage, teach and facilitate all legitimate forms of Christian discipleship. We will mentor our children and young people so as to bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. We will encourage the shy to use their God-given gifts. We will be inclusive in our discipleship programs. We will use our central facilities and our homes as resources to provide locations for the discipleship of our people.

4. We believe that through the sharing of the Gospel by God’s people, non-Christians are confronted by the claims of Christ, brought to bow to His Lordship and experience His forgiving love. We believe that Gospel witness is dependant upon God’s people knowing and understanding both the Biblical imperative ‘go’ and the Biblical indicative ‘I am with you’. We will stress the responsibility and privilege of every Christian to share their faith. We will train our people to trust in the Holy Spirit’s empowerment as they go forth. Our ultimate aim is to make disciples of all nations. Using the facilities and resources we have or can obtain, we will reach out to the fringe adherents in our congregation – the families of members; long-term adherents and miscellaneous contacts. We will train our people to witness to their family, friends, neighbours and workmates. We will reach out to those of every class within the locality of our church building. We will promote and facilitate evangelism in local businesses. We will develop evangelistically minded home-groups who reach out to their localities. We will view our building as a resource to be used to promote the evangelism of the city of Glasgow. We will develop its facilities in such a way as to optimise it’s effectiveness as a base for evangelism. We will also work together with other organisations in the evangelism of our locality. We recognise that we cannot achieve our goals without partnership. We will work with and support organisations such as SOS and the Open Door Trust who specialise in evangelism to dedicated groups. Our vision, though dominated by Glasgow, extends worldwide. We will therefore actively support missionary work at home and overseas.

5. We will work to bring Jesus’ High Priestly prayer to fruition – “I pray that they may be One” (John 17:21). We believe that Gospel growth can only occur in community. We will therefore foster community in our church and not merely view ourselves as a preaching station. We believe that our culture cries out for lived-out Gospel communities where non-Christians can be loved into the Kingdom of God. We are committed to Biblical Presbyterianism. We will promote Gospel partnerships with like-minded Gospel churches, both within, and outside the Free Church of Scotland; both at home and abroad. We will both teach and learn from our partnerships.  We will also foster a spirit of community between ourselves and other Christian organisations, e.g. Open Door Trust, who also make disciples.

6. We believe that the Church is not a secular organisation. Whilst we will organise ourselves effectively, we will soak every decision and every person in prayer. We believe in the sovereignty, love and omnipotence of God. We will promote private prayer through precept and practice. We will train families in household prayer. We will provide opportunities for Christians to gather together for dedicated times of prayer. We believe that the Church will only move forward on its knees.