Our Foundation: The God of the Bible is real
Despite what you may have heard, the Bible isn’t a rule book. It’s not a dull academic textbook either. It’s a biography; a true story.
God’s story.
And like any good biography, we get to know the author through their words and thoughts and actions – as well as through their relationships. What we see of God in the Bible is surprising at times, but better than we could have ever invented.
We believe that this God is real. We know he’s real because he stepped onto the pages of history as a real man – Jesus from Nazareth; God in skin.
The whole Bible is true, yet there are certain things it tells us that are of the highest importance. You can read these in our list of core beliefs.
God’s story is remarkable… but where does Grace Church Dell Road fit in to the story?
Our Purpose: We’re all about helping people love Jesus more and more
In other words, we’re all about Jesus – and we’re all about people getting to know Jesus.
Below is a sermon from September 2015 about our vision.
We make no apologies for using the word ‘love’, however touchy-feely it sounds. It’s good that Jesus Christ is respected, admired and served, but more than any of those things he should be valued, worshipped and adored.
A Christian is someone who has realised they’d ruined any chance of a relationship with God. We’ve done wrong and God doesn’t owe us any favours. But then again, the good news is that God loves giving undeserved favour! This is actually what Jesus dying on a cross is all about. And it’s why we call ourselves Grace Church – because ‘grace’ is an undeserved gift. We’d love to explain it to you.
Christians need each another. A church is a group of Christians. Just like a human body, a church works well because each part is different and can do things the others can’t.
The Bible helps us to see that if we want to be growing in our relationship with Jesus then we will be committed to learning about him, living for him, depending on him, remembering what he has done for us, valuing his people, and helping others to come to know him. All churches should be doing these things, and Grace Church is no different.
Every church has its own emphasis and priorities and you can read about our distinctives here.
As a church, there are certain things we want to be known for being. If you met us then we hope you’d say these things are true, even though we’re not perfect at them.
Our Values
We strive to be…
Welcoming
We’re a community, not a club. Being diverse and inclusive is important to us. Newcomers are always welcome – however different they are.
Honest
Grace means that we can be totally honest with God – and with each another. It means that
we’re free to be ourselves. We want to become genuine friends, not just acquaintances who cross paths on a Sunday. We also want to live honest lives, without pretending.
Growing
Churches can be guilty of getting into maintenance mode; simply existing to keep their traditions going. We want to avoid this. We want to grow and change, both as individuals and as a church.
Engaging
Being a church is not about hiding away from the world but about being a positive influence in it. We want to be people who do good for our neighbourhood, our city, our country and the world.