Our Vision
By Kenneth Brownell
I want to give you some idea of what kind of church we are.
What is our vision as a church?
As church we have a mission statement that expresses our vision. It is very simple and says: ELT exists to see people changed for good by the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Tab is in the business of gospel change. That begins when people hear the gospel and are converted and continues right through their lives as the Holy Spirit works in them. And it is a change for good. That is, when a person is converted he or she begins, however imperfectly, to do the good that pleases God. This change for good is for good in the sense that it is permanent. What God has begun in those saved by his grace he will bring to completion. This is the change the Tab exists to see happening in our own lives and in the lives of people in our city and beyond.
Formative in our thinking as church in this has been Paul’s letter to Titus. Seven times Paul writes that the Cretan Christians are to learn to do what is good. The key to this is the gospel of God’s grace. So our vision is to see the life changing grace of God in Christ realised into our lives, city and world for his glory.
Another way to speak of this vision is in terms of godliness. In Titus 1:1 Paul uses the word ‘godliness’ which is a key concept in the letter as it is in 1 & 2 Timothy. In wanting to see people being changed for good we are simply wanting to see people becoming godly. Godliness can be defined as devotion to God actively expressed in a good life motivated by the gospel. The good life is the life lived in accordance with God’s revealed will in the Bible and the power of such a life is the gospel. All that we do as a church is aimed at seeing such lives multiplied in the East End and beyond.
From Titus there are four things that we are here as a church to do.
1. The Tab is here to nurture godly ministry (1:1-4)
Paul begins with a greeting in which is reminds Titus of his apostolic ministry. It twofold purpose is evangelism (‘for the faith of God’s elect’) and edification (‘the truth that leads to godliness’). The basis of this ministry is the promise of eternal life of the God who cannot lie and its focus is his preaching through which the word is brought to light. There are no apostles today like Paul, but there is ministry of the gospel built on the foundation that he and the other apostles laid. In the narrow sense this ministry is that of those who are called specifically to preach the gospel, but in the wider sense this ministry is that of all Christians as they serve the Lord with the gifts he has given them. Our church is where it is in East London in order to nurture godly ministry in all the forms it takes. We want to bring the word of the gospel to light as we preach it in many different ways (public meetings, Bible studies, pastoral care, evangelism, missions, Sunday School, Bible classes, etc.) so that God’s elect will come to faith (see also 2 Tim. 2:10) and know the truth that will enable them to become godly. We do this in the confidence that our unlying God will keep his promise of eternal life.
2. The Tab is here to nurture godly leadership (1:5-16).
Godly leadership is essential if any church is to fulfil is mission. This was a priority for Titus on Crete where he was to have elders appointed in the newly gathered congregations. Nurturing godly leadership is our priority as well, both for ourselves and also for other churches and ministries. The primary function of such leadership is to faithfully teach the word of God. To that end leaders or elders must know and believe the truth, but they must also understand and refute any teaching that opposes it. So gifted men need to be recognised and trained for gospel ministry. As a church we try to do this internally with our own training programmes, but also as appropriate through external agencies such as FIEC’s Prepared for Service, London Theological Seminary and Oak Hill College. But while gifting is important even more important is godly character. This is Paul’s emphasis here and in 1 & 2 Timothy. We want to nurture leaders whose devotion to God is actively expressed in the way they live and relate to others inside and outside the church.
3. The Tab is here to nurture godly lifestyle (2:1-15)
Crete was not a congenial place in which to nurture godliness. Paul mentions the deceitfulness and dishonesty that characterised the people there (1:10, 12). Our culture is no less congenial, but this is where the godly lifestyle of Christians is to be nurtured by the gospel. What such a lifestyle involves is outlined by Paul in chapter 2. The doctrine of the gospel is to be worked out in the practical realities of life. Older and younger people, men and women, rich and poor are to apply the gospel to their particular circumstances, both at home and at work. The end result should be lifestyles that make ‘the teaching about God our Saviour attractive’ (2:10). As a church as aim to help one another develop attractive godly lifestyles. However it is essential that such lifestyles are rooted in the gospel. Only the gospel has the power to enable is to be ‘eager to do what is good’ and to live the ‘self-controlled, upright and godly lives’ that please God (2:11-14). This emphasis on godly lifestyle is not a powerless moralism, but a passionate desire to see God’s grace manifested in the everyday realities of life in this world. At the Tab the accent is on grace.
4. The Tab is here to nurture godly citizenship (3:1-15)
While it is true that God’s people are distinct from the world it is also true that God’s people should be actively involved in the world. We are citizens of the heavenly city of God, but we are also citizens of the earthly city of man. In chapter 3 Paul turns to our responsibilities as citizens (3:1-2). Wherever we live we should be devoted to doing what is good. As a church we want to help one another to fulfil our God-given responsibilities as citizens. This means more than political engagement. It also means active involvement in our community and culture. As Jeremiah wrote to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, we aim to ‘seek the peace and prosperity [welfare] of the city’ (Jeremiah 29:7) where God has put us. We want to see our city transformed spiritually, socially and culturally by the gospel as we live out our lives in it. Evangelicals in general and the Tab in particular have a long heritage of such godly citizenship that we want to see nurtured today. But underlying this godly citizenship is the gospel as Paul writes in verses 3-8. It is the gospel that not only enables us to live in a godly way, but to be godly citizens who do good to others and thereby bless our city so that it is exalted (Proverbs 11:10-11).
So what is our vision as a church? I suppose you could sum it up by saying that it is to be a thriving gospel empowered centre for godly ministry, leadership, lifestyle and citizenship.
What values shape how we do things?
- Preaching and teaching the Bible so that people hear God’s word. This means that expository preaching and teaching is central to our services, meetings ad ministries. As a church we take preaching and teaching seriously. A key part of both our Sunday services is devoted to a sermon that seeks to proclaim, explain and apply the message of the Bible.
- Worshipping God together in a way that is contemporary in expression but that at the same time draws on the riches of the church’s tradition. In our services there will be old and new hymns and songs accompanied by a music group. We hope that the services are accessible and enriching to everyone who comes.
- Praying strategically for the coming of God’s kingdom in our lives, church and world. Prayer is essential if the work of the church is to prosper. We meet for prayer at different times. There is a twice monthly central prayer meeting and prayer is part of what happens in our home groups.
- Taking the gospel into the world beginning in East London. Practically this means that we are committed to mission locally, nationally and internationally. Locally we try to evangelise those as live and work with as well as those who live near the church building as well as through London networks. Nationally we fulfil our mission though affiliation with the FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches). Internationally we have missionaries and partner ministries in South Africa, Lesotho, Burma and Thailand.
- Seeking the peace and well-being of the city in which God has placed us. We celebrate the place of the city in general and London in particular in God’s redemptive purposes. We are excited about living and serving in such an exciting world-class city as London that has such a strategic place in world mission. Can there be a better place to be?
- Being a church with a diverse membership that represents and celebrates the ethnic, social and generational richness of our community. We love the diversity of London and want it represented in our church. There is something like 35 nationalities in the church as it is. There are also people of all kinds of backgrounds and ages. This is how is should be. We also have a Russian language congregation.
- Demonstrating God’s mercy in practical service to people in our community. The East End has a lot of social needs. As a church we cannot do everything, but we try to do some things that practically show something of God’s mercy to those in need.
- Seeing the gospel of God’s grace changing our lives and those of others for good. Permeating everything we do is an emphasis on God’s life-changing grace.
Where is the Tab on the theological map?
Elsewhere on this website is a page where you can read our articles of faith. The church also adhere’s to the FIEC’s Statement of Faith. Here I simply want to sum up our faith as a church.
- Our faith as a church is Christian
We believe in the fundamental truths of the faith as outlined in great creeds of the church and confessions of faith. We are not some aberrant cult, but a church that is ‘catholic’ in the true sense of the word.
- Our faith as a church is Evangelical
As a church as stand by the great truths of gospel as rediscovered at the Reformation. We believe that salvation is –
· By grace alone.
· Through faith alone.
· In Christ alone.
· From Scripture alone.
- Our faith as a church is Reformed
The Tab is a Reformed or Calvinistic church. That means three things. First it means that we believe in the sovereignty of God in salvation. While we are responsible as human beings, it is God who is sovereign in saving sinners and bringing them to glory. He is the one who elects us, redeems us, calls us, regenerates us, justifies us, adopts us, sanctifies us and glorifies us. The Reformed faith is more fully unfolded in the 1689 Confession of Faith. But being Reformed also means that we believe in the Regulative Principle. That means that we aim to regulate not only our faith, but all that we do as a church by the Bible. The Bible doesn’t provide us with a detailed manual of church worship and government, but it does provide us with clear principles that we have liberty to apply in our context. Finally, being Reformed means having a biblical worldview that affirms the kingship of Jesus Christ over all of life in this world. As Christians we want to fulfil the ‘cultural mandate’ (Genesis 1:26-28) in the way we live under the lordship of him to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given.
4. The faith of our church is Baptist
We are a Baptist church not merely because of tradition, but even more because of conviction. This means that from the Bible we believe in believers’ or disciple baptism and in congregational church government. Unlike many churches we do not practise infant baptism. The Bible teaches that only those who are in the new covenant and therefore are born again of God’s Spirit and believe in Jesus Christ should be baptised. We also believe that the biblical form of church government is congregational. That is the church is self-governing under the headship of Jesus Christ. There is no external authority such as a bishop or presbytery to which the church must submit. The church recognises elders to teach and direct the affairs of the church. However we also believe that it is important to be associated with other evangelical churches for our own good and that of other churches.
What does it mean to be involved in the church?
First of all it means becoming a member of the church. Many people come to the church and are involved in different ways who are not members. However we believe that it is biblical to express one commitment and accountability to the church by being formally recognised as a member. The conditions for membership are saving faith in Christ evidenced in a godly life and baptism as a believer. We do make an exception on baptism for those who have biblical convictions that their infant baptism is valid. In this we aim to practise the principle of Romans 15:7 of accepting one another as Christ has accepted us. While our teaching and practise is believers’ baptism our ultimate basis of fellowship as a church is the gospel and not baptism.
Once someone becomes a member it is expected that they –
· Come to meetings
· Serve other believers with their gifts
· Pray for the work
· Live a godly life
· Care for other believers
· Keep the church united
· Give to the work
· Accept the leadership of the elders
I trust that all this has given you some idea of what the Tab is about. A lot more could be said. Please come and visit us and see for yourself what the Lord is doing. If you have any questions please contact me through this website or speak to me after a meeting.
Thank you.
Kenneth Brownell
Minister
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