In 2004, John Hosier, a well respected and gifted Bible teacher in Newfrontiers, preached at City Church from Acts 11 in which he used the church in Antioch as an example for us to follow. The church in Antioch was bold in its gospel witness, rich in its diversity bringing Jew and non-Jew to saving faith in Jesus and generous in the way it gave beyond themselves to the needs of others. For many years, City Church has lived with that prophetic promise that we would become a church of size and impact in Bristol, but also that we would give generously towards other churches so that they can be all that God has called them to be in their contexts and communities.
Over the last fortnight, Andy and I spoke at all three congregations of City Church from Acts 11 again building on what John shared in 2004. Andy talked about the 'evidences of grace' at work in the Antioch church and that we are to pray for, and desire those same evidences for City Church. These evidences were things like seeing salvation, the church being filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, ministry to the poor and so on, all of which we have by God's grace seen. One of the significant marks of God's grace on the church in Antioch was its ability to send leaders and resources beyond itself to support other churches.
Over the years, City Church have developed good relationships with many churches and have had opportunities to visit and support them in different ways. However as a leadership team we believe that we are entering a new phase in which God is calling us to expand our horizons, and that alongside continuing to reach Bristol with the gospel, to also resource other churches in a more intentional way.
As part of our Vision Sundays this year, we shared the seven churches we are currently working with:
Trinity Life (Swindon), Grace Church (Exeter), Hope Church (Exmouth), Lighthouse Church (Sidmouth), Together Church (Torquay), Cornerstone Church (Bath), Emmanuel Church (Belfast).
We shared our desire to send teams, leaders and other resources to help and support these churches and many more in the future. A key way we intend to do that is by releasing Andy Cottingham to do more of this vital work. Andy has a track record of bringing health and strength to churches (City Church included!) and has been a gift to these churches listed above already. We want to recognise Andy's ability and gifts to do this and we want to encourage him to establish this part of our vision. This term, Andy has already been to preach at Exmouth, and later this term is taking a team to Belfast to spend time with Emmanuel Church. We anticipate that this will continue in the months and years ahead, and we are excited that as a church we are all able to contribute towards other churches in this way. Ben Welchman has also been involved with serving the Commission Leadership Team over the last couple of years which is another way that resourcing is happening across our team.
With all that in mind, we want to invite you to play your part in our vision as a church, not only to reach the whole of Bristol with the gospel and to restore broken lives by serving the city, but also to resource other churches. Three easy ways to do that are:
1. Pray - please pray for these churches that we are involved with. Pray for their continued growth and gospel witness. Pray for Andy and those that visit with him for strength and wisdom, as they encourage and serve these churches.
2. Serve - for us to be able to resource beyond ourselves we need everyone playing their part in the life of City Church. That means getting involved in Sunday serving teams, leading Connect Groups and generally bringing life and health to our church. If you're not serving currently, let me encourage you to get stuck in - it makes a huge difference. You may also want to get involved in how we are serving other churches when we send teams - get in touch!
3. Give - none of this is possible without the sacrificial giving of finances from people in the church. We're so grateful for the generosity of this church in sending financial resources to help plant Emmanuel Church Cardiff and Anthem Church Leicester in recent years. The money that is given is like putting weapons in the hands of churches to see the Kingdom of God expand. You can find out more about giving here!
Over the coming months we will share more about the ways we have been able to help these churches and how we see God leading us as City Church into the future.
You can listen to the sermon here.
James Lee