VISION (What we would like to see at the end when we arrive)
Our vision is to be alive in God and bring life to every environment that we encounter.
We believe that humanity is the vehicle for co-ruling the earth with God through His power,
authority and wisdom.
How do we see being alive in God?
- We passionately put Jesus first in everything, the author of all life.
- We feed on His life through prayer, reading scripture, worship and the leading and gifts of the
Holy Spirit. - We live in freedom from our past and hope in God’s purpose for our future.
- We are in authentic relationship with others, including our church community
- We exhibit the fruits of the Spirit in the way we treat others.
How do we see bringing life to creation?
- We practice worship and kingdom living at home.
- We aim to be life givers and peacemakers in every setting.
- We live counter culturally, according to the kingdom of God.
- We avail ourselves to be used in prophecy and the spiritual gifts.
- We seek ways to share the love of Jesus creatively and intentionally with others.
- We live a life of generosity, giving of ourselves, time and resources.
- We practice thankfulness for every blessing.
- We creatively seek solutions to better manage our world.
MISSION STATEMENT (The broadest way to describe how we are going to get there)
“To be a welcoming urban church where people connect, heal and grow to share the life of Jesus
with the world”. We want to be a welcoming church where the love of Jesus is evidenced and felt in our community. We are a city church as opposed to a suburban church, focussed on bringing life to our city and
seeing it thrive.
We have four pillars that we see as a way of achieving our vision:
Connecting (Family) – Jesus restored our connection to the Father and recreated us in Him so
that we may freely relate to Him and His creation.
Healing (Hospital) – Jesus came to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1-3, which speaks of
healing and freedom.
Growing (University) – We aim to build an intentional trellis for following Jesus and
flourishing in life.
Going (Army of peace) – We are inspired by Jesus and want to share his message with the
world so others may be ‘partakers of His divine nature’.
Vineyard Distinctives (The attitudes and values that we hold)
1. Everyone gets to play (Inclusion). Everyone is a priest and has a role to play at Mercy and in
life. We are intentional about building team and seeing a multitude of people ministering to
one another as the body of Christ. We refrain from using titles such as apostle or pastor,
believing that titles are not necessary as a persons gift or character will shine through their
life and work.
2. The already; the not yet (Mystery). We live in the tension of what Jesus has done for us
through his life, death and resurrection as well as the reality of pain and suffering that is part
of living in a broken world. We understand that some people don’t get healed and that bad
stuff happens to good people, but this does not negate the victorious work of Jesus through
his death and resurrection.
3. Naturally supernatural (Authentic). We seek to minister in the gifts of the Holy Spirit in a
down to earth relaxed manner. We refrain from control, manipulation and emotionalism.
We encourage the untainted work of the Holy Spirit in a conversational, disclaimer language
way.
4. Adult to Adult relationships (Maturity). The pastor or leadership of the church are not there
to engage in every conflict or community issue. We encourage people as children of God to
act in a mature Christlike way, allowing for the leading of the Spirit, humility and compassion
with one another.
5. My brother is never my enemy (Open). We seek to bless other churches and denominations,
knowing that while we may think differently on a variety of issues, we are all brothers and
sisters in Christ.
6. Come as you are, but don’t stay as you are (Grace & Change). We are loving towards people
from all walks of life and welcome them to the table of fellowship based on a common
Christology. We believe that the gospel has a transforming effect on the lives of individuals
and that spiritual growth is marked by a change in lifestyle.
7. Come Holy Spirit (Welcoming). We see the leader of ever service as the Holy Spirit and make
space for Him to lead and speak to us in a variety of ways. We are also used to awkward
silence and waiting as we embark on this journey.
8. The main & the plain (Bible based charismatic evangelicals). We regard the whole bible as
the word of God and the standard for the Christian life. We see it as our source of God’s
leading and the final say on every matter. Scripture is that place we keep coming back to
because it is a treasure chest of knowledge and wisdom. We dive into it because it contains
the truth that is necessary for life, the truth to measure all other truth against. Scripture
keeps our lives pointed in the right direction – the source of all this truth is Jesus.
9. Remember the poor (Justice). We are focussed on the poor, who we believe are meant to be
cared for and remembered by the church. We give away at least 10% of our church income
towards ministries that prioritise this ministry.
10. Worship. Singing songs, dancing and enjoying God’s presence is a big deal for us. The
Vineyard movement was birthed out of worship and has a special place in our churches DNA.
Worship is more than our time of singing when we gather. It is the direction in which our
lives face, and that direction is God. Worship describes our response to love God with all
that we are and it is something we seek both alone and together. We prioritise worship
because we know that once all else disappears it will remain. We believe in passionate,
vibrant, heartfelt worship that can include some of the following: Prophecy (1 Cor. 14:3),
Singing (Ps. 108:1), Clapping or Shouting with joy (Ps. 47:1), Instruments (Ps. 150:3-5),
Tongues (1 Cor. 14:27), Kneeling (Ps. 95:6) or Dancing (Ps 30:11). 11. Relationship before function. We believe in solid community relationships and character
before gifts and charisma. We are intentional about building relationships before public
ministry. This take time, grace and patience.
Other important elements of our DNA at Mercy.
Community
Community is our response to the command to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.
Community is the space and relationships in which our lives are formed and shared. We were made
to be part of a bigger picture and we find more meaningful life when we engage in deep community
– sharing not only our victories but our struggles as well.
Mission
Mission is joining God in His work within His world. It is the extension of His momentum in our lives
so that we keep moving with Him, going to the people and places that matter to His heart. Mission is
expressed in a multitude of ways from miraculous to mundane, in places from as close as here to as
far as there.
Prayer
Prayer is connection. It is leaning into God to share our hearts and hear his. It is crying out in
desperation for change. It is resting in peace and contentment. It is asking the questions we dare not
ask and hearing answers we could never expect. It is making requests. It is hearing requests. It is
alone. It is together.
Spiritual Gifts
We are intentional about seeking the gift of prophecy and other spiritual gifts both within our
gathering and as we go about ‘doing life’.
The atonement of Jesus Christ (Derek Morphew)
We see the work of Jesus in His life, death and resurrection as consisting of several outcomes:
1. Christus Victor – defeating the powers of darkness.
• A military metaphor, the kingdom colliding with the powers
2. Penal substitution – justification by faith.
• A court room scene, legal, forensic
3. Sacrifice – cleansing from sin, purification.
• A temple metaphor
4. Redemption – the price paid for emancipation.
• A commercial metaphor, the slave market
5. Reconciliation – open access to God.
• A family metaphor, embraced by the Father