YOUTUBE COVERS (11).png
 
 

“It seems the more I think about not sinning, the more I sin, but the more I think about just loving Jesus, the less I seem to sin. Falling in love with Jesus seems to be the key. - John Wimber

 
 

Vineyard Movement of Churches

The Vineyard story is about ordinary people who worship and serve an extraordinary God. The Vineyard is simply one thread in the rich tapestry of the historic and global Church of Jesus Christ. But it is a thread of God's weaving. From the beginning, Vineyard pastors and leaders have sought to hold in tension the biblical doctrines of the Christian faith with an ardent pursuit of the present day work of the Spirit of God. Keeping balance is never easy in the midst of rapid growth and renewal. The following resources will give you a small taste of our story from some of those who have lived it.

 

VINEYARD STATEMENT OF FAITH

  • We believe that God is the Eternal King. He is an infinite, unchangeable Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, goodness, justice, power and love. From all eternity He exists as the One Living and True God in three persons of one substance, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory.

  • We believe that God’s kingdom is everlasting. From His throne, through His

    Son, His eternal Word, God created, upholds and governs all that exists: the heavenly places, the angelic hosts, the universe, the earth, every living thing and human beings. God created all things very good.

  • We believe that Satan, originally a great, good angel, rebelled against God, taking

    a host of angels with him. He was cast out of God’s presence and, as a usurper of God’s rule established a counter-kingdom of darkness and evil on the earth.

  • We believe that God created mankind in His image, male and female, for

    relationship with Himself and to govern the earth. Under the temptation of Satan, our original parents fell from grace, bringing sin, sickness and God’s judgment of death to the earth. Through the fall, Satan and his demonic hosts gained access to God’s good creation. Creation now experiences the consequences and effects of Adam’s original sin. Human beings are born in sin, subject to God’s judgment of death and captive to Satan’s kingdom of darkness.

  • We believe that God did not abandon His rule over the earth which He continues to uphold by His providence. In order to bring redemption, God established covenants which revealed His grace to sinful people. In the covenant with Abraham, God bound Himself to His people Israel, promising to deliver them from bondage to sin and Satan and to bless all the nations through them.

  • We believe that as King, God later redeemed His people by His mighty acts from bondage in Egypt and established His covenant through Moses, revealing His perfect will and our obligation to fulfil it. The law’s purpose is to order our fallen race and to make us conscious of our moral responsibility. By the work of God’s Spirit, it convicts us of our sin and God’s righteous judgment against us and brings us to Christ alone for salvation.

  • We believe that when Israel rejected God’s rule over her as King, God

    established the monarchy in Israel and made an unconditional covenant with David, promising that his heir would restore God’s kingdom reign over His people as Messiah forever.

  • We believe that in the fullness of time, God honoured His covenants with Israel and His prophetic promises of salvation by sending His only Son, Jesus, into the world. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, as fully God and fully human in one person, He is humanity as God intended us to be. Jesus was anointed as God’s Messiah and empowered by the Holy Spirit, inaugurating God’s kingdom reign on earth, overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation, preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead. Gathering His disciples, He reconstituted God’s people as His church to be the instrument of His kingdom. After dying for the sins of the world, Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day, fulfilling the covenant of blessing given to Abraham. In His sinless, perfect life Jesus met the demands of the law and in His atoning death on the cross He took God’s judgment for sin which we deserve as law-breakers. By His death on the cross He also disarmed the demonic powers. The covenant with David was fulfilled in Jesus birth from David’s house, His messianic ministry, His glorious resurrection from the dead, His ascent into heaven and His present rule at the right hand of the Father. As God’s Son and David’s heir, He is the eternal Messiah-King, advancing God’s reign throughout every generation and throughout the whole earth today.

  • We believe that the Holy Spirit was poured out of the Church at Pentecost in power, baptising believers into the Body of Christ and releasing the gifts of the Spirit to them. The Spirit brings the permanent indwelling presence of God to us for spiritual worship, personal sanctification, building up the Church, gifting us for ministry, and driving back the kingdom of Satan by the evangelisation of the world through proclaiming the word of Jesus and doing the works of Jesus.

  • We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is our abiding Helper, Teacher, and Guide. We believe in the filling or empowering of the Holy Spirit, often a conscious experience, for ministry today. We believe in the present ministry of the Spirit and in the exercise of all of the biblical gifts of the Spirit. We practice the laying on of hands for the empowering of the Spirit, for healing, and for recognition and empowering of those whom God has ordained to lead and serve the Church.

  • We believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of Holy Scripture so that the Bible is without error in the original manuscripts. We receive the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as our final, absolute authority, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

  • We believe that the whole world is under the domination of Satan and that all

    people are sinners by nature and choice. All people therefore are under God’s just judgment. Through the preaching of the Good News of Jesus and the Kingdom of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, God regenerates, justifies, adopts and sanctifies through Jesus by the Spirit all who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. by this they are released from Satan’s domain and enter into God’s kingdom reign.

  • We believe in the one, holy, universal Church. All who repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and form the living Body of Christ, of which He is the head and of which we are all members.

  • We believe that Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the Church: water baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Both are available to all believers.

  • We believe that God’s kingdom has come in the ministry of our Lord Jesus

    Christ, that it continues to come in the ministry of the Spirit through the Church, and that it will be consummated in the glorious, visible and triumphant appearing of Christ – His return to the earth as King. After Christ returns to reign, He will bring about the final defeat of Satan and all of his minions and works, the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment and the eternal blessing of the righteous and eternal conscious punishment of the wicked. Finally God will be all in all and His kingdom, His rule and reign, will be fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth, recreated by His mighty power, in which righteousness dwells and in which He will forever be worshipped.

VALUES OF THE VINEYARD

  • We value The Pursuit of God. We are hungry to know God’s presence, hear His voice and follow hard after Him.

  • We value Christlikeness. We desire that through the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus’ love, mercy, grace, truth, purity, power, and integrity would shine through all that we are and do.

  • We value Being Spirit-Led. We honour Jesus as our Head and the Holy Spirit as our Counsellor and the Administrator of our churches. We seek to be actively responsive to the Holy Spirit’s daily leading of our personal lives and ministries and of the local church.

  • We value Discipleship. Our intent is to teach all believers to believe Jesus’ words, obey His commands and do His works. We aim first to grow as disciples of Christ ourselves and then to make disciples of others.

  • We value The Kingdom of God. We aim to move in the signs of the present

    fulfilment of the kingdom, invoking the Spirit’s powerful presence, ministering through the Spirit’s gifts, and seeing God heal and work wonders.

  • We value the Mercy of God. We believe that mercy is fundamental to all that God does in salvation. We, therefore, aim to extend mercy to one another and to all to whom we minister.

  • We value Integrity. It is important for us to speak the truth, deal honestly, and live uprightly.

  • We value Servant Leadership. We believe that Christ has put significant leadership authority in the hands of the pastor and associates. We aim to exercise that authority with humility, selflessness, grace, care for the sheep, and a sincere desire to build up the Body of Christ.

  • We value The Individual, single or married, and we want to enable and support mature relationships and family growth.

  • We value Unity. We are convinced that all who belong to Christ are one in His Body, the Church. We aim to maintain unity by honouring all who call on Jesus’ name and by seeking reconciliation with all parts of the Church.

  • We value Collegiate Relationships. We are honoured by every person whom God adds to the Vineyard. We aim to work together to build the Church through maintaining mutual respect, open communication, determined cooperation, and believing and speaking the best about each other.

  • We value Reality. We aim to walk in the Spirit and see real supernatural works of God. We aim also to function on the natural plan based on God’s leading in conjunction with excellent, relational thinking.

  • We value Simplicity. We wish to do nothing for “religious effect” but rather to operate in natural low-key, non-hype patterns. We desire to do the ministry of Christ with joy.

  • We value being Culture Current. We aim to develop an atmosphere of ease, and to speak, act, and dress in ways in which our culture can respond positively. For example, we reflect this value through worship music that is of a popular style.

PRIORITIES OF THE VINEYARD

  • WORSHIP

    We desire to worship God with our whole being. We want Jesus at the center as our Lord. We hunger for the fullness of the Spirit…His glory resting upon us!

  • THE WORD

    We want to hear the Word of God taught in a practical, inspiring way, in conjunction with His current prophetic word. We aim to hear and obey God’s Word to us…to be “doers of the Word” who are being transformed into the likeness of Christ.

  • FELLOWSHIP

    We are the family of God, one Body in Jesus Christ, joined together as brothers and sisters forever. We seek to develop real, intimate, enabling friendships together, built on covenant love, mutual responsibility and faithfulness.

  • MINISTRY

    We believe that all Christians are called to serve Christ in the power of His Spirit, in ways that build up the local church. We are called to do the ministry of Christ in the world today, for example, to…. a. preach the Gospel of the Kingdom b. persuade people to repent and believe in Jesus c. heal the sick d. care for the poor and those in need e. counsel those in need of God’s wisdom f. teach believers to follow Christ g. give our resources to the work of Christ h. train Christians to serve the Lord.

  • TRAINING

    We believe that all Christians should be trained to “do the works of Christ.” We are committed to the “show and tell” model of “on the job” training, in which trainees are introduced to doing ministry functions with trainers and then are taught during and after the training experience. We aim to provide training for all aspects of responsible Christian life and ministry.

  • SENDING

    We aim to renew, refresh, and enable existing churches by sending trained personnel out on short-term ministry trips. We aim to build the Church of Jesus Christ by sending trained personnel to plant churches around the world.