Our Mission Statement:

Love God, Love People, Share Jesus, Make Disciples

Christianity is about a relationship.

Jesus said – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12.30)

Jesus said - “if you love me, keep my commands” (John 14.15)

We love God because he first loved us. He showed that love by sending Jesus to us on a rescue mission.

We belong to him now, and worship him with our whole being.

Loving God means that every aspect of our lives should be devoted to him – our relationships, the way we use our bodies, the way we speak, our finances, our possessions, our career plans, our thinking. Everything.

It means that we seek him always. This means we are hungry to read the Bible and obey God’s commands. “If anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them” (1 John 2.5). We also devote ourselves to prayer.




“This is my command; love each other” – the words of Jesus in John 15.17.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13.35)

“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3.17-18)

Loving people means we care about their physical and material needs as a practical expression of our love for God.

We are always learning more about what it means in practice to love one another, within the particular Christian community of Tab church. Our own foodbank is just one of the ways we do this. We also make occasional special offerings to help others in need, usually where there’s a close connection with people in our own congregation.

We aim to care about people in need in our local community. One of the ways we do this is by contributing to The Well Foodbank.

Loving people also means that we care enough about their spiritual welfare and eternal destiny to want to tell them about Jesus, to give them the opportunity to respond to him while they have the opportunity.



 
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3.16)

“God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2.4)

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” (Romans 10.15, Isaiah 52.7)

“God…gave us the ministry of reconciliation, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors….” (2 Corinthians 5.18-20)

This means we try to share the message of the cross and resurrection of Jesus with people who use our building during the week, other people in our local community, people who visit us on Sundays, and among the people we work with or see regularly.

We aim to - “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” and to - “do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3.15).
 
 


Jesus asked 4 fishermen, a tax collector and many others to follow him, to become his disciples. Jesus has been asking people to follow him ever since. ‘Disciple’ means follower and learner.

He told his disciples to go, with his authority and - “make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28.19-20). He promised to be with them in that task.

Our task is to share Jesus with people. Then, for those who decide to follow him, to help them work out what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

We try to teach the Bible faithfully, to encourage learning and discussion in house groups, as well as encouraging each other in faith in other ways. It means encouraging people to read the Bible and pray regularly, listening to what God is saying, and putting into practice what Jesus says, in whatever work or non-work places God has put us.