We believe in Church growth! We believe a healthy Christian church should be a growing church.
When Pastor Jon Watts began his ministry at the church in October 2003, he presented this four-fold vision for the church. He followed up this vision of growth by teaching how the early church grew and developed in the Book of Acts.
GROWING UP IN MATURITY
Our Aims
- Every person in the church to be growing in their knowledge and understanding of God’s Word; growing in the fullness and experience of the Spirit; growing in their obedience to the Word as revealed by the Spirit in every aspect of their personal, daily lives.
- Every person in the church to be growing in their personal relationship with Jesus and in their worship and prayer life.
- Every person growing deeper in their understanding of God’s love, mercy and grace and becoming more like Jesus in their lives.
- Every person in the church to be growing towards maturity in their attitudes, love and care for others.
- Every person in the church to discover their calling and gifts and to be using those gifts to serve Jesus through the church and community.
- Rock Christian Centre to be a church where people experience the presence and power of God; where answers to prayer and miracles take place.
Our Commitments
- To provide regular, systematic and applied Bible teaching and preaching to feed the spiritual growth of the church.
- To be open to the work of the Holy Spirit in every aspect of our church life and services. We will encourage Spirit-filled worship, praise and prayer where the use of the gifts of the Spirit are welcomed, embraced and used to build up the body of the church.
- To challenge every person in the church to be growing in their relationship with Jesus and to be more Christ-like in their attitude to others.
- To train and empower people to discover their gifts and calling and to use them in the service of Jesus for the blessing of others.
- To provide opportunities for regular corporate prayer and intercession, and to celebrate together answers to prayer.
GROWING TOGETHER IN COMMUNITY
Our Aims
- To provide a warm and welcoming environment where all people feel accepted, loved and part of the church family.
- To provide a safe and secure environment for all, including children and vulnerable adults.
- To encourage every person to take an interest in others, care and pray for those around them, rather than selfishly seeking their own interests.
- To create an expanding network of Growth Groups across the city that become loving, caring, supportive, pastoral and evangelistic communities.
- To care and pray for people through every season of life, supporting them through the tough times and rejoicing together in the good times.
Our Commitments
- To provide a welcoming church through the Welcome Team, Visitor Information, Refreshments, Hospitality, Newcomers Lunches etc
- To train, encourage and exhort every person to be self-sacrificial in their love, care and compassion for other people.
- To provide safe and secure buildings and to have a clear safeguarding policy that protects everyone, especially children and vulnerable adults.
- To provide an expanding network of Growth Groups across the city and train leaders and hosts to develop genuine loving communities of God’s people.
- To provide a team of pastoral visitors available to visit and care for people during difficult times.
- To ‘stand in the gap’ in prayer for our church family, our families and friends, our local communities, city and beyond. To celebrate together God’s goodness in answered prayer.
- To share communion together as a whole church community at least once a month.
GROWING OUT IN EVANGELISM AND MISSION
Our Aims
- To see the whole church involved in reaching out to their friends, neighbours & colleagues with the life transforming message of Jesus.
- To see the spiritually deprived areas of Burngreave, the North & East of Sheffield, and ultimately the whole city & beyond, impacted with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- To present the good news of Jesus in our church services, Rock Welcome Church and special events. But also, to encourage evangelistic initiatives and personal evangelism beyond church buildings.
- To have a comprehensive range of community action projects that help to meet the practical, emotional, and spiritual needs of people in Burngreave and beyond.
- To see the Spital Hill and Lighthouse buildings being used extensively for community outreach activities that are open doorways for the good news of Jesus.
- To be a sending church which is impacting the world for Jesus through prayer; financial support; and sending our people to make a difference in the nations.
Our Commitments
- To encourage and train the whole church to reach out evangelistically to their friends, neighbours & colleagues.
- To provide evangelistic opportunities and events for people of all age groups.
- To encourage every Growth Group to become a genuine community of God’s people with a heart and passion to reach people for Jesus.
- To resource & expand the evangelistic and mission opportunities through our children’s and youth groups.
- To provide, within our buildings, resourced facilities that can be used for community outreach groups and activities.
- To support, train & encourage people to be involved in world mission including prayer, financial support and commissioning people.
GROWING LARGER AS A CHURCH
Our Aims
- To see hundreds of people from all nations, of all ages, from all backgrounds make Rock Christian Centre their home.
- To see large numbers of people respond to the life changing message of Jesus, be converted, baptised by immersion and added to the church.
- To see the network of Growth Groups expanding and multiplying throughout the city and beyond.
- To see the growth and development of the leadership of the church to be equipped to lead the church into greater growth and new initiatives in the future.
- To secure the future of the church through succession planning and future vision.
- To maximise the use of the buildings God has provided for us and continue to develop and maintain the buildings to best serve the vision of the Church and its ministries.
- To be listening to God’s guidance for His plans for the future growth and development of the church.
Our Commitments
- To provide a safe and secure environment where people of all nations, ages & backgrounds will feel welcomed into our church family.
- To promote and resource personal evangelism; evangelistic outreach; community projects; church courses and events that present the life transforming message of Jesus.
- To be a church that maintains a vision for growth that always strives for greater growth, even when buildings are full.
- To train, encourage and release more leaders and hosts to plant more Growth Groups.
- To seek God’s guidance and direction for the future growth and development of the church.
- To maximise the development and use of our sites and buildings for the expanding work of the Lord. To progress with raising funds towards improvements and renovations to the sites and buildings.