Our Vision
Being convinced that God desires to glorify His name by engaging the hearts of all in Guelph, we invite all Christ’s followers in Guelph to unite in prayer for the transformation of our city! We believe that God desires to transform Guelph; bringing all aspects of our city in greater alignment with His purposes.
"The chief end of all is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!" |
|
Seeing prayer as a humble expression of total dependence upon God, we commit to praying with our brothers and sisters in Guelph that God would transform our city radically – beginning with His people!
We pray with a desperation, knowing that unless God moves mightily in the hearts of His own people, we can do nothing. We pray with desperation, knowing that we present the Gospel to many whose experiences with the Gospel led to unsatisfactory results. We pray with desperation, knowing that many view spiritual connection to God as a myth, a fantasy, or something entirely irrelevant to their lives.
Yet, in our desperation, we pray with great hope, joy, and trust, knowing that God’s work in our lives buoys us in times of sorrow, strengthens us in our weaknesses, challenges us to grow in maturity, and fosters love towards others in our hearts. Our prayer is a prayer of resting on the grace of God.
We pray in dependence, knowing that God is faithful. We pray confidently, knowing that He hears us and that He answers prayer that aligns with His purposes. We pray with the satisfaction of knowing Him, of experiencing Him more deeply, of growing in the grace and knowledge of Him.
We pray in hopeful desperation, seeking Him to act on our behalf. Our salvation rests, by faith, in His grace. Our growth in maturity finds rootedness and strength in faith – He started this good work in us, He brings it to completion! In like manner, our prayer simply takes a further step of faith, causing us to walk in step with Him, experiencing Him at work in and around us.
We pray with a desperation, knowing that unless God moves mightily in the hearts of His own people, we can do nothing. We pray with desperation, knowing that we present the Gospel to many whose experiences with the Gospel led to unsatisfactory results. We pray with desperation, knowing that many view spiritual connection to God as a myth, a fantasy, or something entirely irrelevant to their lives.
Yet, in our desperation, we pray with great hope, joy, and trust, knowing that God’s work in our lives buoys us in times of sorrow, strengthens us in our weaknesses, challenges us to grow in maturity, and fosters love towards others in our hearts. Our prayer is a prayer of resting on the grace of God.
We pray in dependence, knowing that God is faithful. We pray confidently, knowing that He hears us and that He answers prayer that aligns with His purposes. We pray with the satisfaction of knowing Him, of experiencing Him more deeply, of growing in the grace and knowledge of Him.
We pray in hopeful desperation, seeking Him to act on our behalf. Our salvation rests, by faith, in His grace. Our growth in maturity finds rootedness and strength in faith – He started this good work in us, He brings it to completion! In like manner, our prayer simply takes a further step of faith, causing us to walk in step with Him, experiencing Him at work in and around us.
Our Beginnings
Jacob took part in a Journey To Transformation workshop during a recent service and ministry exploration stint in Spain. During this time God convicted both Karen and Jacob to call God’s people to deeper levels of prayer in our city, with a view to multiplying this into other areas of Canada as well. As we watch our society slide into spiritual apathy, becoming progressively less responsive to the gospel, we also see the church’s vision for living and sharing the gospel become foggy. Yet, in spite of these realities, we believe that God is stirring His church to prepare for His return.
During our time in Spain, we saw the very real impact of praying together with ministry leaders. This impacted the depth and quality of our interactions with them and resulted in mutual blessing. We found that we did not go home depleted by serving, but rather empowered through service. In like manner, we desire to build into the lives of the Christian leaders in our city, with a view to nurturing a disciple-making culture in the churches of Guelph.
Community Transformation speaks to the revival movement in God’s people that impacts all areas of the society in which we dwell. This goes beyond quickly growing our church or experiencing a spiritual (or emotional) awakening to seeing God change areas in our lives or in our city that often remain untouched.
Revival - Community Transformation - is frequently short-lived due to a lack of rootedness in God’s word and a lack of discipline in the lives of those experiencing the revival. Thus, as in Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed, the seed of the word during revival can easily fall on shallow ground, and, while “life” starts out excitedly, the results prove short-lived. As such, it’s important that our churches prepare themselves for this revival through the process of reproductive disciple-making. Through the prayer network, we hope to find pastors and churches open to growing their disciple-making process. Going beyond a program, this process (using the Discovery Bible Study method) grows believers in their obedience, in their preparedness to lead others in small group discipleship, and in sinking their roots deeply into their faith in Christ.
As such, we pray and work to see city-wide prayer, empowered Christian leadership, and robust disciple-making result in lasting Community Transformation.
During our time in Spain, we saw the very real impact of praying together with ministry leaders. This impacted the depth and quality of our interactions with them and resulted in mutual blessing. We found that we did not go home depleted by serving, but rather empowered through service. In like manner, we desire to build into the lives of the Christian leaders in our city, with a view to nurturing a disciple-making culture in the churches of Guelph.
Community Transformation speaks to the revival movement in God’s people that impacts all areas of the society in which we dwell. This goes beyond quickly growing our church or experiencing a spiritual (or emotional) awakening to seeing God change areas in our lives or in our city that often remain untouched.
Revival - Community Transformation - is frequently short-lived due to a lack of rootedness in God’s word and a lack of discipline in the lives of those experiencing the revival. Thus, as in Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed, the seed of the word during revival can easily fall on shallow ground, and, while “life” starts out excitedly, the results prove short-lived. As such, it’s important that our churches prepare themselves for this revival through the process of reproductive disciple-making. Through the prayer network, we hope to find pastors and churches open to growing their disciple-making process. Going beyond a program, this process (using the Discovery Bible Study method) grows believers in their obedience, in their preparedness to lead others in small group discipleship, and in sinking their roots deeply into their faith in Christ.
As such, we pray and work to see city-wide prayer, empowered Christian leadership, and robust disciple-making result in lasting Community Transformation.