Momentum (Christ – centred, Spirit – empowered, Mission – focused)
As we enter into our new journey together, I want to remind us of the original trust that the Alliance was given when it first became a movement. Simpson declared that “The Alliance has its calling to lead people of God further on into all the heights and depths of the life of Christ and further out into all the aggressive work which the children of God have so long neglected.” In a very real sense, we are a “further in and further out” movement. God has called us to a journey of diving into the depths of our relationship with Christ, to experience him in all of his fullness, and from that place, to be launched further out into the mission that we are on with him. Simpson articulated this very succinctly in the following statements. He writes:
1) This movement stands primarily as a witness to the supernatural, to the living God, to a religion which is wholly divine, a life that is wholly divine, and a church which is supernatural in its nature, power and ministry.
2) This movement stands for a living and indwelling Christ and the power of His resurrection to make and keep us holy, to heal our bodies, and to satisfy every need of our being.
3) This movement stands for the blessed hope of the Lord’s com¬ing as the goal of the Christian age and the remedy for all earth’s wrongs.
4) This movement stands particularly for the great wok of world-wide evangelism. It is the work of communicating the Gospel as a witness to all nations. This is our trust, our task, our high and holy calling for the Christians of this generation to give to the non-Christians of this generation the message of salvation and the chance of eternal life.
5) This movement stands for a commitment to reach the most ne¬glected fields, to avoid the beaten tracks of other laborers, to press on to the regions beyond and instead of building upon an¬other man’s foundation to preach the Gospel where Christ has not been named.
6) This movement stands for a spirit of self-sacrifice, adjustment, adaptation and single-hearted love for people. We are called to a spirit so possessed with one supreme object to gain men and women for Christ that it sweeps over every other consideration in its over mastering purpose of love.
I have stated often that our vision prayer has set the stage for a fresh and compelling work of God in us and through us. It is an audacious and faith-filled prayer. My passion, however, is to encourage a new environment in which to live out this vision prayer, an environment that empowers the family of churches in Canada and around the world to be a Christ-centred, Spirit-empowered and mission-focused movement where God-given dreams, visions and passions can be unleashed with life-transforming power. I believe that this new environment captures the heart of the trust that we have been given as a family of churches. As we enter into the challenging decisions we face, may the underlying passion of our hearts resonate with “further in and further out.”
“God has given us a whole Gospel for the whole [person], spirit, soul and body, and it is only the logical sequence that it should also be for the whole world.” — A.B. Simpson
Please find the original version in C&MA website