It is coming soon to two years of church planting involvement. We are so enriched and blessed to enjoy the covering and coaching by our Lead Pastors, Stuart & Nancy Gurnea and others, in particular, Pastors Dave and Sheila Johnson.

We have just spoken of our desire to be sent to plant a new Singapore Vineyard church, and are hoping to eventually receive the blessings of our Lead Pastors (and leadership team) and the church.

Being sent will be an important next step for us.

It’s obedience to Christ’s command for us to move from Jerusalem (this is the place from where we began) even if it is just to Judea (to cover our city and country). In simple words, we hope to be sent to plant a Vineyard fellowship here in Singapore!

And quite simply as well, the desire of our hearts remains to love and shepherd each person whom God brings to our care.

We now have oversight over three small groups. They are the Young Vines, Young Professionals (Tertiary students actually) and a Friday group, comprising Young at Hearts (Adults actually).

Working closely with them, we have come to realize that there is a great challenge in this field, if you like. It is for people to become convinced that God, not material comfort, careers or businesses, is whom we should place our love and trust in. (Did we hear Duh?)

How do we model and demonstrate that God is so good, and his kingdom and the spiritual realm are as real and practical as a “bank account”? Talk about being functional and relevant!

We also have to address how Singaporeans can be Disciples of Christ, and yet meet the tough demands of work or running a business in our performance-driven and meritocratic society! (A quest for the Radical Middle?)

The work and market place is an obvious avenue of outreach. This is where our people already spend much of their time. But we feel led to also bring them outside of their comfort (social) zones. To do outreach and extend mercies, such as to the foreign workers living here, nursing home for the aged, and the prison?

Mission trips and church planting projects abroad, which have been initiated by Vineyard Singapore and Cross International Ministries, Inc give us inroads into the neighboring countries.

Gathering and growth through evangelism will continue as our primary strategy. We have started to do some real training for the Alpha course, and are observing first hand how Alpha works, by attending a current “Alpha Course” in the city held at ACTS Lifestyle.

We just completed a one-year discipleship program using Master Life involving 6 people from our house church. How everyone has grown in the process!

Basically it is a truism that we will attract people who believe in our cause, and share our values and priorities. To have an idea of what we love to be building, consider the responses that we expect to hear from those who feel at home with us. They will be somewhat like this:

“I am here because my spiritual needs are being met and I am growing in the knowledge of the living word, and in spiritual maturity.”

“We have a covenanted relationship to be accountable to one another, to share our joys and bear each other’s burdens. I have received such love and care from my pastors and other members.”

“What I’m doing is significant and purposeful. It makes a difference. Lives are being touched and transformed by the love and power of Jesus Christ. It is demonstrated in our lives and actions.”

“I know that I’m still not all that Jesus wants me to be. But I’m trying and am making progress. My pastors are committed to building me up. It’s a community that depends on the Holy Spirit.”

“I love to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit and don’t mind working hard at learning.”

“I don’t want a Christianity, which is only like an insurance policy to go to heaven. I want to proactively do my part in Kingdom work. Jesus paid an enormous price for my salvation. I want to do whatever I can that will please my Father God, and to fulfill the plan and purpose He has for my life.”

“We have worship and prayer as one of our priorities. It helped me to know God intimately and to enjoy His presence. At the same time, having a heart of compassion for people is not overlooked or neglected.”

“In the world’s culture, sin seems normal and righteousness, strange. People casually sleep together, gossip, and backbite. But in this place we work hard at creating a different culture.”