We at Life Church are a dynamic worshipping family of grace-saved and hope-filled believers who are actively working to draw people into the kingdom of God through building loving relationships and winning people to Jesus through our life and message. Let God’s plans for us excite you!
Purpose. Mission. Vision
Our Purpose : ‘The Greatest Commandment’
It’s that greatest of all human questions – What are we here for? Our purpose has been clearly stated by Jesus. It is called ‘The Greatest Commandment’. He said that the most important thing is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).
Our highest call is to love him with everything we have. This involves our whole lives, 24/7 – glorifying him in our actions, passions,and obedience ! We are a people who express our love for God in many and varied ways and exist to bring God’s unconditional love to those nearest to us, to our city and the nation we live in. There is only one name that will last forever, and it will not be the name of Life Church, but the name of Jesus – we live to love and glorify him.
Our Mission : ‘The Great Commission’
Jesus gave his followers a mission – and that was to go and make other Jesus followers! It means his mission becomes your mission. We read in Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 to 20 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…”
That is what we are here to do. Not just for Southampton, but the nations. Making a disciple is simply connecting someone with Jesus so that they can take their lead from him, follow him, and learn from him. We want to help, teach and support each other in presenting ourselves as mature before God. We encourage everyone to be baptised. Jesus didn’t envisage any secret disciples, so we like to make it public!
Our Vision : ‘To grow into a resource church and to multiply into two more areas of Southampton.’
Our unique vision as Life Church Central has evolved over the years, but key themes have remained and others have developed as God has revealed more to us about our future. Our current vision is to grow and strengthen the number of people in our main gathering and then start gatherings in other areas of Southampton. This vision is being worked out alongside God’s call on us to be:
- Like a lifeboat – serious about reaching, rescuing and restoring people, with each crew member having a part to play.
- A resource church – in other words, we want to be a blessing to the city and beyond. In particular, we are to focus on redeeming lives from poverty and brokenness, redeeming aspects of culture, redeeming family life and to play a part in fulfilling some of the old promises over the city of Southampton.
