GracePoint Church Network is composed of Gospel preaching churches, proclaiming Christ crucified and upholding Him alone as the only hope for a fallen world. We are confident that when anyone walks into any of our congregations, now and in the future; such individuals can and will find Christ Proclaimed and heralded from the Holy Scriptures: The Gospel sang in Songs that are Bible lyrics infused, prayers with Gospel ambitions raised to God’s throne room, and Christ exalted and the values/distinctives outlined here below reflected, and as a result, will be built up in their most holy faith and encouraged in spreading the fame and the renown of Christ where His name has not been named. We hope that in the development of GracePoint Church history in the numerous years that lay ahead these Distinctives, values, and longings will form the basis of our every plant and those who come behind us will gladly affirm them.
Distinctive 1: We are passionate about Gospel Centrality
This Gospel is centered on Christ. This Glorious Gospel is the sub-structure for the entire life of the church. This Gospel is our only hope for eternal life. The Gospel changes what we believe, changes everything. To this end; we Proclaim Christ Crucified and uphold Him as the Only Hope for the fallen world.
Distinctive 2: We are Excited about Gospel Communities
This Gospel community we believe is a people called out of the world, devoted to God and to one another. It’s about a shared life, a network of relationships, a genuine community of people – that is God centered. Growth Groups are often centered around a Bible study or the previous Sunday’s sermon. We’re thus intentional about one-anothering, one-to-one’s, biblical discipleship that points to Christ and warm fellowships. We hope to see a “culture of discipling forming in which making disciples is viewed as an ordinary part of every member” daily and lifelong routine.”
Distinctive 3: We are Zealous about Expository Preaching
G. Campbell Morgan, pastor of London’s Westminster Chapel and known as “the prince of expositors,” taught that a sermon is limited by the text it is covering. Every word from the pulpit should amplify, elaborate on, or illustrate the text at hand, with a view towards clarity (clarifying, shedding light on the text). He wrote, “The sermon is the text
repeated more fully.” A sermon’s primary function is to present the text. Expository preaching is making the main point of the passage the very point of the sermon. To this end we seek to Show Christ from the passage of scripture one Bible book at a time. Our prayer is that “the preaching of God’s Word would be biblically careful and Holy Spirit imbued; and that a hunger for studying the Gospel would form among members so that they can guide and guard one another in it.”
Distinctive 4: We are Keen on Children and Youth
Proclamation of the whole counsel of God’s word is essential to the growth of Children and youth. Preaching and teaching Scripture is vital for effective transformation of children and youth and those who teach the Bible must do so with great care (James 3:1). Young people and children need a variety of trustworthy relationships where they can safely receive and ask for support as they learn and grow as disciples of Christ. Effective teaching of God’s word functions best within the context of genuine Christian relationships. Relationships provide opportunities for young people to help each other understand God’s word. They also enable more mature disciples to model to younger disciples what obedience to Christ looks like in practice. We therefore are committed to pointing Children and youth to Christ through quality Biblical instruction, care and example.
Distinctive 5: We are Committed to Gospel Generosity
We hope to spread the message of biblical generosity in order to grow generous givers for the advance of the Gospel, especially among those entrusted with both less and much. Our desire is to see in our congregations’ tight fists opened. Men and women not holding back. Men and women plain and transparent with their giving – releasing their
money, becoming an instrument of blessing. Giving without impartiality, ceasing generous moments without delay – to this end, our prayer for all our people is that “our giving would be faithful, as well as joyful, consistent, and sacrificial.”
Distinctive 6: We are Sincere about Missional Communities
A missional community can be defined as a community of Christians, on mission with God, in obedience to the Holy Spirit, who demonstrate the Gospel tangibly and declare the Gospel creatively to a pocket of people in a region where Gracepoint Churches are planted. A missional community is intentionally focused on those who aren’t believers. A Missional community is intentionally focused on those outside the church.
We hope to therefore to be a Gospel Missional church that shows that Missional communities are different in that they primarily see the purpose of their friendship, love, and unity to be an apologetic for the gospel to their neighbors. We therefore hope that our church and its life at every member level will hard pressed with the truth of the gospel and
the imperative of disciple making. We pray that our members will Biblically see the tragic need of the lost as sin rooted deep in their heart, as well as see and minister to practical needs around us.
Our desire will be to see people not only being taught faithfully on Sundays and studying the Bible with diligence in their small groups – but realising that: The purpose of studying the Bible is indeed to learn about God and conform us to the image of Christ, but it’s also to equip us for the work of ministry in the church (community) and outside the
church (mission). We will challenge ourselves and all of our Bible studies to think critically about how the information that they are studying affects their daily life AND specifically how they can share the good news of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection with their friends and neighbours.
Distinctive 7: We are Dedicated to church Planting
Church planting is the establishing of an organised body of believers in a new location. The process of church planting involves evangelism, the discipleship of new believers, the training of church planters, and the organisation of the church according to the New Testament model. Church planting is a specific focus within the larger work of “missions.” Church planters are missionaries who concentrate their efforts on preaching and teaching the Word of God.
The ultimate goal of most church planters is to glorify the Lord in a community. Once this goal has been reached and the church is able to stand on its own, the church planter together with the church he leads should seek to plant other churches, that in turn plant other churches. Gracepoint Church is fervent to train, equip, send, plant and support
churches in the semi- urban towns of Kenya for the Glory of God.
Distinctive 8: We are Earnest to Collaborate & Partner (Collaborations & Partnerships)
We do not seek to be lone-rangers in God’s work. Rather: We affirm the God-Glorifying Joy of Gospel partnerships typified in Philippians 1. A classic example of Faithful Gospel partnerships that Glorify God, as such Partnerships strategically advance the Gospel. Our desire is to come alongside & join hands with others in Prayer, Sharing personnel,
training, books, presence, discussions/conferences & consultations, resources among many others.
Distinctive 9: We are Purposeful about Sizeable Flourishing Congregations
Our desire is to grow churches that have a Growing Esteem for the fame and renown of Christ – with a visible, almost discernible transformation into the person of Christ among her members – with a spirit of repentance – bearing fruit that’s keeping with repentance. A church visibly devoted to the word of God – practically evidenced in love for God and the community where such a church is planted.
Distinctive 10: We are Enthusiastic about Plurality of elders/Elder Led Congregations,
Both men and women are together created in the divine image and are therefore equal before God as persons, possessing the same moral dignity and value, and have equal access to God through faith in Christ. Men and women are together the recipients of spiritual gifts designed to empower them for ministry in the local church and beyond. Therefore, men and women are to be encouraged, equipped, and empowered to utilise their gifting in ministry, in service to the body of Christ, and through teaching in ways that are consistent with the Word of God.
While husbands and wives are responsible to God for spiritual nurture and vitality in the home, God has given to the man primary responsibility to lead his wife and family in accordance with the servant leadership and sacrificial love characterised by Jesus Christ. This principle of male headship should not be confused with, nor give any hint of,
domineering control. Rather, it is to be the loving, tender, and nurturing care of a godly man who is himself under the kind and gentle authority of Jesus Christ. The elders/pastors (terms used interchangeably) of each local church have been granted authority under the headship of Jesus Christ to provide oversight and to teach/preach the Word of God in the corporate assembly for the building up of the body. The office of elder/pastor is restricted to qualified men.