Our Master Plan

Why have a Master Plan?

Each church is called by God to fulfil a specific calling and destiny. No two churches are exactly the same as they comprise a mix of different people with widely differing strengths and abilities.

This Master Plan relates how we do church a Life Links Church. It provides the overall framework as to how our church functions as a local fellowship and what we believe God has called us to be.

In it, you will find an explanation of our Mission Statement, our Vision Statement, our Core Values, our Statement of Beliefs and our Statement of Purpose. Put together, these are the blueprint of what we want to achieve in our church, and how we intend to go about achieving it. More importantly, we believe that this is what God wants us to do.

Many churches fail to progress simply because they don’t have a clearly articulated plan of their overall direction. The intent of this Master Plan is that we should all understand precisely what our mission is. It is our goal that all ministries and activities of the church be in alignment with this document.

Included in the Life Links Church Master Plan are:

Our Mission Statement

We believe that the mission of the local church should be based on the mission that Jesus Christ Himself gave to the church, otherwise known as the Great Commission:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matt 28:19-20)

 

Our Vision Statement

Whereas the Mission Statement tells us what we are to do, our vision is all about what we hope it will look like as we fulful that mission.  This is what we’ve come up with:

To be a Bible-believing, Christ-worshiping community of believers that reaches the lost with the transforming power of Christ’s love and disciples them.

Our Core Values

Every church has certain values that they believe are non-negotiable. These are the things which that church feels they cannot compromise on and without which their existence is meaningless. Those values are called Core Values.

These are the Core Values of Life Links Church. They are not in order of importance.

 

Our Statement of Purpose

Every church exists for a reason.  We aren’t here just to do as we like, but we’ve been put on earth for a purpose.

Just like people were created for a purpose, we believe that Life Links Church, Ararat, exists for a purpose too.

 

Our Statement of Beliefs

What we believe affects everything we do and also our ultimate goals in life.  At Life Links, we hold to a standard (orthodox) view of Christian beliefs.

Having said that, some things are essential, and some things are non-essential.  Our fellowship with other churches is based on the essentials.  For everything else, we can agree to differ.

 

C.A.R.E.

Community: Actively Reaching Everyone

C.A.R.E. is how we look out for one another. It’s how we keep each other on track, spiritually healthy and strong. At Life Links, we see C.A.R.E. as being the responsibility of the whole body, not just one person (as in the pastor) or a select few (as in the elders). When everyone is involved in caring for each other, the whole church benefits.

Ephesians 4:16: from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.