The only grand explanatory system that can carry both the entire purposes of God and the full needs of humanity is Jesus’ Gospel of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God was the central theme of Jesus’ words and works. He called his first disciples to become his apprentices in kingdom living, to derive their life from Divine rule and reign. He invited them on a journey to learn to announce, demonstrate and embody kingdom realities—and to do so for the salvation, healing and deliverance of others. The inbreaking and final fulfillment of God’s rule and reign provides the telos for human life. It reminds us that the world has a story, and from that story we get background, plot line and daily orientation for our role in the story. We take seriously Jesus’ command in Matthew 28 to go out and train everyone we meet, far and near, in His way of life. We instruct apprentices of Jesus in the practice of all he commanded. In the Kingdom of God, we experience ministry as unlimited access to Divine resources. Thus, we engage in joyful generosity: planting churches as outposts or embassies of the kingdom, sending our best leaders, and making financial investments as the overflow of the rule and reign of God, in whom we live and move and have our being.

God’s purposes in full-orbed discipleship to Jesus require a power that matches his intentions. This is the person and work of the Holy Spirit. “Wait [to embark on ministry] until you have received power from on high” (Luke 24.49) is a paradigmatic passage and reality for Christian ministry. We live by God’s design and purpose in an age meant to be marked by an interactive relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Church participates with the life of God in the world through the person and work of the Spirit. The Spirit gives authority, power, gifts and fruit whereby the Church is enabled to live into its mission. We teach everyone to set aside biases or confusion about the Holy Spirit and to welcome him—his animating, energizing, equipping and empowering presence—into their life, thus enabling the good they dream to do in the world.

Spiritual transformation is the Spirit-driven (re)creative work of God, forming our inner self in such a way that it becomes like the inner being of Christ himself. This is meant to train us for life in his kingdom. God—his grace—is the primary initiator/actor in the process of spiritual formation. But grace does not set us aside or render us passive. Grace is opposed to earning, not effort. God delights in our partnership with him, in our heart-desired, well-directed, grace-based use of the spiritual disciplines. These are what surely lead to growth in Christoformity. Thus a vital part of the life of C4SO is seeking personal, spiritual and professional growth and transformation. We seek to reflect the pattern Jesus established during his life and ministry: a journey inward and a journey outward. The journey inward facilitates spiritual transformation. It involves the gracious and wise use of various spiritual disciplines. The journey outward focuses on caring for others, which includes an emphasis on service, promoting justice, peacemaking, evangelism and discipleship—helping others become formed in the way of Jesus. As we journey outward, we prioritize, trust and respect young leaders, treating them as thoughtful adults, seeking to nurture them and their vision.

The Church is animated by, incorporated into and constituted by the mission of God. The calling and sending of the Church are central to God’s self-revelation. The Church, as the body of Christ and bearer of Divine blessing, is sign, foretaste, and instrument of the kingdom. This is primarily a relational and ontological reality, not merely pragmatic or utilitarian. Building churches in conversation with a specific mission field, we co-labor with missional and Spirit-driven creativity born from the heart of Thomas Cranmer as seen in his introduction to The Book of Common Prayer, 1549.  We seek to identify where God is at work and to join him there. We seek to be the cooperative friends of Jesus, desiring, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to live constant lives of creative goodness for the sake of others.

Through the sacraments, the Church is assured of God’s faithfulness to his promise to act in particular ways. In the liturgy and sacraments, the worshipping Church is invited beyond being a mere spectator of God’s glory, to becoming intimately involved in the mystery of a God who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). In Holy Baptism, human beings are immersed into the trinitarian life by being joined to the death and resurrection of Jesus through water. In Holy Eucharist, the Church is brought about, sustained, and nourished by Christ’s Body and Blood in bread and wine. What the Church receives in the real presence of Christ in the sacraments, the Church becomes for the sake of the world, participants in the life and mission of God. Based on this assurance of God’s presence and action given to us in the sacraments, we seek to discern and participate with God’s life and mission in our lives and neighborhoods.