Vision
“Living out your full potential in Christ!"
That’s it. That’s our vision. It’s also an invitation. Our vision is YOU living out your full potential in Christ. Can you picture that – you at your best? Can we help you?
It’s a bold invitation, but we believe that this is what Jesus meant when He said, “go and make disciples.” Our sole purpose for existing as a church is to continue Jesus’ ministry of disciple-making. In fact, we really have no authority or business doing anything else. So if you want to learn more about what a disciple is and how Forestview can help you live out your full potential in Christ, please read on! How we are living out our vision as a disciple is to be someone who is committed to living out their full potential in Christ. In John 15:1-17, Jesus illustrates what this looks like using the imagery of a vine and branches. He points out three life practices:
Abiding
ABIDING (vs. 4, 5, 7). A disciple is committed to staying rooted in a transforming friendship with Jesus like a branch connected to the vine. Living like Jesus flows out of a close relationship with Him. A disciple must be “in Christ.”
Loving
LOVING (vs. 10, 12, 17). A disciple is committed to growing in the love of Jesus by learning to lay down their life for others. God gifts each Christian with the unique capacity to love people like no one else can. We do it as a team, with the love, support, and encouragement of other believers. Our call is to live out “our” full potential in Christ together.
Bearing Fruit
BEARING FRUIT (vs. 5, 8, 16). A disciple is committed to multiplying Jesus’ ministry by intentionally helping others to abide, love, and bear fruit. Just as the Father sent Jesus into the world to be a change agent, so Christ sends us out into the world to be change agents in Hs name. A disciple must be “living out” their faith in Christ.
Abide • Love • Bear Fruit
These three practices represent the core teachings of Jesus as He summarized them in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. We are to love God (Abide), love our neighbour (Love), and go make disciples (Bear Fruit). We believe that in these teachings Jesus is describing what being a disciple is all about – Abiding, Loving, and Bearing Fruit. It’s not complicated. And we would like to keep it that way. So if someone were to ask what Forestview Community Church is all about, we’d say: “abiding, loving, and bearing fruit.” That’s what it means to live out our full potential in Christ. If this is something you desire, let us know! We’d love to help you in any way we can.