Reflect God's Love
The Bible says, “We love because God first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). The love that we seek to share with one another and with our neighbours starts with God’s love for us, and we seek to reflect that in all that we do. We will seek to follow Jesus’ example of preaching and demonstrating the Kingdom of God with our words and our deeds. Whether by telling people about Jesus and preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom, feeding the hungry and clothing naked, healing the sick and casting out evil spirits, getting alongside the lonely and the outcast or worshipping and praying, we will seek to reflect the love that God has shown us.
In our Church
The Bible goes on to say “If we do not love a fellow believer, whom we have seen, we cannot love God, whom we have not seen. And he has given us this command: "Those who love God must also love one another.” (1 John 4:20-21). Jesus commanded us to love one another (John 13:34), and to demonstrate the love and mercy we have received by the way we treat one another. We want to be generous towards one another in time and money; we want to be patient and forgiving with each other; we want to express our love for one another in words and actions. In any family there can be disputes or grievances. This is just as true of the Church family as any other. If another member of the Church upsets or grieves one of us, our first response should be to try and forgive them as instructed in Colossians 3:13. If we feel we still need to take action, then we seek to follow Jesus’ principle of reconciliation as outlined in Matthew 18:15-18. If we know we have offended or upset someone else, we should be quick to go to them and settle the matter.(Matthew 5:23-24).
In our Community
God has called us to be a gathering of believers (this is what the word “Church” means”) in a particular place and at a particular time. We have a responsibility to reflect God’s love in the community that God has placed us in. We should be an example of God’s love to our neighbours in what we say and in what we do. We want to tell people in Penarth the wonderful Good News about Jesus, but also demonstrate God’s love in practical ways. As such, we are committed to serving the local community in any way that we can.
In the World
Jesus told his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptising 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” (Matthew 28:19-20). We want to see the Good News of Jesus shared in every corner of the world, and we will do this through going in person to serve overseas, by supporting missionary societies who send workers to other countries (especially the Baptist Missionary Society) and by supporting aid agencies and international development agencies such as Tearfund or Tools with a Mission with our time and money.