Where do we go from here?
Our Vision:
We see gardens of God’s Kingdom being planted across the Illawarra.
These are communities of Jesus people multiplying across the Illawarra.
They are places of beauty and life, where people walk with God, discover who they are, where they belong, and what their purpose is.
The Lord will surely comfort Zion
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,
her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
Isaiah 51:3
Sin has ravaged God’s creation.
Jesus is restoring it.
The Context
Citylife legacy
Prophetic word
In the garden
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Belonging
God placed Adam in the garden because that’s where he belonged. It’s in the garden that he would flourish. Today, God is drawing people to Himself by placing them in His new garden, the church.
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Identity
In the garden, people discover who they are. Just like Adam & Eve were made in the image of God, so we discover our identity in Jesus who is the exact image of God.
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Purpose
Adam and Eve were tasked with tending and extending the garden. Today, we are to care for one another and extend the garden by making disciples of all nations.
The Theology
The Kingdom of God that Jesus has inaugurated is the beginning of God restoring what was lost in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis, humanity lived with God, without shame, knowing their identity, belonging, and purpose to tend and extend the garden, but sin and death shattered that calling and pushed the world into exile. Jesus, the second Adam, has defeated sin and death and opened the way back into God’s kingdom-garden, inviting people to walk with Him, find freedom from shame, discover their identity in Christ, belong to God’s family, and join His mission to extend His life and goodness throughout the world. This “new creation” is the now/not yet beginning of heaven and earth coming together again, and our work in the kingdom today is part of God’s larger plan to restore all things.