hunger for Reality

It's easy to find ourselves going through all the motions of the Christian Life, saying and doing all the right things; playing a part we've learned from others. Sometimes we suspect that ours may be a "fake plastic faith"; that underneath the role we play and the masks we wear there is very little of the reality of a relationship with with the Living God. At the heart of this year's vision is a desire to move beyond the pretence, to take off our masks, to strip away what's fake and find something real.

Real Identity
Too often we look for our identity in what we do and in what others think of us. We need to learn to find out identity in God's grace - realising that He loves us with all our sin and weakness and doubt and foolishness. We're beggars who have found bread, big sinners who have found a bigger Saviour.

Real Fellowship
We've been given Christian Fellowship and friendship to help us along the road of discipleship - but we can't help each other if we are hiding our real selves. We need to learn to be open, accountable and real with each other, then we can be the kind of community God intended. This kind of fellowship will transform our worship and prayer together and our service and mission together in the world.

Real Discipleship
God wants us to live lives that are radically different from what is expected and ancouraged by our culture. But our discipleship flows out of our identity as sinners who have received God's amazing grace. Our primary task is to dispense that same grace to others, so we need to live for God's kingdom, not only with great compassion and committment, but with real humility and love.