a b o u t u s
The Gathering House is a café-community-church located in Chesterville, Ontario.
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Our Hope is to see people grow in their relationship with Christ and with each other. We believe that a Christian grows in their faith through Lavish Worship, Intentional Community, Faithful Service, Effective Outreach and Radical Discipleship. We design all of our programs and activities around these things.
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We desire to have those in our community see that we love them and care for them with the love we have received from Christ.
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We hope to see you this Sunday!
Out
What We Believe
Scripture references (ESV) provided can be read by mousing over the text.
We believe that God has given us His Word the Bible without error to teach us about how we are to live and how we are to follow Him. We believe the Bible is the authoritative standard for every age and every life.
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We believe that God exists in three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that these three are eternal and are one. We believe that God is the sole creator of the universe.
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We believe that Jesus Christ is 100% both God and man. He was born of the virgin Mary, lived a perfect and sinless life in which He taught us how we ought to live and performed many signs and wonders displaying that He is God as revealed in the scriptures. We believe that Jesus was crucified on a cross paying the penalty for the sins of everyone who puts their faith and trust in Him alone. We believe that He was bodily raised from the dead three days later proving God's acceptance of His sacrifice.
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We believe that Jesus after His resurrection spent some time with the believers before ascending into heaven where He is currently at the right hand of God The Father interceding for the saints. We also believe He will return for those who have put their faith in Him.
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We believe that mankind's natural state is not neutral but rather enemies with God. We are all sinners through Adam's sin in the garden and we are all deserving of the wrath of God because of our sin. Through sin we receive both physical and spiritual death.
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We believe that the only way to be made right with God is through putting our trust in Jesus and him alone can we be forgiven of our sins. Jesus paid for our sins by offering Himself in our place on the cross and God accepted His payment on our behalf.
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We believe that once a believer has put their faith in Christ they are given a new nature and the Holy Spirit who is the assurance that we will spend eternity with God. This is entirely apart from us doing any kind of good works or being baptized but through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
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We believe that a true believer can receive punishment for their sins and miss out on some blessings that come with the christian walk but they cannot ever lose their faith.
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We believe that the local church is to be a representation of the body of Christ which is all believers in the world who have put their hope in Jesus. We believe that every believer in the church has the Holy Spirit in their lives who has gifted every individual with different gifts that we are all called to use to build up the body of Christ. We believe that it is vital for a believer's spiritual health to be in a church where they can be challenged, equipped, blessed, and grow.
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We believe that when a believer dies they will depart to be with Christ which is far better than this earth. We believe that for those who trust in Jesus Christ there is hope after death while those who reject Christ only have the judgement of God for their sins.
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We believe that there is a very real spiritual battle going on between God and satan. We believe that God has already defeated Satan through the cross but has allowed Satan to operate as a defeated foe until He comes back for those who have believed in Jesus. He does this so that more people will come to put their trust in Him.
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Godliness
The triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the centre of this ministry. Our deep desire is to glorify Him in all that we do by following His example, in Christ, through the enabling of the Holy Spirit.
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God’s Word
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We believe the Bible to be God’s Word and accept its authority as the ultimate guide for our lives, both individually and corporately.
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The Body of Christ
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We believe that God has created each of us as unique members of one body of believers. He has equipped each of us with gifts that are given for the good of the whole. We seek to identify and utilize these gifts for the purposes of expanding and strengthening His Kingdom. We also seek to care for each member out of the wealth of Christ’s love.
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Unity
We understand that our identity in Christ is inextricably linked to the depth of our unity and love for each other. We are committed to strengthening the bonds that bind us together and lovingly address issues that have the potential to divide us.
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Grace
As grateful recipients of God’s grace, we seek to extend that grace to all those who connect with any one of TGH’s ministries or members.
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Integrity
We serve a perfect God whose dealings with mankind have always been right and just. We seek to model this Godly commitment in all of our relationships.
Relationships
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We serve a God who paid the ultimate price to foster deeply intimate relationships with those He created. He created the church through building loving and accountable relationships. We experience God each day in relationship and understand the incredible potential inherent in building relationships within and outside the church.
Governance
Our God is a God of order and authority. We appreciate the need for clearly defined roles, responsibilities and lines of authority that are in keeping with God’s Word.
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Outreach
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We consider evangelism to be inextricably linked to the process of discipleship. Christ’s final words to His disciples included a mandate to multiply or make disciples by spreading the good news of salvation throughout the world. We feel called to apply this mandate in both local and global contexts. We seek to do this in a manner that is clear and understandable in our post-modern context.
Discipleship
Being a follower of Christ is a dynamic, maturing process that requires education, mentoring, and experience. We understand the importance of intentionally and strategically developing passionate disciples of Jesus Christ.
Complementary Ministry
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Eastern Ontario is rich in church and para-church organizations pursuing similar missions. TGH is committed to work with and support these other ministries.
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Spiritual Disciplines
Discipleship involves, for each member, the development of Biblical disciplines that will strengthen personal and corporate faith.
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Study
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TGH promotes individual and corporate learning. There is so much to learn about the Kingdom of God. Our learning is focused on application and seeks to enable us to grow in our faith.
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Prayer, Meditation and Fasting
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God invites us to a deep and profound spiritual life that includes continuous communication with Him. We appreciate this invitation and understand the power of investing in this spiritual life.
Worship
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Our God is worthy of praise. We understand that we can glorify God in a wide variety of ways and so we promote the exploration and integration of worship into all that we do.
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Service
Christ is the Servant King and as His disciples we accept our calling to have the same attitude and to serve others with the same attitude that Christ had in serving us.
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Social Responsibility
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Christ encouraged the church to play a leading role in caring for the less fortunate in our world. We seek to be a church that extends its concern for the poor and oppressed beyond the boundaries of the spiritual to the temporal.
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Stewardship
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God has richly blessed TGH and its members materially. We see these resources as a trust to be wisely managed for the purposes of expanding and strengthening His Kingdom.
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