One of the best ways to get to know what we believe as a church is to spend some time attending Sunday services so that you can get a better feel and understanding of our theology, but as you read through some of the areas below you will quickly see that it’s all about Jesus, and that our knowledge must lead us to grow in our godliness (Titus 1:1)

JESUS IS ALIVE
We believe that, right now, Jesus is alive – having conquered death and proving through His resurrection that He Himself is God (Romans 1:4). He is not some philosophical ideal, or figure relegated to the past as simply a good moral teacher for us to learn from – He is fully and totally God, our Creator and active in the world today through the presence of the Holy Spirit (Colossians 1: 15-20 ; Hebrews 1:3 ; Matthew 28:18-20), having eternally existed with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit in the loving & perfect community of the Trinity (one God in three persons, who are distinct from each other and yet each fully, equally and eternally God)

JESUS IS GOD
Jesus is the only member of the Trinity to become a man, adding humanity to his divinity (referred to as the incarnation – ‘taking on flesh’), and while on earth lived a perfectly sinless human life by the power of the Holy Spirit, knowing in all ways what it is to be human and completely able to relate to the human experience (Philippians 2: 6-11 ; Hebrews 4: 14-16) in order to make substitutionary atonement for us – to die in our place, for our sins, so that we might receive righteousness instead of deserved punishment (Romans 3: 23-24 ; Romans 6: 23 ; 2 Corinthians 5: 21).

Jesus is the only way to the Father; the only way to ‘get to heaven,’ as the only perfect and sinless mediator between a holy God and sinful man (1 Timothy 2: 5-6 ; John 14:6).

We affirm that His many miracles are convincing evidence of His divine nature – including His birth through the virgin, Mary; fulfilment of numerous other Old Testament prophecies, and ultimately his resurrection from death – and that these miracles are recorded ‘signs’ to inspire belief (John 20: 30-31)

JESUS LOVES US
Jesus has demonstrated His great love for us by dying on the Cross, in our place, for our sins so that we could be reconciled to God, be forgiven, given new and abundant life and adopted into God’s family, receiving the Holy Spirit as our constant counsellor and empowerer. (Romans 5: 8 ; John 10:10 ; Ephesians 1: 3-10 ; John 16: 13 ; Ezekiel 36: 26-27; John 3:16)

All of this is a gift from God, and must be received by faith (Ephesians 2: 8-9) in order to be effective. God is steadfast and abounding in His love towards us, giving us numerous opportunities to call on Him to be saved – which is a conscious decision of the will that each individual must make to receive Jesus as their Saviour, turning from their sin and putting their trust in Him.

We believe that the Bible (the 39 books of the Old Testament, and the 27 books of the New Testament) is God’s revelation of Himself, and not simply a ‘rulebook for life.’ At its heart, the Bible is about Jesus (Luke 24:27 ; John 5: 39-40 ; Luke 24: 44-45), and as its central figure He reveals to us who God is and how we can know Him.

All of the Scriptures are authored by God Himself, using human writers through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, ensuring that the Bible is without error, authoritative and useful for us (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ; 2 Peter 1: 20-21), and should therefore be joyfully and diligently studied, preached and applied to our lives.

We hold to the position of verbal plenary inspiration: that the very words (verbal) of Scripture, not just the general thoughts or ideas, in all (plenary) of the Bible, not just in part, are authored by God through human writers (inspiration).

God created humankind (both male and female) in His image & likeness, sharing special relationship and intimacy with us (Genesis 1: 26-28), showing us favour and giving us a place of prominence and authority in the created order (Psalm 8: 4-9) so that we might know and love Him, for His glory and our good. We are not here by accident, and we were not made because God lacked anything or needed something from us, but in love created us to enjoy Him and be loved by Him eternally, with our whole existence to be wrapped up in Him (Acts 17: 24-28).

All people, everywhere, are loved by God and, as His image-bearers, have intrinsic worth and dignity.

Following the pattern of our first parents, all of humanity has sinfully defied and rebelled against God, choosing to go our own way. We all now, by nature and choice, are separated from God by our sin (which has affected every aspect of our being, and led to death both physically and spiritually) and are incapable of restoring this divide by our good deeds or religious efforts (Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 59: 1-3; Romans 3: 21-28).

Jesus humbly comes into human history, at the will of the Father, to reconcile us to God, providing the only way for sinful man to be restored into relationship with a holy and perfect God (2 Corinthians 5: 17-21; John 14:6), by living a sinless life in perfect relationship with the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit, and dying on the cross in our place for our sins (Hebrews 4:15, 1 John 4: 9-10).

That Jesus would do this for us, providing us with this gift of grace to be reconciled to God through no work of our own, but simply by putting our trust in Him and receiving forgiveness (Ephesians 2: 4-10), is what is referred to as the gospel or “good news.”

The Holy Spirit, as the third member of the Trinity, is fully and eternally God and is not to be thought of as an impersonal force or ghostly apparition. He is in the opening verses of the Bible, involved in the creative process (Genesis 1: 2, 26), in the final words of its last chapter, inviting people to Jesus (Revelation 22:17) – and He saturates every page in between.

He’s the one who moved and empowered people to write the Scriptures so that they would be exactly what the Father breathed-out (2 Timothy 3: 16-17; 2 Peter 1: 20-21) and continues to this day in communicating the truth of the Scriptures to us, reminding us of everything Jesus said and did to glorify Him (John 14:26; John 16: 13-14).

It’s only through the work of the Holy Spirit that men and women are cut to the heart on issues of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16: 8-11), to receive an entirely new nature and set of desires when they turn to Jesus in repentance and faith, receiving the Holy Spirit who takes up residence in them (Ezekiel 36: 25-27; John 14:17; 1 Corinthians 3:16). After making us spiritually alive in Jesus (which is referred to as ‘regeneration’), He then empowers Christians to be witnesses for Jesus with their lives and words (Acts 1:8). He does this by actively transforming them more into the character of Jesus (referred to as ‘sanctification,’ being made more holy) and helping them in every avenue of life to honour God more and more (2 Corinthians 3: 17-18), as well as working through them in both supernatural and mundane ways with a variety of gifts that serve the church and attract others to Jesus (Romans 12: 6-8; 1 Corinthians 12: 2-11; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Peter 4: 10-11).

The Christian life then is one to be lived continuously ‘filled with the Spirit’ – in constant submission and surrender to the Holy Spirit to powerfully turn away from our own sinful desires and instead be concerned with following Jesus (Romans 8: 2, 5-11; Ephesians 5: 18-21), experiencing the life that He intends for us (John 10:10; Galatians 5: 16-26).

Worship is an all-of-life expression, not something limited to only a particular day of the week. Who (or what) we worship is easily identified by what we prioritise, give time and money to and feel passionate about.

We worship Jesus as a result of who He is and what He’s done for us, gladly offering our whole lives in devotion to Him (Romans 12:1-2) knowing that He is to have the place of prominence in every thought and deed from the very minutiae of our lives and outward (Colossians 3:17). Right worship is always a matter of the heart, empowered by the Holy Spirit and directed towards Jesus (John 4: 23-26; Philippians 3:3).

It is unfortunately possible to put on an outward display of worship, while our hearts are cold and distant from God (Isaiah 29: 13-14), and so when it comes to our Sunday meetings we put an emphasis on participatory worship – encouraging authentic engaging with God (vertical worship) while also ministering to each other (horizontal worship), in a way that goes beyond simply singing and is reflective of our worship to Jesus in our daily lives (Ephesians 5:18-21; Colossians 3: 16-17). Music & singing is simply one tool or vehicle for leading people into a place of genuine connection with God.

GRACE-DRIVEN GIVING
Jesus says that where our wealth is directed is an indication of what our hearts love (Matthew 6: 21-24), and also makes it clear that we can’t be devoted to both God and money. The Bible teaches that everything we have, even our ability to generate wealth is a gift from God and ultimately belongs to Him (Deuteronomy 8: 17-18; Psalm 24:1), so our attitude towards and use of money is an expression of our worship.

Christians have the privilege and great joy of giving freely and generously as a result of Jesus’ lavish giving towards us, and no longer need to be held captive by the pull of money (2 Corinthians 8: 9; 2 Corinthians 9: 6-8).

We believe in the Biblical principle of tithing (giving a tenth of all our gross income) as a baseline for Christian generosity (Malachi 3:10), but always encourage those who belong to Jesus to seek avenues to give over and above this Biblical requirement – and to give sacrificially and of their best (Proverbs 3: 9-10; Acts 20:35). Offerings (free-will, Spirit-led giving) are another way of giving financially, along with giving away our firstfruits (our first pay increase, for example) or even just giving to someone else in order to bless them.

At Linkway you can give in a number of ways. If you don’t want to give electronically, look out for these envelopes:

The word ‘church’ comes from the Greek word ‘kyriakon‘ which can be translated as ‘belonging to the Lord.’ The ‘church’ is not a building, organization or institution but is a worldwide community of men and women of all ages who have put their faith in Jesus – and consequently, belong to Him (1 Thessalonians 1:1) – who gather together regularly under qualified and called leadership (Ephesians 4: 11-14)  to be nurtured by preaching; praise, worship & pray together; give generously to the mission of reaching people both near and far with the message and power of Jesus; and finds expression in a local church.

The model set for us as a church comes from Acts 2: 42-47:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were toegether and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” 

Jesus Himself directly and actively leads His church, calling and empowering individuals by His Spirit to lead and guide under His authority (1 Peter 5: 1-5 ; Ephesians 4: 11-16 ; Colossians 1: 18).

Linkway is led by an elected team of called and capable elders who oversee the health, doctrine and direction of the church while empowering a team of deacons and other volunteers for various roles of ministry. We currently have three base elders (fulltime staff members with formal theological training) and five marketplace elders (serving in a volunteer capacity as those who have other fulltime employment) along with a pastoral assistant who have responded to God’s call and given their lives to love Jesus and His Church.

Marriage is a beautiful gift from God to us, as those who need and crave meaningful relationship and mutual understanding. God declares at the onset of human history that it is not a good thing for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18) and provides us with companionship not only with Himself, but also with each other.

The marriage relationship is to be enjoyed between one man and one woman for life, not simply as a good idea – but as a covenant relationship designed by God for our enjoyment and growth in holiness. Since marriage is not simply a human invention, it is to be held in the highest regard (Hebrews 13:4). The Biblical pattern of marriage laid down for us at the very first wedding in Genesis 2:24-25 indicates a man leaving his mother and father’s household (growing into personal maturity and financial independence), holding fast to his wife (a joining of lives in the covenant commitment of marriage) and then enjoying the “one-flesh” relationship (sexual union and intimacy). This is the pattern for marriage that we encourage all men and women to strive for, since it yields the result of best intimacy and lack of shame and regret.

Aside from the God-given framework for the raising of children in a loving and committed environment that marriage provides, it is also intended to be an illustration of Jesus’ love and relationship towards His church: that Jesus sacrificially loves us, initiating the restoration of broken relationship and providing the way for us to be completely cleansed and blameless. In this way Jesus Himself, even though He was a single man for all of His life, gives the example for husbands to follow in how to love their wives and families (Ephesians 5:25-33).