Knowing Christ

The logo of our church represents the essential character of St Matthew's: based in Wanniassa, looking across to the Brindabella Ranges and with the vitality that comes from the Spirit of Jesus Christ reaching upward and outward like the moving branch.

A Christian church is much more than a building. It is a community of people drawn together by Christ himself who died to give us access to God. This is the focus of our life together.

Our Sunday services vary from the quiet and thoughtful to the upbeat and spontaneous but, whatever the style, Jesus Christ is at the centre; we sing his praise, we hear from his word, we pray for his help and we thank him for his blessings.

In smaller groups, whether we are chatting informally round the coffee table or over the kids' toys, it is the Spirit of Christ who grows friendships, shows us truth and empowers us in the ebb and flow of daily life. Study of the Bible, the Word of God, is prominent therefore in all of our activities as is mutual encouragement and support through sharing the sacraments and through developing and enhancing relationships. Young mothers may experience this at playgroup, teens in the varied youth programs, retirees in the Tuesday seniors services and luncheons and professionals in the after-hours growth groups, prayer meetings or special functions, such as breakfasts.

Our Core Beliefs

St Matthew's is a Christian church. That means it stands by the beliefs of the first followers of Jesus Christ, the apostles, whose beliefs were systematized in the statement known as the Apostles' Creed.

Christians live in and see a mixed up world where great beauty and goodness is in tension with profound evil. They see a world made by God and messed up by people, sometimes through violent terrorism, sometimes through petty nastiness and sometimes through damaging mistakes made in ignorance.

The difference for Christians is that we have hope. Ultimately, it is still God's world. While he gives us freedom to live life our way, he has never let go of his world.  Through the laws of nature, he keeps our world going and regenerates it in strength and beauty.

More particularly, God wants to have a personal relationship with each of us. Hence, through coming to our human community in the form of Jesus Christ, God seeks to connect with each of us personally. He offers us forgiveness and a quality of spiritual life that never has to end. God shows his love for us because he suffered for us even though most of us didn't care.

To come to St Matthew's is to join with a group of people who recognize that in historic time, not in mythology, Jesus has shown us that God loves us.

That is why we thank him, pray to him, draw on the power of his Spirit and submit to him, learning how to follow his example, because we are confident that neither life nor death nor anything in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ, our Ruler.