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OUR VISION
Reaching our World + Building His People + Transforming the City
A Message From Our Pastors
It has been a humbling experience to be called by God to
lead the church here in Sale. Over the years we have seen the
growth & development of an amazing team that have a mandate to share a life changing message with this generation. It
is very difficult to condense what we believe God has called
to do in these few sentences... But lets’ give it a try.
We are committed to build a church that reaches our world
by demonstrating the Kingdom of God, builds His people
through the process of discipleship and transforms our City
through the impact of changed lives. City Builders Church is
a training and equipping centre!
Our strong desire is to be a church for the city, a church that
is tuned to God’s voice. We are also to be true ambassadors
of Him in our world. We are to be representatives of His
Kingdom and agents of change. We are part of the wider
Body of Christ and we know that God has a plan for us in
this city and region. Perhaps God is calling you to co-labour
us here to build a great church that makes a difference in this
part of the world. If we are going to see the standard raised
in our nation, there is so much that we need to do together..!!
Hopefully we will get to have a coffee with you sometime
to share whats on our hearts. Pastors Brian and Lynne Heath
FOCUS 1
“A Church With a Clear Message”
Our mandate is to clearly communicate to
our world that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is
the reason for our existance. When we have
a revelation of who Jesus really is, it cannot
help but change the way we live.
Our desire is to live with integrity the message that we preach.
Where is this in the Bible?
Romans 10:9
“If you confess with your mouth the
LORD Jesus and believe in your heart
God has raised Him from the dead, you
will be saved.”
“A Church of Vibrant Praise and Worship”
Knowing God and being free to worship Him with our body,
soul and spirit is a central theme of City Builders Church.
True Worship is an act backed by a transformed lifestyle. We
bring our lives to God in worship because we were created
for it.
John 4:23-24
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for
the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit
and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in
truth.”
FOCUS 2
Where is this in the Bible?
Romans 12:1-2
“I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God
that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God which is your reasonable service. And
do not be conformed this word but be transformed by the
renewing of the mind that you may prove what is the good
and acceptable and perfect will of God. “
FOCUS 3
“A Church That is Strong in the Word”
Every believer is encouraged to become strong in the Word of God. The Word of God transforms our lives
and is taught and preached without compromise. God’s power is released in our lives when we respond to it the
way God intends.
Where is this in the Bible?
Joshua 1:8
“The Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night that you
may observe all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good
success.”
James 1: 21-24
“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and recieve with meekness the implanted word
which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if
anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror for he
observes himself and does away immediately forgetting what kind of a man he was.”
Colossians 3:16
“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms,
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
Psalm 119:9-11
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By taking heed according to your Word. With my whole heart I
have sought you. Let me not wander from your commandments. Your Word I have hidden in my heart that I
might not sin against you.
“A Church That is a Voice”
In a generation where there are many voices,
our lives need to be tuned to hear and accurately respond to His voice.
FOCUS 4
He is the Word, but we are to be His voice.
If we are to represent Him well, we not only
need to have His heart but we are to learn to
hear, to heed and to say what He is saying.
Where is this in the Bible?
John 10:27
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow me.”
1 Chronicles 12:32
“...of the sons of Isschar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel
ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred
and all their brethren were at their command.”
“A Church That Reaches People”
Jesus came into the world to reach lost people. God’s Word
makes it clear that we should do likewise in every possible
way. God’s call on us is to reach our city, which is reflected in
our name “City Builders Church.”
Where is this in the Bible?
FOCUS 5
We believe that the city belongs to the Lord. It is our mission
to reclaim it for Him.
Psalm 2:8
“Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your inheritance.”
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have
eternal life.”
Matthew 28:19-20
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I
have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the age.”
FOCUS 6
“A Church That Prays”
Right from the foundation of our church, there has been a strong focus on prayer. We are
committed to see the church established and become strong in the Spirit through a strong
prayer life.
Every member is encouraged to possess a heart to pray.
Where is this in the Bible?
Mark 11:23-26
‘For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain ‘be removed and be cast into
the sea’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that those things which he says will
be cone, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask
when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. And whenever
you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him that your Father in
Heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses.”
I Timothy 2:1-2
“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that
you have heard from me among my witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be
able to teach others also.”
I Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus for you.”
“A Church That is Honourable and Caring in its
Relationships”
One of the ways that we are able to prove the reality of God to our
community is through the honourable, caring and real way that we relate
to one another.
God has made available a blueprint for marriage, family and community
in His word. One of the key passwords to relational success is honour.
FOCUS 7
Where is this in the Bible?
Hebrews 13:4
“Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”
1 Peter 2:11-12
“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts
which war against the soul, having your conduct honourable among the
Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, but
by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
Romans 9:21
“Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to
make one vessel for honour and another for dishonour?”
1 Corinthians chapter 13
‘A Church That is Generous’
God has been so generous and gracious to us (Ephesians
2:4). That is how we should be in our world. One of the
best ways that we can demonstrate our spirituality is by
our generosity. The Word says that God has given us the
ability to gain wealth so that His Covenant should be established.
FOCUS 8
Where is this in the Bible?
Ephesians 2:4-5
“But God who is rich in mercy because of His great love
with which He loved us, even when were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. (By grace you have
been saved.”
Deuteronomy 8:18
“And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He
who gives you power to get wealth that He may establish
His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this
day.”
A Church That Carries Spiritual Life
God has invested His life into us. He has made us a new
creation and He now He lives in us. As we respond to
Him by allowing His nature to be formed on the inside
of us, we become carriers of His life and His Presence
to all that we meet.
Where is this in the Bible?
FOCUS 9
I Corinthians 3: 16
“Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s spirit lives in you?”
Acts 2: 39
“The promise is for you and your children and all those
who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will
call.”
FOCUS 10
“A Church That Raises the Standard”
We are called to raise and set a new standard for a society that has lost its way. The
church is be the Pillar of Truth and Righteousness in Society.
Our discipleship culture helps people rediscover God’s blueprints for excellence in
all we do.
Where is this in the Bible?
Isaiah 59: 19
“So shall they fear the name of the Lord
from the west, and His glory from the
rising sun; When the enemy comes in like
a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a
standard against him.”
‘A Church That Empowers People’
Our church provides a healthy discipleship culture that empowers believers to become everything
that God has called them to be. As we answer the call to discipleship in our own life, we are empowered to fulfil the Great Commission of Discipling the Nations.
Where is this in the Bible?
Matthew 28: 18-20
“And Jesus came & spoke to them saying “All authority has been given to me in Heaven & on earth.
Go therefore & make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, & of the
Son & of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all thigns that I have commanded you. And lo, I
am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Ephesians 4: 11-16
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and
some teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of
Christ, til we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect
man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That we should no longer be children,
tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men in the cunning
craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him
who is the head, Christ. From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint
supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the
body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Philippians 3: 13-14
FOCUS 11
Our church is called to be a discipling, training, equipping and sending centre.
‘A Church That Leaves a Legacy’
If the spiritual foundations of our church
are built well, we become co-labourers with
the Lord to leave a legacy for generations to
come.
FOCUS 12
Where is this in the Bible?
Psalm 127: 1-2
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who build it. Unless the Lord
guards the city, the watchmen stays awake in
vain.”
Isaiah 59: 21
“As for Me, “says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon
you, and My words which I have put in your
mouth, shall not depart from your mouth,
nor from the mouth of your descendants,
nor from the mouth of your descendants’
descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time
and forevermore.”
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
“Reaching our world, building His people, transforming the city”
Church is more than just a Sunday service. We believe that every church has a mandate from God and ours has been laid
out in this booklet and in the catch-cry written above.
How do we do it though? We keep tuned in with our community through a number of programs - and we have a lot of
fun doing it! Here are some examples:
Marriage Gym for Women: Is your relationship working out? This program gives women the keys to strengthening and
improving their marriages. And its fun too!
Sale City Youth: Our Friday night youth program combines games & entertainment with inspirational speakers and the
opportunity to create positive relationships.
Blokes Only Barbeque (BOB) Nights: Well its for blokes only! So all we can really tell is that there aren’t many salads at
this BBQ! And that it helps men connect and become all God is calling them to be.
Sale City Seniors: We love our seniors! Under the leadership of Val Hall, they are among the most vibrant and inspiring
people we know.
School Programs: City Builders Church supports chaplains in schools and runs a number of in school programs in
partnership with local primary and secondary schools.
TESTIMONY
Dissatisfied with what I saw as the “norm” and having a deep sense of justice made me the perfect candidate for the peace
movement. I wanted more in life and searched this arena for 18 years.
I lived an alternative lifestyle with my partner Michael & our children. We had built a bark hut in the bush in Wombat &
on the river flat below grew all sorts of organic vegetables, herbs & flowers. We kept goats, sheep & poultry & did all our
cultivating with a draught horse, believing that saving the environment was the most important thing in our lives.
We thought living this lifestyle in an unspoiled environment would make us happy. This proved to be wrong.
While externally things looked great, internally they were a mess.We exchanged the traditional values of marriage for the
new age values of communal living & individual freedom. The result was a damaged relationship & a daunting future.
Thankfully, Michael made a life-changing decision to invite Jesus into his life in 1987. As expected, I was in staunch opposition. Due to have our fourth child, I had been on crutches with a torn ligament for two weeks, had a respiratory illness &
could hardly breathe. Added to this was the memory of my last difficult delivery two years earlier. This all equated to equal
immense fear. So I decided to talk to God. Although I professed to be an atheist, in a crisis a bet each way doesn’t hurt.
I said: “Help. If You’re real prove to me that You exist by getting me through this birth and I’ll go along with
Michael to church and join him in his faith.”
God certainly did His part. Ryan’s delivery was free of complications. There was no anxiousness, little pain and a real sense
that another source of strength was helping me. Just in case I would forget after my need had passed, God reminded me
for several months. Every time I held the baby a presence and love I had never before experienced would fill the room. So
when Michael asked if we could have the baby and our other children dedicated to God at his church, I agreed. I kept my
end of the bargain.
During the service at City Builders Church, I felt a mixture of emotion; magnetism & a feeling
of “get me out of here”. But when the Pastor invited people to come forward & receive Jesus,
I found myself limping towards the front, unsuccessfully fighting back tears & all the arguments
raging in my mind about why I shouldn’t be doing this.
Making may way to the front was as if I had come to the end of a long and weary journey. In the
quest for meaning I had practised transcendental meditation, yoga and explored Zen Buddhism
and many other spiritualities. It was not until I met my Father in Heaven that day that I
found what I had been looking for.
Life changed radically. Previously, we had subscribed to the strange morality that accompanies the
conservation movement. Value placed on the environment outweighed the value placed on the
creation of human life. Whilst fighting to save the planet we were endorsing the destruction of
tens of thousands of human babies every year in the name of civilisation & freedom of choice.
We worshipped creation but rejected the Creator. In fulfilling our own desires we ignored the
respect of others & God’s guidelines for healthy relationships & societies.
One of the first things to change when God entered our lives was that we were able to move on
from the guilt of our past. I held a lot of regrets & disappointment but that day I felt I could
leave that behind & build a wonderful future together. Although Michael & I had lived together
for 12 years, we had never made the commitment of marriage. Six weeks later, we entered into a
lifetime covenant with each other & with God. To this day, that promise has caused our marriage
to flourish & has continued to provide security & happiness for our children.
We are not perfect and never will be. However, throughout the 18 years I have been a Christian,
God has not stopped delighting and amazing me with His incredible love and power. The restoration in our relationships, health & family can only be the result of God working in our lives.
Yvonne Coffey
Modern life can be so busy and stressful. On a daily basis we deal with the demands of work, family, children, mortgage, bills…
blah blah blah. The list goes on. No matter whether we are newbies at this Christianity thing or whether we have been walking in
relationship with Jesus Christ for years, we need to often revisit the work of the Cross and remember what Christ did for us. This
is where true victory comes from. In this article, David Braithwaite talks about the Victory we have in Jesus Christ…
VICTORY IN JESUS CHRIST
ARTICLE
“It’s a basic principle that when you do something wrong, you pay the price. For centuries people have paid
the price through a suspension, fines, even death. But there is a level beyond that. In the garden of Eden, humanity had separated itself from God after Adam and Eve were tricked by the serpent. Since then sin and its
penalty, death, had a grip over man.
Man was created in God’s image and walked in fellowship with Him before falling into sin, but when the
spiritual umbilical cord was cut as man began dying spiritually. After man fell into sin, the fear of death came
immediately, this fear then ruled mankind.
To rectify that separation and bring man out of fear, a price had to be paid. During the days of the Old Testament, to atone for sin, man would sacrifice an unblemished animal. This was symbolic as these animals were
something of value to them.
But it came to a point when God wanted to defeat death once and for all. As it said in the book of Hebrews,
“for it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins”.
Rather than making humanity pay, God was willing sacrifice His Son, Jesus, to die on our place. Jesus was sent to earth to destroy the works of the devil.
Despite having authority over creation and power of sickness and death, Jesus was
willing to go to the cross and follow His Father’s plan. Jesus was wounded for humanity’s transgressions and bruised for its iniquities, sickness and sorrows. He took it upon
Himself to be sin, which has been and will be, for mankind. Jesus’ resurrection meant
death and sin were defeated.
Anyone who knows and believes that the devil is defeated will also enjoy this
victory.
Jesus was willing to set aside all that was rightfully His in heaven to spill His blood as
a sign of the covenant God has with mankind. Jesus put aside His riches and became
poor, so mankind would become rich spiritually.
Compared to contracts and other agreements, covenants are more permanent and
stronger. An agreement signed in blood, affectively what a covenant is, is the highest
form of agreement and shows the importance a party has placed on it being made. God
showed how much He loves us by being willing to spill the blood of His only begotten
Son.
God proves His love by the price He was willing to pay for our salvation. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through Him” (Romans 5:8-9).
It is that blood which covers His people and washes away their sins. “If we walk in the
light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
David Braithwaite
OUR DETAILS:
Sunday Services 10am
10 Wade Court
Sale VIC 3850
Website - www.citybuilderschurch.com
Facebook - www.facebook.com/citybuilderschurch
YouTube - www.youtube.com/salecitychurch
[email protected]
Phone: 0439 660 846