Seeking Life on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Seeking life on earth as it is in heaven is not about creating heaven on earth. Instead, it’s about living more intentionally into an identity that’s already ours, given to us as a gift by God’s grace and through faith. Life “on earth as it is in heaven” is at the heart of all Jesus was about and what he taught his followers to pursue. It’s the central petition of the prayer he taught his disciples to pray (“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done”); it’s the primary path he calls us to follow (“Take up your cross and follow me”); and it’s a journey to which he fully submitted himself (“Not my will but yours be done”). In other words, seeking life on earth as it is in heaven is all about finding our deepest, truest identity in Christ, his kingdom, and the vision of flourishing promised to us in both.
Therefore, at All Saints Waco, we desire to be an outpost of God’s Kingdom, rooted in the Anglican tradition, in and for Waco and the world.
We seek to form disciples through the proclamation of the Gospel, sacramental worship, and life lived in step with the Spirit who are equipped to cooperate with God in his work of reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:16-21)
(move clockwise around the graphic below to better understand our vision)
But formation is not in our control. It’s God’s work that he accomplishes in us as we live more into our baptismal identity and commit ourselves to the relationships most fundamental to our growth in Christlikeness: to our Lord, to each other, and to our neighbor.
We commit ourselves to these relationships through a series of practices that root us more deeply in our identity in Christ: gathered worship, generous hospitality, and joining God in his mission of reconciliation. Or to put it more succinctly, by gathering, giving, and going.
And as we make ourselves vulnerable to God’s Spirit through these commitments and practices, we trust God to do his reconciling work in us and through us, leading to our formation into Christ’s image for the sake of the world.