Who are we

New Life Grantham was launched in June 2007. The church began with six adults and two children
as the result of a passion to see an expression of what God was doing in our church in Lincoln rise up
and take hold in Grantham and the surrounding area.

It is a joint initiative of New Life Lincoln and the Ground Level Network. The church is an expression of New Life Lincoln which means that we are one church but simply meet thirty miles down the A1.

Pastor Stuart Bell is the Senior Pastor, and since Grantham’s launch two other expressions have been planted so that at the time of writing New Life has four locations – Lincoln, Grantham, Brigg and Metheringham.

During the summer of 2007 the church experienced numerical growth and met in a small community centre on Tuesday nights. From October 2007 we began to meet on Sundays in the Kings School in one of the classrooms, and by the summer of 2008 God had wonderfully moved and our church family had grown from the eight who launched New Life to seventy people.

In September 2008 we had outgrown the classroom and moved into the large main hall at the Kings School. Wonderfully, in God’s grace we continued to grow both numerically and spiritually and today we are connecting with more than two hundred people.

Vision

In September 2011, Stuart Bell spoke about the vision of the New Life churches, including Grantham. You can see the video here.

We adhere to and have signed up to the Evangelical Alliance Statement of Faith.

What is our purpose?

To enjoy God and make Him known.

What is our vision?

To be a group of people who love Jesus and each other and to see Grantham turned upside down by the power of God.

What are our core values?

Read Acts 2:42-47.

v.46-47. We treasure and enjoy God.

- They were glad and generous and were so consumed by God that they were constantly praising Him.

v.42. We are Bible centred.

- They were committed to grasping Biblical truth.

v.47. We are committed to sung worship.

- They praised God.

v.43. We are charismatic.

- They experienced the manifest presence and power of God.

v. 44-45. We are committed to declaring God’s love to Grantham in action as well as words.

- They distributed to anyone who had need and enjoyed the favour of all the people (v.47).

v.42, v.46. We are relationship driven.

- They devoted themselves to fellowship and invested in each others' lives.

v.42, 47.We are dependant upon God's grace in all that we do.

- They kept the cross central by frequently taking Communion together.

- It was God who added to their number and not them.

v.42. We are sold out for prayer.

- They devoted themselves to prayer.

What do we see God doing in New Life?

We see a church in which the foundational characteristic is joy. A church in which people are deeply satisfied and consumed with the majesty and love of God. We see a church in which God is delighted in and worshipped. We see a church where joy in God overflows into a joy of life in which life is fulfilling and satisfying.

We see a church which is fun, engaging, relevant and compelling. We see a church that is relational and about people rather than rituals, services or programmes. We see a church that is 24/7 rather than simply Sunday morning. We see a church that is a magnetic community glued together by God’s love and Grace. We see a church that is desperate to show God’s love to those whom society regard as the last, the lost and the least. Where His love is shown in action to all people regardless of whether they attend church or even think about God.  We see a church where people are valued and experience love regardless of lifestyle or background.

We see a church that is desperate to hear God speak and is hungry to read the Bible and to learn more about who He is, what He has done and His purposes for His people. We see a church that understands the need to be stretched in our intellectual grasp of God’s word to complement the desire to experience its truth.

We see a church that is full every week and is three hundred plus strong, and yet never loses its focus on the individual. We see a church which is busy, active and loud and yet is not worn out or weary. We see a church which expresses the truth that God’s love is for people from every nation and every background, and which celebrates the unity of diversity.

We see a church that rocks with laughter in the good times and openly weeps in the struggles. We see a group of people who are more than a bunch of people who meet once a week and then go home, but a community who are an army fuelled by the same vision and united with the same love for Jesus Christ. We see a church where people are in it for the long haul and know that it is a marathon and not a sprint. A church where people are committed and will suffer, persevere and endure whatever life throws at them.

When we meet all together we see a church in which people arrive 10 minutes early rather than 10 minutes late because of the eagerness to attend. We see a church in which people walk in their God-given destiny and experience the thrill of using their God-given gifts. We see a body of people where every single person is vital and in their own way encourages and edifies the whole.

We see a church which has a strong reputation for contemporary and Spirit-led worship. That the worship draws people into the presence of God and is not simply singing words from a page but is engaging with the living God Himself. We see a church where music is the melody of hearts ablaze in love and admiration and total dependence on God. A church in which the Holy Spirit moves freely during the worship and draws people near to God.

We see a church that is modern, contemporary and communicates the eternal truths of God to the 21^st century generation. We see a church that is open about its imperfection because it is certain about its perfect salvation. We see a church that is vibrant and transparent. A church that is modern and uncomplicated, that simply says it as it is and moves forward. We see a church that is not bound by tradition or personal agendas but one that seeks the face of God and walks in His ways.

We see a church where supernatural is the norm and not the exception. A church that is open to the power of God without embarassment or fear of what people might think or say. We see a church where all His blessings are experienced and not simply taught or discussed. We see a church where miracles and encounters with God are expected and not just wished for.

We see a church which God is pleased with and has a great big smile on His face as He considers all that He is doing through it.

Vision

In September 2011, Stuart Bell spoke about the vision for the New Life churches, including Grantham. You can watch the video here.