The mandate has been given in Mark 16:15 – 18: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

Then in verse 20 of the same Chapter, the Apostle Mark records for us that the disciples went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. This reminds us the Lord can only work with us to confirm with signs showing if we go forth and do what he says we are to do!

Our response to this mandate is our desire is to build a cutting-edge church with an evangelistic focus of impacting our society and making a difference, by being a church without walls.

Further we are reminded that every living organism will grow as a natural progression of life. The Church is not about a building or an institution, but is to be a living body for Jesus Christ. Led by the Lord, we have also set for ourselves a goal that numerical growth should not just be from lateral movement of believers from other Churches. As such we actively discourage believers who are already attending a Church from joining us and stay where they are unless they have a clear word from the Lord. Consequently we see an evangelistic cutting edge for the Church as an essential element if we are to grow as a Church. Our challenge is for our church growth to be the result of bringing people into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 

With these very words from Jesus, we were set the pattern for evangelism and missions for our Church. Our challenge is how to are to bring the Gospel of the Kingdom first to the relatives and friends of people within our Church and then into the community and finally into missions beyond the shores of Singapore.

"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing 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.” Amen." Matthew 28:18 - 20

To reach out to the relatives and friends of people within the Church, Jesus gives us a 2-prong approach - Equip our people and activate and mobilise them. The adoption of the Alpha Course in 2009 as a Church program is one of CVCC’s first step in reaching out to the relatives and friends of people attending our Church. It will certainly not be the only program that we will be adopting as a tool for the Church to accomplish the objectives the Lord has set for us.

To widen this scope, we also reminded in James 1: 27 of the need to do social concerns work. In this the Lord began to make it clear to us as a Church that the Gospel has to be preached not with the enticing wisdom of words, but also in a demonstration of His love. Hence the welfare and social concerns work of our Church, like the feeding and providing financial assistance to the poor and needy, serve as part of the widening scope of bringing the Gospel into our community.

Locally we will be planning more outreach programs and will be working towards bringing the gospel beyond our shores. The Lord has also given us a vision for missions starting in 2010. The church will be working together with Covenant Vision Christian Mission to reach the lost and needy world out there and to gain more souls for the Kingdom.