Our vision is to renew Johannesburg through the gospel. There are three aspects to it; Individual renewal, Community Renewal, and City Renewal.

Individual Renewal

The gospel is a message about the ‘renewal of all things’ through Jesus Christ - including the renewal of individuals (Matt 19.28). Through faith in the gospel, individuals can be made new by being reconciled to God (Jn 3.16). As a church we exist to present this life changing message (2 Cor 5.20). The cross is the central image for Christianity precisely because it was through his death that Jesus paid for the sins of the world (1 Jn 2.2). Now, through faith, this gift of grace is freely available to all who would believe (Rom 10.9).

Community Renewal

The gospel also creates and is expressed through the church (Eph 2.15-16). We have been drawn to God, forgiven, marked by grace and now we live to follow Jesus Christ. GodFirst Church seeks to be a radically counter-cultural gospel community (Matt 5.13-16). We represent the love of God and live it out by loving each other (Jn 13.35, Eph 3.10). Renewed individuals form renewed communities and that’s why we are together on a mission of renewing Johannesburg (1 Cor 12.15-21). We are a city within a city, showing Johannesburg what it could be like - if Jesus was Lord of all.

City Renewal

The gospel is also good news about how God is renewing all things. Everything wrong with our city is going to be made right (Lk 4.18-19, Rom 8.21, Col 1.19- 20). That’s what heaven is. But this is not entirely for the future (Mk 1.15). Jesus has already begun renewing the world and we get to participate in his mission here and now (Matt 24.14). As a church we seek to bear witness to the transforming power of the gospel and to be a force for good in our great city of Johannesburg. We want to be a beacon of hope to the poor, a voice of justice and a place of healing (Lk 4.18, Matt 4.23).

The Wider Advance Family

GodFirst is part of the Advance family of churches, a group of about 100 churches worldwide, led by an apostolic team. Advance seeks to advance the gospel by planting and strengthening churches. Our church enjoys all the privileges of encouragement and accountability that come to us via Advance. There are currently 10 Advance churches in Johannesburg. For more information about Advance please click the link below.