Growing

At IIC we see growing as growing in our relationship and journey with God to become effective disciples.

It is clear as we look at Jesus and His life that He believed that the only way for the church to develop and grow was by making disciples. We see He related at different levels with the 12, the 70 and the 120. He intentionally invested most of His time in the 12 who then helped to shape and change the world around them by doing the same. This all started by Jesus inviting those 12 disciples into a relationship with Him. In Matthew 4:19: He said, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

Throughout the disciples’ journey with Jesus we see that they were invited into a covenant relationship and challenged to live out the kingdom life. “Come follow me” meant they did life with Jesus – so they had access to see close up how He dealt with different situations and how he related to the Father. The disciples became learners as Jesus showed them how to live out life His way.

In conjunction with, this we see that He challenged his disciples – even in the passage earlier where he invited them to follow him – challenge was present as they would have to lay down their lives and livelihood to follow him. Throughout the gospels, we see Jesus using the combination of invitation and challenge at different points to help the 12 grow as disciples.

The culture we are seeking to cultivate at IIC is that which Jesus modelled – one of high invitation - covenant relationship and high challenge where we live out the kingdom life in a low control environment. This is where we have a discipleship culture. As we journey as a community and see this develop, we will see the development of fruitful disciples.

Our mission statement is Making Disciples, Impacting Nations. This is what we are called to do and it reflects the great commission in Matthew 28:18 where Jesus said – “Go into all the world and make disciples, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

This passage shows that we are not only called to live as disciples ourselves but that we are to reach out to others where they are and teach them and example to them how to live as Jesus intended. We want to be a community of disciples and disciple makers. This is of fundamental importance as the passage demonstrates that this is what Jesus is interested in. It is not whether we attend services but that we live out our lives as he exampled and trained the first disciples to do so.

As part of our walk as disciples we will walk through the constant process of repenting and believing. Repent simply means to change our mind. Believing is trusting the truth of who God is. The process is seen in Mark 1:15. It reads, “The time has come,” Jesus said. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News.”

The first time that we walk through the process of repenting and believing is when we accept Jesus into our hearts. We repent – turn away from the way we were living in opposition to God and We believe - place our trust in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection which has restored our relationship with God.

As a result of our belief in making disciples we run Cell Groups and Daily Devotions to help facilitate the process of making disciples. These only aide the process because living as disciples of Jesus is a whole life process not just a course, so we see that every believer should be seeking to live a life of discipleship both individually in their walk with God and together as a community in accountable relationships.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

Getting Connected

Cell Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our cell groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other.
We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week. Check out Cell Groups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a cell group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

Watch Online

Some people find that the best next step, before coming to a physical gathering, is to watch our Sunday gathering either live or after the service. Click on the live stream button.

A warm welcome waiting...

The following information is specifically for those planning to visit one of our locations, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

Our Ipswich location meet's at Barrack Corner/Portman Road (details here) for our Sunday Celebration Gathering starting at 11:00am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will be at the front door, ready to greet you.

We serve tea, coffee and biscuits after the 11am gathering. It is a great way to meet people and get to know more about the church. All refreshments are free.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you find the best place to sit to enable greater accessibility.

Our Service

The main service begins at 11am with a warm welcome from one of our team members. Then follows a time of sung worship, led by our band. We typically have 2 or 3 songs lasting approximately 20 minutes. Sometimes a person might pray out loud or read a small passage from the bible. Sometimes people share things that they believe God is saying to the whole church family. This might seem strange the first time you hear it but it’s all part of our connecting with God. We then share news and notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church. One of our leaders will then give a sermon that is bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. We then finish with a final worship song. Sometimes there is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service.

Slide-Flags

What about my kids?

We have a great programme lined up for kids of all ages:

Creche (0 months to 3 years). Children under 6 months are welcome but must be accompanied by their parent/grown-up at all times. There are age appropriate toys provided
Limitless Kids (3 years to 11 years). Parents are encouraged to bring their children to register at the class. We have games, crafts and bible teaching aimed at this age range.
Limitless Youth (11 years to 18 years). Our youth meeting in Burlington Community hall over the road from the main service with age aimed teaching and discussion.

Children & Young People stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and sometimes notices. We really value worshipping God all together as one family. Someone will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups. You will need to go with your children to their groups and register them as part of our child safety policy.
Parents of young people will not need to register them before the session but will need to after.

The kids group activities vary depending on the age but usually there is a friendly welcome, bible stories, testimonies, praying, craft, drama, fun games and free play. Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes at the front of the service hall.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make gathering run smoothly or help out in the week, you can sign up to serve on a team by speaking to one of our leaders who will be happy to link you to the best person.

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

Leadership

HAROLD AFFLU
Senior Minister

We are so glad that you are thinking of joining the IIC family either by visiting or joining online.
Join us for a coffee or contact us via this site and we would love to connect with you further.

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.

Best Wishes