The de Groot Family
Jonathan de Groot
Jonathan de Groot IS THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Christ Church Glasgow, Glasgow, scotland. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.
How have you seen God working in your life?
I've been grateful for God's work in my life as I have grasped more of God's amazing grace through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have become more aware of my own sinfulness and have grown to understand, in a greater way, his covenant love for me. As I look back on my life as a Christian I am aware that God has guided me, his ways have been right, and he has enabled me to persevere through trials and the testing of my faith. In seeking to be faithful to him and unashamed of Jesus Christ and his words, I have needed to depend on God more and more. I trust my past experiences of life and ministry have been the necessary preparation for what is to come in the future. I am conscious that there will be many opportunities as well as challenges, besides great joy and satisfaction, in following Jesus and making him known.
How have you seen God working in your family?
God has been good in blessing me with a wife and three children. Our family is excited about starting a new church. My wife Sheona has always supported me, feeling equally called to serve alongside me in the work of the gospel. While our chief desire has been to serve God and other people, we have been aware of the need to take care of ourselves amidst the demands of ministry. By God's grace, he has given us the strength and looked after us and our children. As we have grown older, we have learnt lessons, often the hard way, but they have enabled us to make changes for long term sustainability in ministry. It has been a privilege to see how the experience of moving towards a church plant has impacted my children. They have learned the need to obey God’s Word and stand up for Jesus even when it is difficult. The experience has also helped to shape their understanding of why the church exists and brought great encouragement to us, as parents, and others as we have listened to them praying for God to use our church so that people in Glasgow will come to know Jesus as their Saviour.
How have you seen God working in your church?
For the past 10 years I have been a Senior Pastor serving within the Church of Scotland but, because of my Biblical convictions, I made the decision to leave and have stepped out in faith to begin church planting in Glasgow. While there are good churches doing good work in the city, the percentage of the population attending church is small and there are many areas where there is little or no gospel witness. During my time in Glasgow, I have increasingly felt a burden for the many people who have little opportunity to hear the gospel as well as an increasing conviction that we need more reformed and contemporary churches which can engage with people where they are. While plans are at an early stage, God has been gracious by giving many tangible confirmations in this new ministry. In seeking to church plant we have lost the security of home and income, but God has been good and we can testify to his provision in many ways. The process has been a challenging and testing one for us but the most vital lesson we have learned and also need to keep being reminded of is fact that God is sovereign and it is Jesus Christ who builds his church. So while we have a plan, we are aware that it is God’s work and not ours, “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow” (1 Cor. 3:7).
Church Mission & Vision
Christ Church Glasgow seeks to be a Christ-centred church to make disciples of all nations and impact Glasgow for the glory of God. We want to obey the Great Commission by establishing a sustainable church in Glasgow by 2020 and be a church that plants churches that plant churches. Glasgow is a mission field and a strategic city to reach as the biggest in Scotland and the fourth largest in the UK. Glasgow is vibrant, thriving and cosmopolitan with significant influence and cultural impact, but Glasgow’s greatest problem is spiritual. The city has as its motto, “Lord let Glasgow flourish through the preaching of thy word and praising thy name”. While everyone wants Glasgow to flourish, many know nothing of the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. We want to preach God’s Word and praise his name amongst the many people who are lost in our great city. Since Jesus came on a rescue mission and sends us out on his rescue mission, our new church has an intentional mission to reach unbelievers. We don’t want to be like passengers on a cruise ship concerned for our own comfort; rather we want to be the crew of a lifeboat concerned about saving others. We need to be a church engaged in our particular urban context where people can hear the gospel, see it lived out and come to believe it for themselves.
If you would like to reach out to Jonathan, you can visit the church's website at www.christchurchglasgow.org.