Why a centre named for Ezra?
Ezra the priest, empowered by the Spirit of Christ, modelled a pattern that was later personified in Christ himself. Scripture records it in a single, loaded sentence:
"For Ezra had prepared and set his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do and teach in Israel its statutes and its ordinances."
Note the order: prepared, set his heart, seek, do, and only then teach. This is not a footnote — it is the divine order of every sustainable ministry, and yet it is the order most often reversed in the Church today.
Incarnation as pattern
The fleshing out of God's living Word as a lifestyle is one of the most distinguishing elements of Christianity. It is reflected in the very etymology of the term Christian: from "the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14) to "it was in Antioch that the followers of Christ were first called Christians" (Acts 11:26).
The outward expression of Christ's character in the lives of his disciples — as a definite work of redeeming grace — has its fountainhead in our spirit, or heart, the core of our being. What does not take its root from such depth is neither sustainable nor can it be characteristic of us as Christ-ians.
Our conviction
All religions hold out as an ideal love, goodness, and holiness — but it is only the Christian faith that is able to produce it in real life experience. The Word is alive and powerful; on entering the heart it reconfigures the inner man, the core of our being, from which flows our doing.
This is our conviction: that practical, behavioral conduct should precede and be prioritized over our teaching, preaching, and evangelism. It is this imperative that makes the gospel message life-giving and life-changing.
