From the Pastor - "Mission" July 2015

Dear Friends in Christ,

What is the church?  The church may be considered in terms of our location, nature, redemption, shape, and ministry.   According to Everist and Nessan in Transforming Leadership, the church may also be described in terms of its mission. 

My seminary professor of Christian mission at the Boston University School of Theology, Dana Robert, describes how the body (mission) enacts the will of the heart (the gospel).  To separate the gospel from the church’s mission is to kill it.  Our love affair with the gospel is what keeps the heart beating, sends blood throughout the body, and gives life to the church’s mission. 

The purpose of the church is not to exist as an end unto itself.  The church must be concerned about those persons who are beyond the fellowship of the church, especially those in need and on the margins of society. 

When we put our faith into action, such as feeding the hungry or tutoring a child, we are trusting that God will bless our actions and use us to bless the world.  We might be tempted to think that we are the one’s creating the transformation.  Instead, we are simply choosing to be part of God’s saving plan for the world. 

Jürgen Moltmann says it this way: “It is not the Church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill to the world; it is the mission of [God] that includes the Church, creating a church as it goes on its way.” 

Our mission begins with what God is already doing through the liberating work of Christ through the Holy Spirit.  As we participate in acts of love and justice, God transforms, strengthens and shapes us for even more service.

1. How have you been transformed by participating in God's mission?

2. What statement do we make about what God is doing through our involvement in God’s mission?

Mission is about being part of what God is doing, enacting the heartbeat of the gospel of Jesus Christ for the world.  That’s church.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Brian C. Smith