Clay in the Hands

I have been thinking about purpose for a while now. Questions like, “Am I effectively living my calling?” and “Am I helping our church move forward?” have been on my mind and heart.

This reflection has led me to take a fresh look at the mission of the church. This Sunday, we will begin a new series looking at God’s desire for our church and churches in general. The foundational understanding that will ground each sermon in the series is this: God’s church does not have a mission as much as God’s mission has a church.

So many churches get bogged down in trying to define their mission. To be sure, each church is unique in the way God’s purposes are fulfilled. We all need to be clear in what God intends.

But scripture is clear in that God’s desire is the redemption of mankind. Jesus came to earth with the mission of making forgiveness and eternal life possible. His basic purpose was to offer himself as the sacrifice for all sin in order for redemption to be a reality.

That is still God’s heart and desire; saving humanity from itself – from sin. God’s plan in this endeavor is to use the church to bring this mission to completion. So the mission is the redemption of mankind. The church is the plan to fulfill this mission.

The next time you think about the mission of the church – I challenge you to instead consider that God’s mission has a church.

Go be the church today!