What is the Mission of the Church? Pastor Paul

  Posted on February 12, 2019  by   No comments

What is the Mission of the Church?

Most of us have heard The Great Commission a hundred times. Jesus’ last words before ascending into Heaven were, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-20) These words were spoken first to the apostles but are also a command and mission for every believer– a mission to be spirit-empowered witnesses to the events of Christ’s death, resurrection, and his call to repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

If you have been around New Life awhile, you have heard us speaking about our mission field right here in Dresser. We even have a sign above the doors as we walk out that says, “Now entering his mission field.” In addition, you may have heard us recently speak about adopting a missionary. This is also a great and important way to be a part of advancing the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and a wonderful way to partner alongside fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in this work.  But that is only a part of the mission of the Church.  When we hear the word mission, we usually think of reaching just the lost for Jesus. The thing that is sometimes less emphasized is that making disciples does not stop at just making a convert to Jesus, but goes further to continuing the pursuit of growing in Jesus, the forming of obedient mature disciples.

How are we to be on mission?

So, we all are also to be on mission right here inside our own church family.  Each one of us is responsible to be exhorting one another daily to keep believing in and clinging to Jesus. We can only exhort one another daily if we are interacting with each other daily! We need to be holding the mirror of God’s word in front of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ so that no one would be deceived by the deceitfulness of sin and blinded to the truth.  We need to be ever so diligent to be proclaiming the Gospel to one another daily, ministering to one another on a personal level. Personal ministry is essential for the continuing growth in maturity as disciples of Jesus.

So, grab a hold of somebody younger or older or a small group of believers from New Life and regularly meet together throughout the week to study the Word.  Send a text or an email to the person who sits behind you on Sunday mornings and share a verse that encouraged you during the week. Invite the new couple that you saw across the room to your house for dessert.  Ask the person next to you in line for lunch how you can pray for them that week.  Join another mom at the park with your kids (when it warms up a little bit) and share ideas of how to teach truth to your children. Build relationships, live life together, break bread together, and remind each other daily of the Gospel.  New Life, how are you investing in one another?

We’re in it for the long haul

The church never gets to a point of resting from this work of proclaiming Jesus until He returns. While we wait till that day, there is work to be done. There is, however, a work that is done — that is the work of salvation on the cross (full and complete payment for sin).  As Jesus said “It is finished.” But now He continues the work of making new creations, speaking life into the deadness of our sinful hearts and making us alive in Christ, ever growing to be more like Him.  We (the church) also faithfully participate in this work through the proclamation of the Word. Each believer is gifted by the Spirit in their unique way to do this. And as each part of the body of Christ works together using the gifts that each has been given, the whole body will grow in maturity in Christ.  Don’t believe the lie that you are an unusable or incompetent vessel that has nothing good to share.  When God saves you, He calls you to be a vessel for noble purposes (2 Timothy 2:20-22) and uses you to proclaim a message that saves. If you have the Spirit dwelling within you, you have all you need to make Christ known. Remember that those who watched Jesus ascend to heaven lacked strength and power for the task until the Spirit came days later at Pentecost. So walk in the strength of the Spirit in this work and don’t grow weary. It is a noble task.

So what is the mission of the Church?  Proclaim Jesus!  Proclaim Him to the lost so that they may be saved, from Dresser to the ends of the Earth.  And proclaim Him to your brothers and sisters in Christ so that they may be built up, ever growing in maturity as disciples, looking to “Only Jesus” in all things.

Pastor Paul