The blank matters

     We all could come up with good words to fill in the blank and we could all find justification for the word that we chose. 

     Want to know my word? 

     I honestly believe there are many words, and many of those words are linked or tied together, but one word that doesn’t often get mentioned is the one that I think is at the top of the list. 

The purpose of the church is mission. 

     Jesus was up on the Cross dying and he said, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing.” His ultimate desire and purpose of living was to restore people into a relationship with God. It was to reach the “lost sheep” or those who no longer were connected to God. It was to bring people back into their true purpose – to know and experience God and His love and to take steps of faith to bring that message to the world. 

     In Acts 2 it says that the people gathered together, were taught by the disciples and leaders, and broke bread together. They participated in teaching, discipleship, community, and worship, but it didn’t end there. The book of Acts is filled with stories of people taking the message of Christ to new places and people no matter how easy or difficult the situation was.      

     Jesus hasn’t given us new life just for us to enjoy it, but to share it with others around us. The call of God is that we stand out in this world – “that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. (Phil. 2:15). 

Pastor Steve