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"A Life of Sent-ness" from the 2024 Spring Vision Newsletter
What does God send us to do? How can we embrace this calling?
We can start with our Vision and Mission statements. Our Vision statement tells us who we are and why we’re here and the Mission statement tells us what we do. The verbs in these statements give us the purpose God has called us to!
Our Vision is to create a church in which people feel at home and, inspired by the Holy Spirit and their love for God, align their lives to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and thus prepare themselves for His return and eternal life.
Our Mission is reaching out to all people in order to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to baptize them with water and the Holy Spirit. Providing soul care and cultivating a warm fellowship in which everyone shall experience the love of God and the joy of serving Him and others.
So we are to align, prepare, reach out, teach, cultivate, and serve (to name a few).
How can we help others experience the love of God? John 3:16 reminds us: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God so loved the world, that He sends us out into the world. This means that our lives Monday-through-Saturday are not separate from our lives on Sunday. Whether you are in God’s house, or out in the world, either way God is with us and He wants to work through us. In all that we do, the Lord is actually shaping us so that we can reach out to and serve very specific people that we encounter in our lives. There are certain hands that you can hold. I can’t, but maybe you can; the Lord fashioned you to hold those hands. You are specifically chosen (1 Peter 2:9).
How can we embrace our sent-ness? Before Christ sends us out, He brings us in. We come to church to strengthen our relationship with Jesus Christ so that we can do His will. But first, we have to realize our inadequacy. This is part of the transformative work of being a disciple of Christ. Recognizing our inadequacy strengthens our reliance on God and allows Him to work through us. He brings us in, to send us out.
But we have to decide to accept this calling, to say like Isaiah: “Here I am, send me.” This means stepping out of our comfort zone; it takes risk and sacrifice. God gives us the assurance that He’s with us in the uncomfortableness, in the mess, and in the struggle. We encounter His presence in a whole new way, which strengthens us and enables us to continue to serve.
God has chosen you. He brings you in, blesses you and asks you to sacrifice. He gives you a message and a purpose. And then God sends you out. Embrace your sent-ness!