Mission Minded Church

Coming off of VBS week I’m still super pumped up about the mission of the church. With an emphasis on Eph 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Today we will talk about being a Mission Minded Church.

Acts 11:1–3 ESV

Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

Jesus is for everyone. When the church is not mission minded it may not seem this way. It may seem Jesus is only for those who walk through the church building doors. The fact is many of the people who are in need of the gospel will never position themselves to hear it in a church setting. It is the the duty of the church to be mission minded, or thoughtful about being sent by God to the neighborhood, city, and world around us. If we never think or consider where God is sending us, then we are not being mission minded.

Peter was mission minded and a great example of how leaders humbly follow God’s leadership.

The most humble people in the church must be the leaders.

Leaders humble themselves before God’s will and so lead the members of the church to do the same.

Peter was humble enough to receive the message God was giving him. The message was simple, Jesus is for everyone, Jews and gentiles alike.

Just because leaders should be leading the way in humility doesn’t mean that no one else should be humble as well. We are all called to...

Ephesians 5:21 ESV

submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Submission is a humble posture towards God’s people.

As it pertains to being mission minded, I want to ask a question. How good would the work be if I viewed myself above all others? We would respond like Jonah did. If I do show up to work I won’t be giving my best effort. The work would not flow from a place of love and concern but more from obligation.

To be mission minded we must submit ourselves to the very people we are sent to serve. We must love them, care for them and their concerns.

The gentiles receiving Christ was no small thing. Tom Brady coming to play with Tampa Bay was no small thing. We were shocked. Tom came to play with this sorry team? We don’t deserve him. This was the thought of some not me though I always believed.

We do the same with the unsaved. They are too far gone, God can’t save them. Who are we to ever make these types of assertions about people? Have we forgot there was a time when others may have been saying the same things about us. There are people who don’t even believe you are saved right now yet we have the nerve to pass judgement on someone else. Lord have mercy.

God didn’t send us to judge, God’s sends us to minister the gospel.

Peter is a great example in how God was able to teach him and he was then able to teach others. Rise, Peter, Kill, Eat. What God has made clean do not call common. Peter shares the revelation of the Kingdom of God with these jews and their response is so uplifting.

Acts 11:18 ESV

When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

The mindset of the mission minded church is doing the will of God, not getting your way.

It is a shame when people miss out on the help they need because the people called to serve are more focused on their own agenda than the will of God.

Let us be a mission minded church. Let us be used by God to accomplish His will in our community and city.