In John’s First Letter, we read how we all are God’s children. John tells us that the reason we all are part of God’s family is because of God’s great love in Christ: Jesus atoned for us, and not simply for us, but for the whole world.
That’s the whole point of the Gospel: that God so loved the world that God gave his only Son that whosoever believes will have everlasting life.
It is this kind of love that makes the mission possible in the first place: God first loving us and giving to us so that we may in turn love God and love others (1 Jn. 4:19). The mission is possible because of what God has done for us and what God continues to do in us! It is the reason why we are in mission: Jesus became like us that we might become like him.
That’s the very Mo-Jo that keeps us going! Take that away and there is no mission! No hope! No Gospel!
Perhaps another way to think about this is how we as church do not necessarily have a mission so much as a mission has us! Yes, our mission is to care and grow as disciples. But equally true is how God’s mission of caring and growing involves us. And to the extent that we can envision God’s mission for us, we can extend that mission to others – by our giving, by our witnessing, by our praying.
It is why there is really no limit we can place on God’s mission, or on God’s love, or to the number of children we can help, or to how many people may come into God’s presence. As children created in the image of God, we understand ourselves to be in a mission to bless that image in all people, in all children – whether in Africa or Central America, or in Franklin or the state of Indiana, God’s mission is always a mission of love large enough to care for everyone. That’s how big God’s love is!
How may we extend that mission of love to others? What may the mission entail for each of us?
Pastor Andy Kinsey
That’s the whole point of the Gospel: that God so loved the world that God gave his only Son that whosoever believes will have everlasting life.
It is this kind of love that makes the mission possible in the first place: God first loving us and giving to us so that we may in turn love God and love others (1 Jn. 4:19). The mission is possible because of what God has done for us and what God continues to do in us! It is the reason why we are in mission: Jesus became like us that we might become like him.
That’s the very Mo-Jo that keeps us going! Take that away and there is no mission! No hope! No Gospel!
Perhaps another way to think about this is how we as church do not necessarily have a mission so much as a mission has us! Yes, our mission is to care and grow as disciples. But equally true is how God’s mission of caring and growing involves us. And to the extent that we can envision God’s mission for us, we can extend that mission to others – by our giving, by our witnessing, by our praying.
It is why there is really no limit we can place on God’s mission, or on God’s love, or to the number of children we can help, or to how many people may come into God’s presence. As children created in the image of God, we understand ourselves to be in a mission to bless that image in all people, in all children – whether in Africa or Central America, or in Franklin or the state of Indiana, God’s mission is always a mission of love large enough to care for everyone. That’s how big God’s love is!
How may we extend that mission of love to others? What may the mission entail for each of us?
Pastor Andy Kinsey
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