Categories
MSM

The heart of mission

msm-logoWe have another MSM session last night, this time all about “The Mission of God”.

We explored what mission means and why we do it. Mission is, of course, a much bigger thing than just evangelism – a simple definition might be: taking God’s love into the whole world. However, it is important not to miss the point that evangelism is a part of mission. Christianity is a force for good in the world and the presence of Christians should help to reform society into what God wants it to be.

The heart of mission itself is God. It is our role to follow God’s lead and respond to what he wants us to do, understanding that mission itself is central to discipleship, that is we are Christians and therefore we do mission (not an optional extra).

Of course, mission is fueled by God’s Spirit but God’s fuel only works when we have a close relationship with God. This led us to think about the part that Holy Communion plays in the life of the church where our connection with God sits in a fundemental place to our mission.

We considered how we are a people who are sent by Jesus out into the world to take God’s message to others. That message was sumerised by John in his gospel in the passage of John chapter 3 verse 16.

God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son, so that all those who believe in him will not perish but have eternal life.

God so loved the world that he sent his son.

God so loved the world that he would do anything to bring us back to him.

Categories
Church MSM

MSM Course

Started the MSM course yesterday in Taunton. It is a long course but then anything that is designed to change ways of thinking must be done over a long period of time. One of things I particulalry like about it is that it isn’t about church. There is always a tendency to think about how we preserve our church and then we miss the question of what does God want to do with his church? There are amny questions to ponder over on this course.

Questions about the meaning and purpose of church. Questions about what we should do together as a church. Questions about what will the church do in the future? But all of these must be subject to the one overriding question of what does God want.

What does God want from his church?