“It’s not so much that the church has a mission, it’s that the mission of God has a church.” Alan Hirsch
It’s a word you’ll be hearing more and more about in the coming weeks: Missional. Immediately following the resurrection of Jesus, the early church understood its primary calling to be the body and presence of Christ in this world. As Jesus rose, the church was sent. Over time, however, the church began to gradually shift the focus away from its missional calling, moving instead toward building and maintaining the institutional life of congregations. In recent history, the focus of the church has often been more about attracting new members to build an institution than equipping disciples for service to help build the kingdom.
This Sunday we’ll launch a new sermon series called “Love God, Serve the City.” At its core, missional is a critical shift in our normal way of thinking about church. It reminds us of our primary purpose as a church: to be the incarnational body of Christ in this world. Mission, then, is not something we do; it’s what we are. Love God, Serve the City begins now. Join us for the journey.
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