And Jesus was going about all the cities and villages...proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness... Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." Matthew 9:35-38
Southwest Airlines entered the commercial airline with the intent to provide the lowest airfare possible to customers. For this reason, to this day, Southwest Airlines doesn't have all the frills and extras that other airlines may offer or possess. In fact, when an executive once presented the idea of adding a small meal to longer domestic flights, the CEO asked the question, "How does this help us accomplish our mission?"
That question caused an evaluation of the suggestion against the mission. The CEO easily vetoed adding this amenity because it would have added cost.
Churches decline and the gospel doesn't advance because believers forget the mission. Many churches in North America suffer from amnesia. They simply no longer remember the mission. The mission sets direction and provides evaluation.
Knowing your mission determines where you go, how you get there, and what things you will and won't do along the way.
As God led and affirmed the starting of Refuge Church, He reaffirmed the mission in my heart for me personally and the Church collectively.
Our mission is to display and declare the good news of Christ's kingdom to individuals near and far.
Jesus did nothing less than this in His earthly life and ministry.
He declared the good news of the kingdom. He traveled to every city and village (individuals near and far), teaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom (declaring the good news). With His words, He spoke of the kingdom promised from the Fall. He declared redemption and restoration. He proclaimed reconciliation with God through faith and repentance.
He displayed the good news of the kingdom. Yet Jesus also healed every kind of disease and sickness and demonstrating compassion (displaying the good news of the kingdom). When Jesus healed the sick, when He resurrected the dead, when He restored sight, and when He touched the untouchables, Jesus was displaying through tangible acts what the kingdom awaited for would be like. No more death, sorrow, disease, and untouchables.
Declaring and displaying the good news go together. Displaying the good news meets real need, provides credibility, and paints a picture of that which is to come. Declaring the good news gives clarity to what we do as something far more than philanthropic.
Our mission is to display and declare the good news of the kingdom to individuals near and far in similar manner so that outsiders become insiders. God has set His affection upon those outside of the kingdom, desiring that they come to find refuge in Christ in His kingdom to the glory of God.
Every church, Refuge Church included, has this as our mission. I pray we never suffer from forgetting our mission.
Southwest Airlines entered the commercial airline with the intent to provide the lowest airfare possible to customers. For this reason, to this day, Southwest Airlines doesn't have all the frills and extras that other airlines may offer or possess. In fact, when an executive once presented the idea of adding a small meal to longer domestic flights, the CEO asked the question, "How does this help us accomplish our mission?"
That question caused an evaluation of the suggestion against the mission. The CEO easily vetoed adding this amenity because it would have added cost.
Churches decline and the gospel doesn't advance because believers forget the mission. Many churches in North America suffer from amnesia. They simply no longer remember the mission. The mission sets direction and provides evaluation.
Knowing your mission determines where you go, how you get there, and what things you will and won't do along the way.
As God led and affirmed the starting of Refuge Church, He reaffirmed the mission in my heart for me personally and the Church collectively.
Our mission is to display and declare the good news of Christ's kingdom to individuals near and far.
Jesus did nothing less than this in His earthly life and ministry.
He declared the good news of the kingdom. He traveled to every city and village (individuals near and far), teaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom (declaring the good news). With His words, He spoke of the kingdom promised from the Fall. He declared redemption and restoration. He proclaimed reconciliation with God through faith and repentance.
He displayed the good news of the kingdom. Yet Jesus also healed every kind of disease and sickness and demonstrating compassion (displaying the good news of the kingdom). When Jesus healed the sick, when He resurrected the dead, when He restored sight, and when He touched the untouchables, Jesus was displaying through tangible acts what the kingdom awaited for would be like. No more death, sorrow, disease, and untouchables.
Declaring and displaying the good news go together. Displaying the good news meets real need, provides credibility, and paints a picture of that which is to come. Declaring the good news gives clarity to what we do as something far more than philanthropic.
Our mission is to display and declare the good news of the kingdom to individuals near and far in similar manner so that outsiders become insiders. God has set His affection upon those outside of the kingdom, desiring that they come to find refuge in Christ in His kingdom to the glory of God.
Every church, Refuge Church included, has this as our mission. I pray we never suffer from forgetting our mission.
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