Vision 2030: Our Mission

This is my second blog on Vision 2030: the vision that God is giving us to fulfill our mission at Rockbridge Church! Before we get into that I wanted to take a moment and look at that mission:


Boom, That's IT! It is simple, to the point, and poignant. This mission statement is one we share with our tribe, the United Methodist Church, the question is where is it's origin and what does it mean? This mission statement is derived from Jesus himself when he addressed the disciples at the end of the Gospel of Matthew before his ascension: "Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20)." 

The disciples' mission given by Jesus is the same one we have today: to be disciples who make more disciples. We are not looking simply to make non-believers into believers but rather our goal is to make people who follow Jesus. We will talk more about that during the next blog post, however, if we make disciples we believe that we will transform the world. The goal is to work with God through the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish God's will on earth as it is in heaven! If we do that, world-wide transformation is possible. I had a high school student receive a call to build a school in Malawi. His goal was for the school to raise $30,000 dollars and provide an education for hundreds! He did this because as a disciple of Jesus, God gave him a heart for those in need. The problem was not the young man's vision or the call but rather the adults at the school who did not believe it could happen. Rather than supporting this vision ($30,000 is a lot of money but a school with several thousand students could raise it with enough effort) they put up roadblocks. Still, even without their support, he raised $12,000! Imagine what it would be like if all the adults, many of them were followers of Jesus, had helped him find his path. We need to get on board with what God is doing in our world.

How does that affect you, today? Each follower of Jesus needs to commit to making Christ the center of our lives so that every action we do goes toward that goal. Every event, every moment, every opportunity for the church needs to fulfill that mission! May we be a church that makes disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Time to Grow Up

This morning I lost my wallet. Well lost is probably not the correct word, I temporarily misplaced it. Whenever I lose something, especially something important, I get anxious, even frantic. Most people have outgrown the problem of losing their keys or their wallet by having specific places to put it. I struggle with this (I often give the excuse that it's because it is how my brain works, while true it's an excuse) because I have not taken the time and effort to develop a pattern of where to put my important stuff. I am a very forgetful person, my dad used to say I would forget my head if it was not attached, but with the proper effort and training, I could learn to change my ways. Friends, the same is true with our faith. We must choose to put effort and energy into growing in mature followers of Jesus. Check out Hebrews 6:1-9: So let’s press on to maturity, by moving on from the basics about Christ’s word. Let’s not lay a foundation of turning away from dead works, of f
Read more

This world IS our home and it DOES matter when we lose the battle...

You might be wondering what this blog is about today, or you might have already connected the title with two popular Christian songs on the radio: Home by Chris Tomlin and Greater by Mercy Me. Both songs represent a theology that is an epidemic among popular Christianity today. Many Christians believe that this world is not really our home, that it is just a temporary place that we are passing through and (hopefully if we found Christ!) we go TO heaven and not experience eternal conscious torment in hell. That allows us to say (as it says in the song Greater by Mercy Me) that if we lose the battle with doubt or sin, it doesn't matter because we have the grace of God and so we still get to go to heaven (side note: this isn't exactly what the song means, but it is what it says. The song seems to be saying that because we are redeemed we don't have to earn grace. That is true but it overstates the point). The Christian world has focused on eternal salvation, however follow
Read more

Thoughts from the first five chapters of Luke

Last week I challenged people to read the book of Luke over the next month, and I am very excited about that! I am now realizing the challenge, however, of blogging over 5 chapters of the Bible! I am going to hit some highlights, feel free to comment below if you have thoughts or questions. First of all, Luke is actually book 1 of a saga that also includes Acts! Many people call it Luke-Acts because it was probably meant to be read as one continuous story (hmm maybe we should read acts together next...).  Chapter 1 "I have also decided to write a carefully ordered account for you, most honorable Theophilus." Theophilus is probably an honorific and it means friend of God or beloved of God. It is debated whether the book is written to an actual person or to all believers whom Luke is calling friends of God. The story of the birth of John the Baptist recalls stories in the Hebrew text that are similar such as Sarah and Abraham with the birth of Isaac (Genesis 18)
Read more