A Word From Senior Pastor, Britton Carter
Being a Church on Mission
In June, a team from Fee Fee traveled to Alaska to connect at-risk kids with the gospel. We had an amazing trip, and many on the team cannot wait to go back next year (you should pray about joining us, by the way)! While we were serving in Alaska, I considered a few of the attitudes necessary for a mission trip, and I wondered what it would look like if we as a church embodied the same attitudes in our local context. Three of the characteristics that stuck out to me are flexibility, servant-heartedness, and gospel-vision.
Flexibility
Sometimes, things don’t go according to plan on a mission trip. We get off schedule. Weather disrupts plans. Tools stop working. Because of the unpredictable nature of living every day on mission, we have to be flexible enough to flow with whatever each day brings. Yet in our own contexts—where we have established patterns and habits over the years—we become increasingly less flexible. Rather than adapting, we grow frustrated when things don’t go according to plan. But if we could be as flexible here as we have to be on a mission trip, then we might see the Holy Spirit do some unexpectedly amazing things through our church.
Servant-Heartedness
A friend of mine who pastors in Houston, Texas, frequently challenges the church’s staff to be the kind of people who pick up trash. By that, he means nobody is “above” doing any task for the kingdom of God. That’s the attitude we have to have on a mission trip—a willingness to do whatever is needed for the cause of Christ. How much more impactful would we be for the kingdom of God if we adopted that same attitude here at home?
Gospel-Vision
The lost people around us need the gospel. That’s an ever-present thought on a mission trip, where you are surrounded by lost people that you traveled hundreds or thousands of miles to connect with the gospel. Just imagine what God could do through us if we had that same vision in our community.