Connecting People to the Gospel
“Connecting people to the unifying and life-transforming power of the gospel.” Our Strategic Planning Committee and our staff spent numerous hours crafting every word of that mission statement. We deliberated extensively. We exhausted our collective vocabularies. We thumbed through thesauruses every time a word seemed insufficient—which was pretty much every word at one point or another. After months of painstaking work, this statement is the result.
Is it a perfect mission statement? Probably not. I’m not sure a perfect mission statement exists. But our goal has never been a perfect statement—our goal has always been a useful statement. Can this shared language reinforce what God has called us to do as a church? Absolutely.
Like a switchboard operator connecting people placing a call with those receiving it, we operate in this world as the primary means by which other people encounter the message of salvation in Jesus. And in case that illustration is too dated, I’ll offer another one. Like a new homeowner plugging lamps and TVs and kitchen appliances into power sources, you and I should constantly seek to introduce and reintroduce those around us to the power of the gospel.
Why? Because there’s no greater news to share. Nothing else can provide eternal life for our friends. Nothing else can introduce abundant grace into fractured family relationships. Nothing else can rescue our fellow believers from the burden and brokenness of sin. Nothing else can introduce harmony and unity into a divided community.
Connecting people to the gospel has to be the mission for everything we do. Why do we sing on Sunday mornings? To connect those in attendance with gospel truths, which cause us to erupt in praise back to God. Why do we study Scripture? To understand the gospel better than we ever have, leading to life transformation. Why do we put on an event, offer a program, run a ministry, or do anything else as a church? Because people need the power of the gospel. And what is your role as a church member? To live your life with the primary ambition of connecting people to the unifying and life-transforming power of the gospel.
May we be faithful to this mission.
In Christ,
Pastor Britton