God is on mission.
Period.
The mission?
To lavish all people with redemptive love.
It’s not just something God does. It’s who God is.
In his book Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, David Bosch describes God as a “fountain of sending love.”
Sit with that image for a moment, will you?
A fountain. Of sending love. Lavishing all the world.
(Selah)
What would happen if we let that image inform our mission?
Not just our collective mission as a church, mind you; but our individual missions as human persons created in God’s own likeness?
If we truly understood (and believed) that God is on that kind of mission…
If we learned to see God as an eternal fountain of sending love, then we would understand that stepping into the flow of that fountain changes everything. It changes our assumptions about God; our approach to other people; our expectations about ourselves, life and our purpose on the planet. Everything is swept up and away into a current that is stronger, mightier, and more transformative than any of us could have dared to imagine.
Suddenly, mission isn’t just something we do. It’s who we are, as people swept up and away by the Missio Dei…the Mission of God.
To this end, a new four part sermon series begins on February 9th, entitled Missio Dei.
Each week we will seek to understand and engage the Mission of God in the world, in a way that mobilizes our faith in practical ways. Here is a look at our series at a glance…
February 9th The Fountain of Sending Love (Genesis 1:1)
February 16th The Warm Lake of Humanity (John 1:1-14)
February 23rd From Comfort Zone to Danger Zone (John 20:19-22; Luke10:1-3)
March 2nd Mobilize! (Acts 1:1-11)
In addition to this sermon series, there will be other meaningful ways to provoke the imagination and engage the mission of God, all month long. For example…
- Each Sunday morning, there will be unique opportunities to attend seminars led by strategic partners in mission; partners who represent key components of our upcoming missions offering.
- On March 2nd, our entire congregation will have the opportunity to participate in the Mobilization Fair, designed to connect members with practical ways to engage the mission of God here and now.
- Between now and the Mobilization Fair, our ministers will be blogging about the significance of mission, iMAGiNEXT!, and the power of Mobilization in our lives.
God is indeed a great fountain of sending love.
May you and your family discover the inexpressible joy of stepping into its flow.
Shaun King
Senior Pastor
Johns Creek Baptist Church
1 Comment. Leave new
DR HARRY E. FOSDICK -who preached and wrote in the 20th century said; ” there are two kinds of Christians , “those who have a religion about JESUS and those who have the religion of JESUS. ” Pastor Shaun, I think you are renewing our faith in the RELIGION OF JESUS,
How? By lighting our Vision of CHURCH MISSION and allowing all of our called Pastors
to take a leading role in helping the Church to become engaged in the calling. I know our Church is going to do even greater things for Christ in 2014. I am so grateful for the dedicated leadership of all of our special Pastors , Teachers, Administrators and the all of those who serve Christ’s Church with a true heart and determined faith in God.