What is YOUR mission?

Where has God called you?  Yes, you!  What is God’s mission for YOU?

I often tell the story of God calling me into ministry as a young man in college.  I was feeling distant from God, so I went away to go camping alone in the mountains to pray.  It rained the whole weekend!  There in my little tent, soaking wet, the Holy Spirit began speaking to me about changing the direction of my life and study to vocational ministry.

However, too often we look at the call of God as some special thing only appointed to certain people in the Bible or clergy.  This is not the whole truth. There is no child of God that is outside or unequipped for God’s call to ministry and mission.  Like a father or mother who has a special place in their heart for ALL their children, God has called you to serve him in ways that fit your gifting and passion.

When we pray like Jesus taught us we say, “Your Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  This is a beautiful prayer of mission.  Jesus was calling us to pray God’s mission is fulfilled in the earth.  His mission is to make all things new.  He starts with making us new, and then calls us, in our new life, to others.  He calls us to:

to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent ME to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

Isaiah 61:1

Do you remember a time God called you to himself and you began a love relationship with him?  Like Peter, and the rest of the disciples, it comes with a call to love others as well.  It comes with a call to “love your neighbor” and to be ‘fishers of men”. 

In Ephesians 4:11 it says leaders in the church are to: 

“Equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,”

No matter your age or what your abilities are, God has something special for you.  For those who are older, it may even be a “Second Mountain”, as writer David Brooks calls it in a book with the same title.  This is a refocusing of your life and mission in the second part of your life. You may find new interests and calling, as you walk toward or up that “second mountain”.

Eph. 4:16 compares us to the body of Christ, who is the head, saying:

The whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

In the next couple of months you will have opportunities to consider service inside and outside the church building. For some this will be the first time for you to have an opportunity to serve at Mariners’ Church. Others reading this email attend a different church and you perhaps should consider service where you are. I challenge you to step outside your comfort zone and serve people with the love of Christ.   

The mission of Mariners’ Church has been clear from the beginning, “To be a house of prayer for all people”.  As you probably know, this is straight from the Scriptures and from Jesus description of the Temple.  

The Holy Calling of God on every christian’s life extends far outside the walls of the church “to all people”.  I’m excited to see how God uses our hearts to serve and bring renewal to Detroit, or your city, over the next season of ministry.  It starts within our family and church family, then extends beyond us to others. 

Pray it with me once again; “Your Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!” May this be true, Lord Jesus, and may it begin with me.

Blessings and peace,

Rev. Todd