A Letter from Pastor Mark - August



Dear Friends,
I have often  heard people say things like this: “We have a mission-centered church,” or “Our church is all about missions.”   Then people begin to think that the church (remember the church is the people, not an organization, institution or building) is missional because of involvement with missions.
That brings up an interesting question: What makes the church truly missional?  Contrary to what most people might think, a church that does missions isn’t necessarily missional. A body of believers who are truly missional will embody and carry the message of Jesus to all people deep within their hearts.  A truly missional church will not make any decisions or decide to do anything without first determining that what they are doing helps the church to fulfill Christ’s    command to make disciples of all the nations.
So a missional church is not a church that is occasionally involved in mission activities; it is a church that lives, embodies and is driven by the missional call of Jesus to reach every person with the love, grace and forgiveness that he offers.  Sharing Jesus with others will be the      reason for the existence of a truly missional church.  Sharing Jesus with others will be the   driving force behind a truly missional church.
The next question is how does a church become missional?  In order for a church to be missional, it needs to be more a movement than an institution or an organization.  What does it mean to be a member of  a movement?  A church becomes a movement when the good news of Jesus goes viral.  When each member of the church becomes so in love with Jesus that they live his message in everything they do, then Christ’s message is passed on virally from person to person.   Then the church grows by multiplication and not just by adding a few members here and there.  That is what it means to be a movement rather than a organization.

A church that is an organization exists to serve its members.  A church that is a movements exists to reach a lost and hurting world through the grace and love of Jesus Christ. A church that is an organization might be able to reach a few people. A church that is a movement will do nothing but reach people for Christ.
So if we want to truly be about the mission of Jesus, then we must seek to be a movement so that the message of Jesus will be spread like a virus passed from one person to another.
How does a church be come a movement?  The church must have missional DNA as its lifeblood.  I will refer to missional DNA as mDNA from this point on.  This mDNA is composed of six elements:
· Jesus is Lord
· Disciple-making
· Missional-incarnational impulse
· Apostolic Environment
· Organic Systems
· Communitas

If those terms are strange to you, don’t worry.  Over the next several months I will explain each element of the mDNA so that we will know what it means and how to be a missional movement.

In Christ’s Abundant Love,

Pastor Mark




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