Recently the Lord has been speaking to us about seeing all things through the Cross, but also moving out of ‘maintenance mode’ into ‘mission mode’. At the heart of the Mission, is the Cross. And the purpose of the Cross is the Mission. We have been co-Missioned by Jesus, to continue His great work of restoring all things to God. In this message we look at Paul’s words, to the Philippians (2:6-11), describing how Jesus embraced His own co-Mission from the Father, by embracing the Cross – inviting us to do the same. We consider how we should therefore view the Mission through the ‘lens’ of the Cross, and approach the Cross in light of the Mission.
When we read the account of Jesus going to raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead, we see how, on the way, a woman with internal bleeding pushed through the crowd to receive healing. Jesus met her where she was at, but remained a ‘man on a mission’ as he continued to raise the girl from the dead. Stephen picks up this story and asks us “what is our testimony – are we in mission mode?”. Our testimony is more powerful than our beliefs. Sometimes seeing is more powerful than hearing! We are Jesus to all those around us, because we are filed with His spirit. Let’s all be men and women on a mission.
Luke 24 tells of two ordinary disciples who met the risen Lord Jesus on their way to an obscure village near Jerusalem. Along the way He addresses their sadness and disappointment, before revealing His identity to them in the breaking of bread.
The Cross of Jesus Christ changes everything. When we look through the lens of the Cross it changes how we see God, ourselves, one another and the world!
The feeding of the 5000 was a miracle of unprecedented scale and impact, and tells us vital things about the mission of the Church in these critical days. We’re here to FEED THE WORLD and In this message we’re challenged to do so with as much compassion, bravery and generosity as Jesus Himself.
As we start a new season together we are putting a focus on all that it means to serve the Lord and one another as part of the body of Christ, His Church. We want to excel in all we do together to glorify God and to win people to Christ. Today we set a biblical context for our serving, that we may consider our serving to be part of the normal Christian life.