Last week we looked in the opening chapter of the Bible to see the mission of God is to spread His glory throughout His creation. God created all that is out of His nature of love and goodness. A creation designed for growth through reproduction and renewal. The mission of God extends now to fallen man and the need for each person to be born again and experience the renewal that comes through relationship with God through Jesus Christ. 

At the root of the original sin in Genesis 3 is a sinful desire to claim glory from God and assign it to ourselves. The history of mankind is one that reinforces this reality. Civilizations, nations and people groups have repeatedly attempted to unite humanity to the exclusion of God. History also tells us that this has failed. Even in the current movement to create a globalism for our planet, we see a reaction of nationalism in our own nation as well as other nations around the globe. We are a planet of 195 nations but more than that we are a world of 17,313 people groups within those nations that all have identity within them that make them distinct from each other. How can humanity possibly be united with this much diversity? 

There is only one way for man to be united.  I would go so far as to say God will not allow humanity to be united apart from this one, God-given way to unity. It is only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ that humanity can be united. For this reason, the Mission of God is to the Nations of the world. The amazing thing about this is God has not given this task of conveying this life changing news for the world to the United Nations, or a King or a president, but he has given it to the Church. Join us this Sunday as we see the purpose of the church is Mission to the Nations of the world. 

Sunday we are starting a new 6 part sermon series titled “Mission: God’s Purpose for the Church.” There are a lot of good things a church can do, but at the end of the day, the purpose of our existence is for mission. You will notice I am not saying missions in the plural. Mission is singular because the church is not divided in our purpose. The purpose and mission of the church simply put, is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, for the glory of God. Making disciples is the same mission whether it is in something we do right here in our community or in another part of our country, or on the other side of the world in say, Bangladesh. In this sermon series we will see that God’s purpose for the church is to fulfill God’s mission locally and around the world. That is what a healthy church will do.

My message this Sunday is titled Mission: As Old As Dirt. In this series I want to give you the full view and understanding of mission as revealed in Scripture. In order to understand how we as a church are to fulfill the mission God has given us we need to see The Mission of God as something rooted in the very origins of the universe. As Christians, we must consider the origins of the universe from more than just a natural – physical perspective. In the account of Creation, the very nature of God is on display, and as we more clearly understand his nature, we will more clearly see The Mission of God. Mission calls us to make disciples of Jesus for a purpose: for the glory of God.

Mission is not a new thing. As a matter of fact, mission is as old as creation. It’s as old as dirt. Join us this Sunday as we dive into the opening chapters of Genesis to lay a biblical foundation for mission.