A few years ago, at the Iron Sharpens Iron Conference I had the opportunity to hear Retired General William Boykin. General Boykin was an original Delta Force soldier who later returned to the Delta Force as the commander of that unit. As you can imagine, he had many fascinating war stories to tell from his days in the Delta Force. Each account started with him saying, “We got a call from President __ . . .”, asking them to go on a particular mission. Each mission they went on reflected the character and values of that president and the administration they led. In his service with the Delta Force, he always understood they operated at the will of the President and the mission they were on reflected that administration. The mission reflects the mission giver.

That same principle applies to the church. I am preaching five messages on the mission of our church, and let’s be clear about this: God is the mission giver. Our mission statements are founded on Scripture and the messages I’m preaching are birthed out of those missional passages. The mission of our church is a reflection of God as the mission giver. A Biblical mission makes the connection between what God has commanded us to do and the nature of God. It is not by accident that the number one characteristic of God in the entire Bible is love, and the command he gives the church is to love God (worship) and to love other people. Last week we looked at the priority we need to give to the worship of God and this Sunday we see how that should lead us to love other people in the same way God has loved us. When the church demonstrates love for each other and the world around us, we reflect the very nature of God, and it is the nature of God the lost people of the world need to encounter. Join me this Sunday for the second message in our 1Mission series.

Sunday Sermon Slides