Last Sunday we took time to consider what kind of church God would have us be and what God would have us do as a church. More specifically, we asked, "How does the Lord want Roosevelt to fit into his mission to transform all things and bring everything under the reign of Jesus?"
I believe the charge to Roosevelt is twofold. First, we must be known as a thought(full) community. By "thought(full)" we are saying that we want to be a community that is full of thoughts about God. Over and over in the Bible we see that God is deeply concerned to have his people have their minds and hearts filled with thoughts, remembrances, reflections, meditations, upon God. Some examples include Exodus 3:15, 13:3, 1 Chron 28:9, Ps 1:2, 119:15-16, 77:11-12, Matt 16:22-23, Phil 4:8, Heb 10:16. There is one subject however that should tie all the thoughts of minds and hearts together, and that is Jesus. Jesus is the key work of God that must be at the center of all our reflections. See for example Eph 3:14-19, 2 Cor 4:6, Col 3:1-2.
Practically speaking, this means the mission of our church will always be tied into digging deep into God's word, for that's where we find what God wants us to think about, and more specifically continually meditating upon the gospel, for that is the main storyline of God's word.
Thoughts full of God must lead us in a certain direction. So, secondly we must be known as a purpose(full) community. By "purpose(full)" we are saying that we want to be a community that is full of purpose for God and specifically full of purpose for Christ. So for instance in Col 3:1-2 we are directed to have our minds set towards the direction of Christ. In so doing we then must be actually seeking Christ and the things that are associated with Christ (v.1). Some other examples of purpose set alongside thoughts are 2 Cor 10:5 and Phil 3:14-15. Arguably Matt 28:18-20 can be seen through this grid as well. Jesus gives his disciples two things to set their minds and hearts on, the fact that all authority in the cosmos belongs to Jesus and the fact that he will always be with them. Now, with those two facts in mind, the disciples are given a purpose, to go and make disciples of Jesus from all the nations.
Practically speaking this means that the mission of our church should be directed towards seeing as many people as possible encounter Christ for themselves. With that in mind I set before us the vision of a Roosevelt community that is known for boldly and constantly connecting with those who don't know Christ and boldly and constantly speaking the gospel to them. I have in mind a church where the majority of us, at least 60% of us, are the kind of people who are constantly talking to other people about Jesus. Some will of course be better than others at this. But all of us at the very least can be asking people, "Hey, this may be an awkward question but I want to know, 'What do you think about Jesus?'"
This could be a very big missional step forward for our church. Be praying that we take this step with confidence that the Lord truly wants to bless this kind of thing. By God's grace, let's be known as a church so full of Jesus that we just can't shut up about him.
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