The Mission of the Church

We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me. (Colossians 1:28-29)

This passage has been on my mind for weeks. As I sit in a Brenham, TX hotel room I felt compelled to meditate on this verse today. Our family is in Brenham to watch the Trolls play for the state championship in soccer. This is the team Christa and Lauren Levens play on. The entire family made the journey yesterday after Jessica Runnel’s wedding. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. It was the spiritual union of two young adults who sought out God’s will for their lives. It was beautiful, yet it was not flashy. It was a ceremony that kept the focus on the commitments being made--this is what a wedding ceremony is all about. What a joy it was to see the two believers focus their wedding ceremony on what is really important. Mom and Dad of the bride and the groom should be proud! By the way, did you see them? Davelyn looked beautiful of course, but did you see Richard? I became a little concerned about my job security! Put that man in a suit and he looked ready to take over the pulpit. He set my mind at ease though when he told me it was a “two for one” purchase. He was going to wear this suit one more time and that was when he was at his own funeral.

Back to the verse...If we had to do it over again, it would make sense that this be the mission statement for Southside. It really is the mission statement for every church. Evangelism and discipleship are at the heart of all we do as a family of faith. All church mission statements must include this, we just word them differently to fit our particular church. In the verse we find the idea of evangelism and discipleship which are at the very core of everything a church does. These two things lead a believer to all the other purposes of life. Worship flows naturally from the heart of a person who has been saved and discipled. Ministry just becomes of part of the being of the mature believer. Fellowship with other believers is desired by those who have a strong understanding of God’s Word. This verse really speaks to what the church should be--it gives us the mission statement for the New Testament church. We will look at this passage closely in a couple of weeks as we consider the mission of Southside. We are not a big church, but we are a church doing big things for God. In order for this to continue, the people of Southside need to proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. [We need to] labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in [us].