The church is a fellowship on mission with God. He leads and guides us to serve him. We are not free to choose our own agenda; rather, if we are the church of Jesus Christ, we must commit to follow his mission for us. The purpose of the local church is to bring glory to God. We are committed to serve him and to follow him as his Spirit gives us strength and guidance. We do this through five major ways: Worship, Evangelism, Discipleship, Service, and Fellowship. This morning we are looking at the subject of our mission as Christ's people. If I were to ask you to describe the mission of the church, what would you say? Looking back at these five ways we bring glory to Christ, we may be tempted to take one of these and focus exclusively on it. But we must understand the mission of the church is to do all of these, not just one.But more importantly, our mission is not just to go and DO something for Christ. Our mission is to go and BE his people first. Christ said that we are sent as he was sent, and he came in the fullness of the Spirit. First and foremost we are to be his people in fellowship with him and with one another. Until we know how to live in him, we cannot serve him effectively.
