‘… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’

(Acts 1:8 ESV)

This month we will hold our Mission Sunday Service where our focus is on the work of Christ’s church to reach out with good news of the gospel, locally, nationally and internationally. We may use this Sunday to specifically consider the work going on in different areas along with the work we support as a fellowship but mission cannot and should not be simply something we think about only at certain times of the year, it must be the very heartbeat of the church. In an age where people are bombarded with different, ideas, ideals, religions and where we are told that everyone can be right the question we need to ask ourselves must be: ‘Is the amazing, life changing and counter cultural message of the gospel being heard over the noise of all that the world promotes?’. It is a message so radical and so wonderful that all need to hear yet a message that is often whispered so quietly and spoken of with so little regularity beyond our church walls that it is not being heard. The love of a Saviour so great that he would lay down His life for sinners such as us so that the perfect justice of God would be served but not on us but on one so willing yet so undeserving, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only that but His resurrection means new life for us and His ascension means that he rules and reigns over his now established kingdom. Now importantly for mission the power of the Holy Spirit has been given to believers so that the ministry that Christ began on earth may continue through His church as he rules and directs from the realms of glory. As we have considered in our evening services in the book of Acts, the ability to be Christ’s witnesses to the end of the earth does not lie within us but by the power of the Holy Spirit. We may feel inadequate for the task, or unable to share the good news with others but we have all been given different gifts for the kingdom work and witness and he who calls us equips us for the task ahead. We do not do mission in our own strength, relying on our own abilities but the Holy Spirit empowers the believer to be bold and courageous but we need to take those steps out in faith and at each step we will be surprised what the Lord can do in us and through us. Mission is what the church is called to do so we pray that it will remain our focus not just on Mission Sunday but every day and in every aspect of the life of our fellowship. May the Lord bless you as you witness for Him.

Every blessing

Gordon