A Church On Mission Series

A Church on Mission

John 20:21-22; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8

Rev. Brian Bill

April 26-27, 2025

It’s common for businesses, ministries, and churches to develop mission statements. I’m going to share a few of them, and if you know what company they represent, stand and shout it out (if you read this manuscript ahead of time, you can’t play the game). We’ll also informally assess how they’re doing at accomplishing their mission.

• “We genuinely care, so every guest leaves happy.” (Culver’s)

• “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” (Google)

• “To offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.” (IKEA)

• “To be earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” (Amazon)

• “To refresh the world and make a difference.” (Coca-Cola)

• “Providing customers with an enjoyable experience and delicious food.” (McDonalds)

• “We aim to do some things in a generally acceptable manner, striving to meet basic expectations while maintaining a presence in our industry. We believe in doing work that is fine, most of the time, and maybe making a difference eventually, if convenient.” (ChatGPT)

One person had this to say about his company’s mission statement: “I have no idea what our mission statement is, and at this point I’m too afraid to ask.” Some are skeptical about the value of a mission statement, like the guy who said, “I find the entire concept of mission statements to be one of those wonderful and pointless expenditures of time that organizations yearn to waste.”

Last fall, Gerad Hall coached the pastoral staff and deacons through a process of discovery and definition related to our values and our mission. Here’s how the Lord led us: Living on mission by glorifying God and making disciples of Jesus among our neighbors and the nations.

Our mission comes out of the commissions given to us by Jesus in three passages of Scripture. I appreciate what one church leader said, “A proper theological diet needs a healthy portion of missiology, and perhaps the best way to do so is by examining the commissions of Jesus.”

Let’s begin by turning to John 20.

1. We are sent to live on mission. On the same day Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to His frightened followers while they were cowering in a locked room. He offered them proof that He was alive, and He gave them peace so they would live out His purpose for their lives. In verse 21, Jesus gave them confirmation and a commission: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Jesus entrusted His disciples to go with the gospel. I’ll never forget when my dad tossed me the keys to his truck for the first time. It was his way of saying, “Son, I trust you. Take the truck and go where you need to go.” Incidentally, I had to give those same keys back a short time later when I lost my license because of a couple speeding tickets.

Jesus gave us His peace so we will be about His purposes. We are saved so we can be sent out. The word “sent” means to “be dispatched” and the word “mission” comes from a Latin word meaning, “to send.” The disciples were given a message that could not be kept behind closed doors. Likewise, we can’t get too comfortable within the walls of this building or our own homes. The gospel must go out, not stay within. Someone put it this way: “Christianity doesn’t simply put out its sign and say ‘come.’ Christianity puts on its shoes and goes.”

The first use of the word “peace” in verse 19 was given to quiet their hearts. The second “peace” was given to prepare them for a fresh statement of their purpose as initially given in John 17:18: “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” Faced with God’s global glory, we should be like Isaiah and respond by saying, “Here I am. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

Jesus not only commissions us, but also gives us the Holy Spirit as a companion so we can embody His presence and do the job He has for us to do in verse 22: “And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” We have an assignment and we’ve been empowered to accomplish it.

Brothers and sisters, we’ve been sent. Let’s live on mission by glorifying God and making disciples of Jesus among our neighbors and the nations.

2. We are sent to make disciples of all nations. Turn now to Matthew 28:18-20, which is known as the Great Commission: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”