"You Were Made For A Mission" Series

In our consideration of God’s different purposes for your life, we have mentioned the fact that life is preparation for eternity. You’re going to do four things in heaven forever and ever and ever. And God wants you to practice those here on earth. The first is worship, knowing and loving God. The second is fellowship, loving one another. The third is discipleship, becoming like Christ. And the fourth is service, using my God-given SHAPE to serve Him.

Today, we come to the fifth purpose God has for us, which is the only purpose you can only do on earth. You and I were made for a mission.

“I am sending them into the world, just as you sent me.” - John 17:18 (CEV)

As we think together about how we are made for a mission, it is helpful to know that you have both a common mission, one that you share with all believers, and a custom mission, customized for you.

Let’s think first about our common mission. What is it? Jesus was very specific about what that mission is:

“Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone.” - Mark 16:15 (NCV)

That’s our common mission. We as believers are called to share the Good News with everyone everywhere. The Bible says that once I know the Good News, that God loves me, has a purpose and plan for my life, and invites me to know Him personally, God wants me to pass that message on to others who have yet to hear it.

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Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that we have to be His defense attorney. He doesn’t say we have to be his prosecutor. He doesn’t say we have to be His salesman. He says we just have to be His witness.

There is where we come to recognize our custom mission. We are to be Christ’s witness. What is a witness? A witness is somebody who just tells what they have seen. A witness tells what’s happened to them.

You see, nobody can be a better witness concerning your life than you. So God says, “I just want you to tell other people what’s happened in your life as a result of coming to know me.”

Since no one else can tell your story of how you came to Christ, sharing your story is your custom mission. Each of us has the responsibility to share with others how Christ has changed our lives and given us a reason for living.

“The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me - to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.” - Acts 20:24 (NCV)

Are you seeking to live your life “on mission” for God? Here’s what is interesting - together we can fulfill our common mission as each of us commits to fulfilling our custom mission.

What’s exciting to consider is that as each of us if faithful to share our story, we pass along to others His story; and as more people embrace Christ as their Savior, we are a part of fulfilling history.

Why is this? Because, as we said previously in this series, God is building a family. God is building a family that is going to spend eternity with Him. And that is the whole point of history - God is building a family that’s going to live with Him forever and love Him.

And God wants family members from every nation. He wants them from all over. One day all believers are going to be gathered together in heaven. This is not Mission Impossible. This is mission inevitable. It is going to happen. And it has been God’s plan all along.

“This was God’s plan for all of history which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Ephesians 3:11 (GW)

Here’s an amazing thing: God has chosen us to complete the mission that Jesus Christ started when He came to earth.

I heard a story about how when Jesus ascended into heaven, an angel asked Him “What's next?” Jesus responded, “My plan is to give the Good News to My children on earth and ask them to share it with the whole world.” Then the angel said, “What if they don’t? Do you have a plan B?” Jesus replied, “No. There is no plan B.”

We’re it. Being on mission is the greatest privilege we’re ever given, to be in on making history. So how do you become a history maker? Understand that we help fulfill our common mission as we seek to complete our custom mission. Each of us has a unique mission field, and as think together about what Jesus told His disciples here in Acts 1:8, we can be helped to discern where our custom mission field is.