Church on mission is definitely a buzz-phrase that is everywhere these days. The fact that we need to title places of worship, missional, has since the beginning of creation been somewhat weird to me. come on, shouldnt all places of worship be missional in their very essence? it should be expected from a church, at its very essence, desire to introduce their culture and neighborhood with the good news as a missionary would in a foreign country? Isnt this what the church buildings is commanded to do in the final charge of Christ in Matthew 28:19? Our own local area needs this brand of church. Churches in Austin is slowly moving to what our God instructed in Scripture.

Jesus gives the direction in Acts 1:8 saying, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 justifies this subject as, right before Jesus Christ ascends to Heaven, He sends the disciples on a journey that would launch right in their local community. He begins with their area of Jerusalem, and then enlarges the call to the far parts of the creation.

As followers of Christ, we are not motivated to social clubs, but to be missional believers who are aggressively going out and meeting people right where they are with the message of Jesus. We have observed this throughout history: God motivated Abraham on a mission to exit his city and his people and go to the city that God would show him (Gen. 12:1), God urges Moses on a journey to save an enslaved people and lead them to joy (Exodus 3:8-10), God urges Jesus on a exploration to earth to reconcile all things to Himself through the cross (Colossians 1:20). And now God is sending us on a journey to engage communities, cities, ethnicities, and even nations with the gospel(Matt. 28:19 Mark 6:7 Luke 10:1 John 20:21 Acts 1:8). If we reject this motivation and continue to treat the churches like a private country club ” requesting that people clean up their performance, pay their money, and walk to our sanctuary God will continue His story without us.