where God meets world . . . that's sanctuary

What a special night last Monday.  Thirteen of us gathered to pray about how God can use us to change this world through the ministry at Sanctuary.  But while it starts with prayer, it hardly ends there.  Convinced of God's directing we took up the charge to make specific plans to reach out to those in our lives and community who need to know the love of Jesus.  Following months of praying, dreaming, and discerning, we will begin the DOING! (that's a shout out to you Ace)

Starting June 13, we will begin an 8-week intensive commitment to active mission.  8 weeks is hardly comprehensive of the lifetime commitment to living the missional life of discipleship.  However these weeks will offer each of us 8 specific, biblical and practical ways to begin to carry out the mission of God in our relationships, families, schools, workplaces, community, and even our world. 

While each of these weeks will provide personal opportunities to participate in God's mission in the world, we will highlight three weeks this summer where we will all engage in mission together:  Serve Week, Host Week, and Invite Week.  Each of these weeks will engage God's mission in the world with results that only God can know. 

In the coming weeks I hope to use this website to generate conversation, ideas, and excitement over how God will use this time for His Kingdom.  I hope you'll share your thoughts below.                  
 
pj
 

i have been in a bit of a conversation the past couple of days about how exactly churches do mission.  there seems to be a line of thinking that says the mission of the church is engaged by aligning a church's leadership.  so that if you create a corporate mission and vision statement and initiate 1 year, 3 year, and 5 year goals with attendant plans of action then a missional church will assuredly emerge. 

while, i certainly affirm the need for congregations to follow godly leadership, i have seen too many churches dive headfirst into missional leadership only to buoy back up gasping for breath.  in my experience, congregations that address their desire for mission by engaging in a prolonged overhaul of congregational leadership, structure, and polity rarely emerge on the other side with enough energy to actually engage in mission.  complicated mission statements that repackage the ministry of Christ into pithy memorable phrases, witty vision proclamations that uniquely apply mission to our particular contexts, and painful reorganization of ministries around such action-plan-inspired goals is an organizational nightmare.
 
it wasn't supposed to be this hard.  one of the few things i have learned over the years at sanctuary is that the kind of mission that works well, meaning the kind of mission that changes lives with the love of God, is when the people of God do simply what God asked them to do:  love God, love others.

THAT'S IT!  nothing fancy, nothing complicated.  just love.  love your friends at school.  love your neighbors at the dinner table.  love your fellow soccer mom on the sideline.  love your buddy at the ballgame.  love your neighbor who's hurting.  love your friend who's sick.  love your relative who's angry.  love your child who's distant.  just love.

mission is not a corporate directive; it's the face to face encounter with love shared in relationship.  mission is not something that can be quantified in dollars, or dates, or numbers; its measurement is found in changed lives.  in the end, mission is not something you do; it's who you become as God's love changes your heart, life, and by God's grace this world. 

now i'm fully aware that love is complicated.  it's hard.  it's humbling.  it's time-consuming.  it's draining.  but maybe that's why sometimes we prefer to keep mission in the board room rather than the dining room.  so how do you do mission?  well, maybe it's easier than we thought:  we love.  this is the kind of mission that sanctuary seeks to engage in the world.  i hope you'll join us.