Vision for Missions
Bringing Glory to God
The purpose of missions is to bring glory to God and missions is a natural byproduct of our love for God. A right heart in worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. A heart centered on glorifying God will produce a willing heart for missions through an obedience in following the Holy Spirit.
Wholeness Through Reconciliation
We are not the reconciler; Jesus is. Ours is the ministry of reconciliation: moving people closer to glorifying God by living in right relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the rest of creation. The goal is to restore people to a full expression of humanness, to being what God created us all to be: people who understand that they are created in the image of God with the gifts, abilities, and capacity to make decisions and to effect change in the world around them for glory to God.
Word and Deed
Kingdom work involves two aspects. It involves introducing people to Jesus and it involves bringing his perspective, his values, and his generative structures into the world in which we live. It’s about being active participants in answering the prayer, ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Mt. 6:10). Our deeds, therefore, are a natural response to living as children of God as we spread the Good News of the gospel. God’s mercy, as carried out by our hands, will be among the blind, the lame, the sick and outcast, and the poor. Jesus spent his ministry with the “least of these,” giving the church the perfect example to follow. It is the Word of God that brings salvation, let’s remember that deeds alone aren’t enough: ‘How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?’ (Ro 10:14)
Prayer
Our work is not to be a human inspired movement into the world, but a God focused mission. We pray to be used for God’s glory asking Him to direct us and empower us to do his will.
Unity
Unity is referring to the unity of the all believers, the church and local collaborations. We are the body of Christ. We each have talents and abilities that need to be given over to others. None of us can do it alone. Our gifts are meant to be shared in community, for they can only flourish in relationship to others. In the kingdom, our gifts and passions move us toward other people for their benefit and God’s glory.