The Gospel is not simply attached to a mission; it is a mission! The idea that God would “send” his only son to save and redeem the world is in itself a mission. The amazing part is that Jesus is inviting us into this mission. Jesus says in John 17:18, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” Louis Barrett sums up missions well by saying, “A church that is shaped by participating in God’s mission, which is to set things right in a broken, sinful world – to redeem it, sees themselves not so much as sending, but as being sent.” Our hope is to be a people who live on mission.
In Acts 1:8 Jesus tells His disciples: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We take this statement of our Lord as both a command and as a promise. We are very serious about taking the Gospel into the Grand Valley and to the very ends of the earth, and we believe the Holy Spirit has given us power to complete that task.