It’s never too late to change, to grow, to know your purpose.
Earlier this year, I heard a really inspiring story about a man in his sixties, who had walked through our church doors for the first time one Sunday. He began coming to our church on a regular basis as his spiritual journey with God was awakening. It wasn’t long before he joined a Business Connect Group and also started serving in church. On Easter Sunday, we had the privilege of seeing him get water baptised. It was a fantastic moment. He’d invited his family and friends, who all came to cheer him on and celebrate this significant faith step with him.
Like I wrote at the start, it’s never too late to change, to know God, to begin to understand the deeper purpose for your life. And this is just one story of a life transformed by Jesus. There are countless more good news stories from across our global church community. Each one is individual, unique, and miraculous, and I thank God for every, single one of them. Yet this story reminded me again that the mission of our church – to build healthy church communities; develop purpose-filled Jesus followers; and create significant and sustainable social impact – isn’t an impersonal statement. It’s the deeply personal testimony of this one man, who came to our church, felt right at home, became a follower of Jesus, and is now serving others and sowing into their lives. For this man, our mission has been a lived experience and a complete game-changer.
I love that our mission is so personal in its reach. In fact, I love hearing about people’s faith journeys. They often start with an invite to church. Then as questions of faith are considered, spiritual awareness grows, leading people to delve deeper into knowing Jesus personally and to become progressively more engaged in church life and community. Along the way, we all discover how enriching and rewarding this journey is, and soon we’re sharing this Good News with others and encouraging them along on their own spiritual awakening.
That’s pretty much been my own story too. I’ve been part of Hillsong Church since I was in my teens, and so has my wife Lucinda. Church is where we’ve found a place to belong in a caring, openhearted faith community that welcomed us, loved us, pointed us to Jesus, and equipped us to serve Him. And that’s really our prayer for everyone who walks through our church doors.
Yet our mission doesn’t stop at our church doors. A pillar of it is to serve the world around us, and to help uplift the lives of people in our local and global communities. Our church loves, assists, and cares for people, who will never walk through our doors. Why? Because that’s the way of Jesus. In Matthew 25:40 (NLT), we read: ‘And the King will say: “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me!”’
The mission God has called our church to is both a corporate mission and a profoundly personal one at the same time. We’re all in it together, yet we each have a part to play. The mission is inseparably connected to who we are as a church and to who we are becoming, individually and collectively. The truth is the power of the mission comes out of what God is doing in you and in me, and in all of us together. As we go deeper in our walk with Him, we become true people of faith, who honour God with our lives in ever increasing measures of love, trust, commitment, obedience, unity, and generosity.
We see a picture of this in the early church. After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, look at what happened in the community of believers: ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.’ (Acts 2:42–47 NIV).
The believers did all of this because of what God was doing in each of them individually, and in all of them together as a thriving and growing faith community. Their hearts had been moved to become more like Jesus and see the Kingdom of God expand. And that’s what it’s all about.
At Mission Sunday this year, I spoke about believing God for a fresh awakening of His presence within our church. In Exodus 33:15 (NIV), Moses tells God: ‘If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.’ Like Moses, we don’t want to go forward without His presence, either. We want to outwork the mission God has called us to in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, and not in our own strength.
I’m believing that God is going to awaken something new in your spirit (and in mine), whatever your story may be, whether you’re younger or older, whether you’ve been on this journey for a long time or you’re new to the page. And I’m believing for a fresh move of the Holy Spirit to sweep across our church in a greater way than we’ve ever known.
May God stir our hearts towards this mission and bless our endeavours, guiding each of us in the part we have to play, and strengthening our collective resolve. Let me conclude with Ephesians 4:16 (NLT), which has become a foundational verse for our church this year: ‘He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.’
Sep 18 2024
