on mission

Are you "on mission?" Do you know what your church's mission statement is? The mission statement of the general UMC is "Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the World." If you attend a UMC, your mission statement should be very much like that.

At Woods Chapel UMC our mission statement is "connecting people to Jesus Christ."

Having a good mission statement helps keep people focused on the church's purpose. When we remember our mission statement, church fights are diminished and people pull together toward the common cause of our mission.

It has generally been my experience, that when there is a fracture or a squaring off, someone, maybe both parties are "off mission." If you find yourself in a disagreement with someone in your church, Sunday School class, etc, there is probably a need to refocus on the mission of the church.

When we all remember that we are here to make disciples or connect people to Jesus, we get off of our high horses, we lay our weapons down, and find ways to work it out. The mission of Jesus is compelling, it reaches into the hearts of people and causes them to set aside their own comfort or personal preference for the sake of the mission.

I hope that everyone is doing that [setting aside our own comfort or personal preference for the sake of the mission.] If I am not doing that, then remind me. Let's keep our churches on track, on mission.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.