Centennial Family,
Our church mission statement reads:
Centennial Covenant Church exists to
Glorify God by following Jesus
On a shared journey of transformation
In his mission to our broken world.
That last phrase has been on my mind lately, “to our broken world.” Some of the last words Jesus spoke to his disciples were these, “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.” Acts 1:8.
Everything we do together as a church – worship, service, discipleship, justice – God intends it to spread around the entire world. That was the church’s purpose from the beginning.
This Sunday, Grace Shim is going to be preaching. She is the Executive Minister of the ECC’s Serve Globally department and I couldn’t be more excited for her to share with our community. She leads our denomination in its work to, “Join the global Church through global partnerships and sending global personnel to engage in God’s mission across cultures and around the world.” If you want to learn more about ECC Serve Globally, you can find a lot of exciting information at their website: https://covchurch.org/serve-
Christopher Write captured beautifully the mindset we must always keep fresh when we think about the mission of the church. Namely, that the mission doesn’t belong to us, it wasn’t started by us, won’t be completed by us, and is just as much to us as it is through us. Here’s how Wright captures the idea,
“Our mission (if it is biblically informed and validated) means our committed participation as God’s people, at God’s invitation and command, in God’s own mission within the history of the God’s world for the redemption of God’s creation.” The Mission of God.
And here is the miracle of it all. Considering that all of the earth belongs to the Lord and the mission is all and only his, he still chooses to include us in that mission.
God wants to include YOU in that mission.
This Sunday, you are going to hear a challenge to go where God leads if you are hesitant, and if you are already engaged, to dream as big as God would have you.
Eager to worship with you this Sunday!
Grace and peace,
Karl Helvig
Lead Pastor
CENTENNIAL COVENANT CHURCH