If you’ve been around Kingsview for any length of time, I hope that you get the sense of the importance we place on loving our neighbours in Jesus’ name. Sometimes we call this being “missional,” which is a theological term that essentially means participating with God in what God is doing in the world.
In simplified terms, theologian Craig Van Gelder puts it this way: The church is. The church does what it is. The church organizes what it does.
This means that the church is created by the Holy Spirit to call, gather and send its people into the world to participate in God’s mission. God’s mission is to reconcile (i.e. reunite) everyone, everywhere to Himself. Sounds simple.
But what does being a church like this look like, you might ask? Good question! “If you are a small church then be a [missional] community,” say missional pastors Tim Chester & Steve Timmis of Sheffield, England. “Stop worrying about putting on events and programs that mirror big churches. Instead, start being the people of God together on mission. Hang out together during the week. Get in and out of each other’s homes. Let people know the struggles you are facing and the opportunities you have. Find ways in which your lives can intersect with one another. Invite unbelievers into this community life.”
During the month of April, we’re going to be exploring this in greater detail in a series called Everyday Church. We’ll look at four barriers that can prevent us from being this kind of missional community: individualism, comfort, fear and people.
I hope you can join us each week! We will have a local missionary from Intervarsity Christian Fellowship as our guest speaker on April 17 (you can read a little about Vera in our newsletter). And don’t forget Kingsview’s great tradition, the International Dinner, will be on Sunday, April 24 following the morning service.