Our Mission

Sermon Recap

As we kicked off a new ministry year and celebrated thirty years as a church family, Pastor Pete introduced our new series on mission by grounding us in Matthew 28:16-20. He opened with an illustration of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a deep mountain bunker in Norway designed to preserve millions of crop samples in case of a worldwide catastrophe. Pastor Pete reminded us that as Christians, we possess the seeds of eternal life. The central question for our lives and our church is whether we will hoard those life-giving seeds within our own comfortable walls or take them out into a starving world.

Looking at the Great Commission, Pastor Pete pointed out that when the disciples met the risen Jesus on the mountain in Galilee, they responded with both worship and doubt. Scripture honestly acknowledges our human condition, showing that Jesus does not wait for all our doubts to vanish before giving us a calling. Following Christ does not look like a turn-by-turn Google Maps route where every detour is known in advance. Instead, Jesus gives us a compass and calls us to walk by faith. Backing this mission with total authority over the cosmos, Jesus commands us to reach all nations, just as global enterprises go to extreme lengths to carry their products to remote Himalayan villages.

The core of this calling is making disciples rather than merely dispensing information. Pastor Pete noted that a student of a first-century rabbi lived in the dust of his teacher's feet, imitating his entire life. Discipleship means bringing people to identify with Christ through baptism and teaching them to obey his commands. Within our church, this vision is lived out as people belong in a life group of grace and truth, believe the gospel while committing to the church body, and become active servants who are sent out to invest in others.

Pastor Pete closed by challenging us to take this call to heart. He urged us to hear Jesus' calling personally, to prayerfully take a concrete next step such as joining a life group or serving, and to refuse to settle for a temporary purpose like an academic degree or career advancement. We are strategically placed in Ann Arbor to reach the nations gathering on campus. Even when we feel inadequate, we can step out with courage because Jesus promises to be with us to the very end of the age.

One Thing: Jesus calls every believer to participate in his global mission of making disciples of all nations, backed by his absolute authority and his abiding presence.