"Connecting, Caring and Sharing for Christ"
Biblical References:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age." Matt 28:19-20
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:19-20
Explanation:
It’s all about love – God’s love for us and our love for one another. This Mission Statement alternative also came from the Mission Statement Summit. It probably most closely resembles the words written down at the Summit whereby a dozen or so Mission Statement possibilities were written on sheets of paper and briefly discussed and voted upon by Summit participants. The Mission Statements were all slightly different, but all had a common theme – the Great Commission (see Matt. 28:19-20).
We focused on the words “connect” or “connecting”. This connection is vertical (from God to and through us) and horizontal (from us to each other). We focused on the congregation’s need for care – not only by Pastors but for each other. We focused on sharing the gospel – a common theme from the Summit work. It’s really a summary of God’s love for us and the command that we love one another. It’s a way to show that our mission is to take God’s love for us (His connection to us) and to show his love by caring for others and sharing his love with the world. The Mission Statement does this without stating the word “love”. This alternative is probably the least “catchy” of the three options, but it does capture more directly the work of the Summit.