What is the Mission? Why Does it Matter? Part 1

Episode 694: What is the mission of the church? To many, the answer seems obvious but the topic actually is pretty significantly debated. Host Ed Stetzer engages the subject with two guests – Nathan Knight and Rivers Partin – who approach it from significantly different directions.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

• How “bless and impact neighbor” intersects with “evangelize and congregationalize”
• What “the BLESS acronym” stands for
• How “equip the saints for the work of ministry” fleshes out in mission
• How community impact and making disciples relate to each other
• Whether community restoration is integral to church planting

Helpful Resources:

• Craig Ott: The Mission of the Church: Five Views in Conversation
• Christopher Wright: The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission
• Michael Reeves and Daniel Hames: God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church
• Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert: What Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission
• Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer
• Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

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Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

A lack of clarity about the mission is actually a pretty recurring problem. We assume a lot about the church and what it is, about the mission and what it is, about the gospel and what it is. @EdStetzer

Our mission is really centered around neighbors being neighbors to one another, resting in the love of God for themselves and sharing that love with neighbors. — Rivers Partin

We see the mission of the church is to make disciples. So our mission statement is “Restoration Church exists to make disciples that delight in the supremacy of Christ here in Washington, D.C., and beyond.” @NathanKnightDC

I’m doing kingdom work and when I make the world more like Jesus would want it to be, I join Jesus on His mission. @EdStetzer

If someone wasn’t living out their faith in their community – having compassion for the hurting, wanting to bring the beauty of Jesus into broken spaces – I would say that what’s underneath is they’re not rightfully seeing the beauty of Christ. — Rivers Partin

The Bible has more to say about the work of the church than the average Christian thinks it does, and the more that we give ourselves to understanding what the Bible actually teaches about the work of the church, the church will be healthier. @NathanKnightDC

Our purpose is not cleaning the park. Our purpose is bringing restoration to something that is broken because that’s what the Lord does in our lives. Picking up the trash is a step toward being able to share our story. — Rivers Partin

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