The Body and the Mission

Its a strange feeling for a preacher to be at home while the church is meeting! Even so, here I am, still coughing and sneezing, but I think I have turned the corner. At least I won't be sharing my germs with the church family! What a blessing to be able to call an experienced preacher like Al Roberts at the last minute and have him step into the pulpit to preach the Word. I am confident that the message will be exactly what God intended for his people at Boothbay Baptist Church this morning. Yesterday I also missed the conference on discipleship that was presented by Keith Tulley of Vision New England. All of this is a reminder that the church is a body, and the mission that has been entrusted to us is the work of all of us. Ephesians 4:11-14 is a key passage for me and for us all...

"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,  12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,  13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,  14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes."

Pastors and teachers equip the saints. That means all of the believers in the church. Then together we carry out the "work of service." That is the mission, to make disciples. As we discover and use our gifts we build each other up, we provoke one another to love and good works. We all also are strategically placed by the sovereign Lord in a specific place, a sphere of influence which allows us to touch the lives of various unbelievers. As Tim Pierce told us when he was here, each of us is God's undercover missionary, placed around people who need to hear the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  May each of us take to heart the calling and privilege of being called by God to have a part in His mission!  Next Sunday, God willing, we'll return to our study in the Epistle of James.
your co-worker in Christ,
Pastor Steve