This past Thursday, when my parents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary, we hosted a Zoom meeting with all the children and grandchildren, which means we had people from New Zealand, Texas, Virginia, Ohio, PA, and CT. We were all on the line trying not to talk over one another. Zoom parties - not your typical way to celebrate a milestone anniversary, but in this COVID-19 world we live in, there was really no other choice. We wanted to get together and celebrate and this was the only way to do it.
One of the lessons we have learned during these past three months is that our mission doesn’t change but the method has to. Our family mission was to celebrate my parents' anniversary with all the family and when we couldn’t get together physically, our method had to change. We used Zoom. New technology. We all had our little box and I felt like I was part of the Brady Bunch.
For many of us, work has changed. Our goals and objectives at work haven’t changed, the mission has been the same, but our methods have changed. Teachers were still teaching, but they were now providing online lessons for home-schooling parents. Doctors, therapists, nurses, and counsellors still provided care, but tele-health replaced office visits. Staff meetings were still held; we just used email or zoom. Our work remained the same but the methods we used had to change. We improvised, we modernized, and we customized so that we could keep our mission going.
The church also had work that we had to keep going. We have a mission to fulfill no matter what is going on around us. The only clear mission given to the church was given to us to us by Jesus. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and 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. Matthew 28:18-20
This mission has not changed. For over 2000 years, this has been our mission as God’s people. We are to share the life of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus, and the love of Jesus in ways that will help people of every generation and in every location, accept Jesus as their savior, trust in God’s power and grace to improve their lives, and become part of the family of God. The mission has not changed, but the method of making disciples has - it always has.
In the days of the early church, the message and teachings of Jesus travelled as people did. The story was told from person to person. It was called the oral tradition and the only way for good news, or bad news, or any news and teaching to be shared was for people to literally share it with one another. Almost all communication was spoken, so that’s how the mission of the church was fulfilled.
Slowly the word of God became a written word, and the message could be shared through manuscripts and books, but there weren’t very many because they were expensive to produce and most people couldn’t read, but in 1440 the printing press changed everything. The printing press revolutionized the mission of just about everything because written material could now be mass produced. By the early 1450’s, the Bible was being printed, which allowed more people to own a Bible and read a Bible. The mission of the church did not change - it was still to make disciples and share the life, teaching and love of Jesus, but now it could be done by providing or sending people a Bible.
With each new advancement in technology, like radio, TV, and the internet, our mission has not changed but our methods have. We have found more ways to make disciples through the sharing of music, teaching, and worship on the radio, TV, and via the internet. Each new method has opened doors for our mission to grow and expand. Sometimes we take advantage of these new opportunities and refine our mission, and sometimes we don’t, and sometimes when we aren’t quick to renovate, God pushes us through open doors to advance his mission.
God desires the church to grow. God longs for us to be faithful to his mission and work hard to make disciples here and around the world, and if we drag our feet, or don’t look for new opportunities, God will bring them to us. God will open the doors for us, show us the opportunity, and call us to go, and if we aren’t quick to follow, there are times God will work to move us along. This happened in the life of the early church.
For quite some time after the Holy Spirit filled the followers of Jesus with power, the church grew. The leaders grew in power, the church grew in numbers, and God’s mission was being fulfilled, but only in part. The church was strong and growing in Jerusalem, but Jesus had said that they were to be his witnesses not just in Jerusalem, but in Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The early church seemed to be confined in Jerusalem. They had gotten settled, and comfortable, and they needed to refine their mission, so God opened a door.
Acts 8:1b & 4. On that day, a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria… those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
It was a time of persecution that moved the church beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem. The people left the city because they were afraid of being arrested, beaten and killed for following Jesus and guess where they went? They went to Judea, and Samaria and the earth.
While the mission of the church had always been to spread the good news of Jesus and share God’s love for others, when the people got too comfortable, God used persecution to help the church refine their mission. A door opened, the people went through it and now the good news of Jesus was being shared in new places. The church was growing in new ways, embracing new ideas, overcoming new challenges, and going everywhere God wanted them to go.
And yes, when they refined their mission the church spread to the ends of the earth. In Acts 8 there is a wonderful story about the disciple Philip who left Jerusalem because of the persecution and on his travels he met a man from Ethiopia who wanted to know about the Messiah. Philip shared with him about Jesus, the man accepted Christ and was baptized. He then took the good news of Jesus with him to Africa. This is what happens when the mission of the church is refined. Lives are changed and the church grows in new places.
Fast forward 2000 years and in the spring of this year, God used a pandemic to help Faith Church refine our mission. While we had been talking about live streaming worship for several years in an effort to share the message of Jesus and make disciples in new places, we dragged our feet. We didn’t make it a priority, and we told ourselves it wasn’t the right time. Then COVID-19 shut everything down. We could worship, but with only 10 people. That wasn’t going to work for us so live streaming our worship services became a priority, and in 5 days it wasn’t a priority but a possibility. And for the next 12 weeks we were only a live streaming church.
Our mission didn’t change - but our method did. No longer were we worshipping in just one location, literally one building in one town, we were now worshipping with people all over our community, our county, and our country. People have been joining us up and down the east coast, from CT to Florida, and new people were joining us as well. All of you invited others to join us, you were sharing your faith, and giving witness to Jesus Christ as your savior, and people responded. We have connected with new people and with existing people in new ways. This open door is causing us to refine our mission.
While our mission is still to make disciples of Jesus Christ and through the church to transform our world, God has opened new doors for us to do this. We are now a church gathered in many locations, and we are working hard to not just worship together, but learn and grow together, and care for one another in many different places, and to somehow create a larger community centered on Jesus.
Like the early church in Acts 8, our goal isn’t to pull everyone together here, but to grow strong disciples and churches there - where you are. As the church scattered through Judea and Samaria, the goal wasn’t to slowly bring people together in Jerusalem when the persecution stopped - it was to grow faith in new people and faith communities in new places - the places where people lived.
So today we are asking ourselves - how can we grow faith in new people and faith communities in new places? How can the unique life and vision and work of Faith Church in Bellefonte spark new communities of faith beyond Bellefonte. What about State College, Philipsburg and Lock Haven. What about Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida. Is God asking us to refine our mission so we don’t become limited by the confines of a community, or county? Can we walk through the doors God has opened for us?
What would it look like for Faith Church to make disciples in Lock Haven PA or Winter Haven FL? Could we work with new groups of people in Lewistown or Lewisburg, Williamsport or Williamsburg? Maybe the first question we need to answer is this one, do we here at Faith Church in Bellefonte have something unique to offer these communities? Yes, we do! We have the good news of Jesus, we have a joy for God and others that is genuine and contagious, and we have a passion for growing deeper in our relationship with God, one another, and the world that spurs us on. We also have a door that God has opened. Will we now refine our mission?
If any of this sounds exciting to you, we want to hear from you. Refining the mission and renovating the church takes prayer, wisdom, cooperation, sacrifice, service, joy, and hard work. It takes people willing to meet together, pray together, serve together, sacrifice together and ask God for direction. If you want to be part of this in any way, then we want to hear from you. If you are living in a place outside of Bellefonte and would love to figure out how to create a Faith Church community right where you are, we want to hear from you. You can check the box - refining our mission on the connect card and we will get in touch with you.
Renovating the church, becoming better than we were, and all that God wants us to be, can take place during times of persecution or a pandemic. God can use anything to open a door - the question is will we see this as an opportunity to be faithful to the work God has given us and refine our mission?
We are not the same today as we were 3 months ago and we can’t go back - we have to keep going forward. God has shown us a new way to make disciples and create community. God is showing us a new way to call people into a relationship with God, the church, and the world. Let’s not go back but refine our mission and methods and move forward.
Next Steps
Renovate - Refine Our Mission
The Mission of the Church
Matthew 28:18-20 - The Great Commission
Acts 1:7-8 - God’s Witnesses
Acts 8:1-4, 26-40 - The Mission Grows
For further study
Acts 2:1-13. How did God open a door for the followers of Jesus? What happened as they were faithful?
Acts 10:1-28. How did God open another door for the church to refine its mission? What happened as Peter was faithful?
1. Who are some of the witnesses who shared Christ's love and power with you? Who has taught you and shown you what Jesus looks like? Give thanks for these people.
2. COVID-19 caused Faith Church to move to new places through our livestream of worship and online children’s church videos. How has this new method helped you be more faithful during this difficult time? How might they help others?
3. God has opened a door for us to refine our mission and explore new ways and new places to be the church. How is God calling you to be part of this mission?
Prayer, Learning, Planning, Giving, Serving
4. Get more information about how you might be able to help Faith Church expand in new areas. Check refining our mission at bellefontefaith.com/connectcard.
