Who are you pursuing with the message of the gospel in your extended family? Your work place? Your neighborhood? Your friend circle? How willing are you to have your life completely turned upside down so that you can be engaged in the mission of the gospel?
Our mission is to be a gospel centered church family of gospel communities that grow missionally engaged disciples who glorify God. This means that we value the transforming message of the gospel. We value the diversity of the church family. We value and want to be wholeheartedly invested in the work of God’s mission throughout the world.
We value the power of the gospel through story. Every one of us has a unique story of how the gospel has formed us. This truth was illustrated for us through Chris and Stephanie Shade’s story. (If you haven’t heard it yet GO HERE). My hope is that as you hear their story you are challenged and encouraged to lean into missional engagement.
Matthew 16:15 – 18; 28:18 – 20; John 20:19 – 23 and Acts 1:6 – 8 have all been foundational to our understanding and practice of missional engagement. God’s mission is to you and through you. When God saves you he sends you.
The name of our church comes from Jesus’ interaction with the woman at the well in John chapter four. And there is one part in verses 39 – 42 that says “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’” Think about what’s happening here…
- A woman with a bad reputation meets Jesus and shares Jesus.
- Some people meet Jesus because of this woman’s story.
- Some people hear Jesus speak to them personally.
- Some people begin to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
If you’ve met Jesus and if you’ve trusted in him then you and I are just like this woman. Every one of us has a past and every one of us has current struggles. But every one of us also lives in a community full of people who do not yet know Jesus. Roughly 17,000 people in Hastings don’t know Jesus.
If you’ve met Jesus then share him. Share your story with people you meet. Invite those people to church gatherings and gospel communities where they can hear Jesus speak personally through our community. Imagine how many people could begin to believe because of the story of the gospel in and through you.