How Do We Live Out Our Mission?

Most churches have a mission statement that states the purpose for their existence. The goal of these statements is to provide clarity, focus, unity. These statements can help everyone move in the same direction as they seek to live out God’s calling for them as a church.

But the challenge with the mission statement is that it is only effective when it moves from a statement to an action. Too many churches have a mission statement but not a mission lifestyle. There can be a disconnect between what a church says they want to do and what they are actually doing.

Recognizing this challenge, the Elders at Village Church have recently been having conversations about how we can make sure we are truly living out what we state that we want to do as a church. Our mission statement says: “We exist to glorify God, love people and make disciple-makers.” The way we glorify God is by loving people, and the way we love people is by helping them become disciple-making followers of Jesus.

     To help us move our mission from a statement to a lifestyle, the Elders have identified three areas of focus: prayer, outreach and discipleship. We articulate it this way: we desire to fulfill our mission together by being a church that is earnestly praying, compassionately engaging and personally discipling.

On Friday, September 1, the Elders will gather for a one-day retreat to continue our conversation about how to truly live out these three areas of focus in order to truly live out our mission. Over the next few months we will be sharing more about where we see God leading us. Would you join with us in prayer as we seek to see Village Church be a church that doesn’t just speak mission but truly lives out mission? It is our privilege to serve this church and our God and we look forward eagerly to how He is going to continue to use us.