Joke or is it ?

I went to the cemetery yesterday to lay some flowers on a grave.  As I was standing there I noticed 4 grave diggers walking about with a coffin; 3 hours later and they’re still walking about with it.

I thought to myself, they’ve lost the plot !!

A terribly corny joke, I know, but I sometimes wonder how much we “lose the plot”. I`ve carried out a mission audit with two of my churches now and tonight the circuit leadership discussed the possibility of a circuit wide mission audit. It feels as though we need something to call us back to our original purpose;

Too many Churches within the land have forgotten why they exist; they have become exclusive clubs where we must sing our favourite hymns, have sermons by our favourite preachers (but not too long) and where we`ll turn up if we`ve nothing better to do. Don`t get me wrong, in almost every Church there are some wonderfully committed Christians but there are also many others for whom change is an anathema and should be resisted at all cost. There are some who will declare that they want the Church to grow but will do nothing about it and certainly won`t allow necessary change.

So what is the purpose for our existence ? Matthew 28, otherwise known as the Great Commission, simply records the words of Jesus as “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” That is our purpose………….to make disciples. It isn`t to pack them in and create bigger and bigger mega-churches, nor is it to sit back and say “we`re too old”, as some do.

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We`re simply called to make disciples, but to do so we need help. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to be our helper and many Churches need to rediscover him and his power. I`m hoping and praying that our mission audit won`t be about how to “pack`em in” but will be about reminding us to make disciples, in the power of the Spirit.