which comes first - worship or mission?
For all I have been challenged by and agree with Michael Frost, I still stand by my original critique (before I listened to him) and written about HERE in a post called "worship or missions?" In a preview of this coming Sunday's sermon on Acts 2:42-47, I find myself back to the same point, that worship necessarily precedes (and leads to!) mission. Here's a snippet from the end of the sermon:
The key to being a church at her best is to focus on the God whose church this is. That is why, as interested as I am in being missional and outward focused, that worship is the necessary starting point. Without an awareness of who God is and what God is doing, all we have are some programs and expense items. Without an encounter with the God who has stepped among us in Christ, all we can do is try to ramp up our religious efforts. Without the power of God’s Holy Spirit at work in us and through us, we will wander off course. Church is at its best when God is at the center and we respond worshipfully, obediently and joyfully in running whole-heartedly wherever God leads us.
The key to being a church at her best is to focus on the God whose church this is. That is why, as interested as I am in being missional and outward focused, that worship is the necessary starting point. Without an awareness of who God is and what God is doing, all we have are some programs and expense items. Without an encounter with the God who has stepped among us in Christ, all we can do is try to ramp up our religious efforts. Without the power of God’s Holy Spirit at work in us and through us, we will wander off course. Church is at its best when God is at the center and we respond worshipfully, obediently and joyfully in running whole-heartedly wherever God leads us.
That’s why the very most important thing I could ever do for our life together is point to God through Jesus Christ and scripture and say to you, “This is your God.” Come, let’s serve Him together.
