NEXTChurch 2015

A reading for Tuesday, March 17, 2015: John 6:16-27.

The mission of God is mysterious, almost magical at time in scripture. Jesus walks on the water, in the darkness of night, and even his disciples think it's a ghost. Then when they want to take him into the boat, the text tells us immediately they arrived at their destination. Strange...

Even those that have just been fed by Jesus don't seem to understand what the mission is all about. They seek out Jesus, following after him even across the sea to Capernaum. According to Jesus, they follow not because they see signs of the Kingdom of Heaven, but simply because they have been fed. They follow Jesus out of the goodness they have experienced.

Like them, truth is we don't always understand what the mission of God is all about. We don't know what God is doing, or how God can use a situation for the Kingdom of Heaven. We too only know the good that can come when God blesses something. Perhaps we can't see beyond our immediate need to be cared for either. Jesus warns those early followers to be aware and to seek out the mission of God.

A group of 600 PCUSA leaders are meeting in Chicago this week discussing the future of the denomination and their grand hope in the mission of God. NEXTChurch as they are known don't claim they know all that God is doing, but they do seem to place their confidence and hope in the faith that the Spirit isn't done with us as a church. They know the good news of Jesus Christ. The mission of God continues in the PCUSA.

May we all continue to place our hope in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. "For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal." We are grateful!

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