Reaching Out

Shortly after the resurrection and before the ascension, Jesus comes to his disciples and speaks the words that serve as the foundation of mission: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21). In Jesus, the Triune God has turned outward towards creation, and come to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus is the ‘sent-one’ of the Father; he is, we might say, ‘God-on-mission’. Immediately following Jesus’ words in John, he breathes on his disciples, and pours out the Holy Spirit upon them. The Triune God remains turned outwards towards his creation in mission, now not localized in the earthly and bodily presence of Jesus, but dispersed in the Holy Spirit empowered church.

This is the secret and source of all mission—that God is a missional God. As Chris Wright has put it,

"It is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world but that God has a church for his mission in the world” (The Mission of God, 62).

At Fleetwood, we care about truth and beauty, about justice and peacemaking, and about redemption and deliverance (cosmic and personal) not because we think these are nice ideas, but because they flow from the very heart of God. Through Spirit-led Jesus followers, the Triune God of grace is on mission to set to right his broken and sinful creation. As Jesus tells his disciples, this mission is extended in the world in and through those whom Jesus has called … and sent. The God of mission has a church!

Here at Fleetwood CRC, there is a group of people who make up the Reaching Out Guiding Team. This team works to inspire all people connected to Fleetwood CRC to participate in specific reaching out activities and encourage other creative ways to Reach Out into our world. They work to help us develop habits of regular celebration of ways we see God at work outside our walls. This team also regularly review current reaching out activities and encourage development of new reaching out opportunities.

We do all of this because we long to see a community desiring to know and share the good news about Jesus, praying for renewal in the church and our community, and working to build signposts of God’s coming kingdom in this world, so that more people put their faith in him.

Some examples of our Reaching Out activities are listed here and here. If you’d like to learn more, don’t hesitate to contact us.