By Justin Randolph
Pastor, Zion Hill Baptist Church, Sevierville
Focal Passage: Acts 2:22-24, 32-33, 36-38
Are you familiar with crafting a mission statement? A mission statement is a written statement of a person or organization’s core purpose and values. It serves to guide a person or people to an expected end. Some examples of mission statements are:
- “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
- “The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly, fight, and win — in air, space, and cyberspace.”
- “As a leader in communications, Verizon’s mission is to enable people and businesses to communicate with each other.”
Have you ever asked yourself, what is the mission statement of the church? What is our guiding purpose? The answer is found in today’s lesson. The purpose of the church is to know and make known the unstoppable message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In Acts 2, Peter is delivering his first sermon after the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which enabled him to preach with power and boldness. He begins by affirming that God had a plan from the very beginning to redeem mankind through the chosen sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He stressed the complementary roles of God and humanity in the death of Jesus. While the Jews and Romans were complicit in crucifying Jesus, they could not have done so if it were not according to the will and plan of Almighty God.
In verse 36, Peter gives a concise mission statement for this new organization known as the church. This is the same confession which Jesus had earlier declared to be the foundation, or rock, of the church and had prophesied would be declared by Peter whose name means rock. The mission statement is simple. Jesus is both Lord and Christ. God has declared it so based on His victory over sin and death at the cross. His resurrection serves not only as proof of His divinity, but as evidence that His death satisfied the wrath of God against the sins of mankind providing a way to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
Now our purpose is clear. We must make this way of salvation known to men everywhere. With the convicting power and presence of the Holy Spirit, this message will prick the hearts of men causing many of them to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins. This is the message of the church and it is truly unstoppable!
