WHAT IS OUR MISSION?

The earliest Christian writers were obsessed with a single gravitational center: the announcement that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection reorder reality. When the church asks, “What is our mission?” the New Testament keeps pointing back to that same luminous core. Here are key passages about the Gospel, paired with explanations of how each one frames the church’s calling to preach Christ.

Matthew 28:18–20 — The Great Commission
Jesus tells His disciples that all authority belongs to Him, which turns the act of preaching into an act of allegiance rather than mere instruction. Making disciples means inviting people into a lifetime apprenticeship with Christ—teaching, baptizing, and shaping them around His story.

Mark 1:14–15 — “The time is fulfilled… repent and believe the gospel.”
The Gospel is not treated as optional philosophy; it is an announcement of a new era. The church participates by echoing the same proclamation: God’s reign has arrived in Jesus. Preaching becomes a way of alerting the world that history’s hinge has already turned.

Luke 24:46–48 — “Repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed…”
After the resurrection, Jesus ties His suffering directly to a global mission. Forgiveness is not a small private comfort; it becomes the church’s export to every nation. The church stands as a witness that the crucified Messiah is alive and still at work.

John 20:21 — “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
The mission inherits the shape of Jesus’ own life—truthful, self-giving, and life-producing. Preaching Christ is not shouting from a distance; it’s a sent presence that carries His character into every place.

Acts 1:8 — Powered witness
The Spirit does not come to give the disciples a warm feeling but to empower testimony. The church’s preaching is meant to be saturated with the Spirit’s courage, crossing boundaries from Jerusalem outward in widening circles.

Acts 4:12 — “There is salvation in no one else.”
The boldness of early Christians wasn’t personality; it was conviction that Christ is uniquely able to rescue humanity. This conviction keeps the church from drifting into a vague moral program detached from the Gospel.

Romans 1:16–17 — “The gospel… is the power of God for salvation.”
Paul refuses to treat the Gospel as a slogan. He calls it power—an active force that changes human lives. The church’s mission is not to display its own strength but to unleash this message that reveals God’s righteousness.

1 Corinthians 1:23–24 — “We preach Christ crucified.”
The cross is socially awkward, theologically disruptive, and intellectually scandalous. Yet Paul insists this is the center of the announcement. The church is commissioned to tell the truth about the world’s brokenness and God’s remedy, even when it cuts across human expectations.

2 Corinthians 5:19–20 — “God… entrusted to us the message of reconciliation.”
Preaching is framed as ambassadorial. The church does not invent its message; it carries a declaration on behalf of another. Reconciliation becomes the beating heart of the mission—humans restored to God through Christ.

Galatians 1:8–9 — The seriousness of guarding the gospel
Paul’s sharp tone underlines how vital the original message is. The mission is not only to proclaim the Gospel but to protect it from distortion. Without the real Gospel, the church becomes a hollow institution.

Ephesians 3:8–10 — Making known the “unsearchable riches of Christ”
Paul sees himself as tasked with broadcasting the cosmic scope of Christ’s work. The church becomes a living display of God’s wisdom, revealing a mystery once hidden. Preaching here is portrayed as cosmic theater.

Philippians 1:12–18 — The advance of the gospel even in chains
Paul treats the Gospel as unstoppable. The church’s mission does not collapse under hardship; it often sharpens under pressure. Preaching becomes an act of defiant hope.

Colossians 1:28 — “Him we proclaim…”
The aim is maturity in Christ, not mere conversion. The church’s mission is to present people fully formed in Him—mind, heart, and life aligned to reality as Jesus defines it.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 — The gospel came “not only in word but also in power…”
The Gospel is more than vocabulary. The church announces Christ in a way that carries conviction, integrity, and a transformed community that embodies what it proclaims.

2 Timothy 4:1–2 — “Preach the word… in season and out of season.”
Paul presses Timothy to keep preaching whether the cultural climate is friendly or hostile. The church’s mission is steady, stubborn, and faithful, refusing to adjust the core message to fit passing tastes.

Each of these passages treats the Gospel as a living announcement, not a museum exhibit. The church’s mission flows from that announcement—carrying Christ’s story into the world and letting its power reshape human lives. The beauty is how every generation gets to rediscover this same core and speak it freshly into its own moment.