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Bible passage - Mark 1:14-20

Jesus began his ministry by proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Then he said, “The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the Good News!” This Kingdom of God is not confined to time or space; it is the Reign of God where the power of God is a visible reality. For this mission, Jesus called his disciples to follow him. Therefore the mission of the disciples of Jesus is to repent and believe in the Good News of the Kingdom of God and to proclaim this Good News of the Kingdom. When Jesus called his disciples to follow him he invited them to be with Him and to learn from Him. By doing so he expected them to become His witnesses.

Before Jesus started His ministry he had the Baptism of John. When He was baptized the Spirit of God descended on him and a voice recognized his ministry. This was the revelation to the World that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He performed his ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore as his disciples in the 21st century, we need to recapture the mission of Jesus in our churches. The Church exists to work for the Kingdom of God. If the Church does not work towards the furtherance of the Kingdom the Church loses its authority to exist. Hence all the activities of the Church should be mission centered and need to be done with the power of the Holy Spirit.

As the Church when we get involved in activities such as Evangelism, Social Service and Interfaith encounters we are called to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom, and to call people to become disciples of Jesus. We are expected to become witnesses of this mission by getting involved in the activities of the Reign of God.

This is an ongoing and growing process. If we are involved in this process our entire life should be a “prayer”. For this to happen it is necessary to have an intimate relationship with the Word of God. This relationship should be established with the three modes of the Word of God. We need to listen to God the revealed Word. God speaks to us through the power of God’s Spirit. Then it is required to study the written Word of God the Bible to comprehend the Word of God. With these two modes of the Word of God, we should have an intimate relationship with the incarnate word of God, Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

Questions for discussion

1. Do we have a sound understanding of the Mission of God in our churches? Discuss the reasons for the present understanding.

2. How can we recapture this mission with the power of the Holy Spirit to become witnesses of God’s Kingdom?

3. Prepare a practical action plan to revive the mission of God in our churches.