The assigned scripture lessons from the Lectionary
Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Ephesians 2:1-10
John 3:14-21
Why are you here? What is your purpose in life? What is your mission statement?
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:16,17
This statement occurs within the context of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. And this is where Nicodemus comes to Jesus wanting to know just what he is all about. And here, near the beginning of his Gospel, John wants us to know just why Jesus has come to us. This is God’s and Jesus’ mission statement in John.
So, first of all, do you accept this premise? Because your own mission in life needs to come out of who you understand yourself to be in relation to God.
Here is what this statement says to me:
- It means that God’s ultimate purpose is love
- It means that through Jesus, God is pursuing each of us. God wants to repair our relationship with God, not further separate us. After all, God sent his son not to save, not to condemn.
If you can live your life in response to that foundation you will be blessed.
So now we know why God sent his son…..now why did God send you?
(What follows is a method for helping folks to write their own mission statement. If you plan to use it, I recommend having it available in print for people to have in front of them. Post it on your website, email it out ahead of time to folks who watch from home on their computers). As you go down the list with your listeners you may certainly expand on points as you see fit.
Writing Your Own Mission Statement
- Keep it simple, clear, and brief. The best mission statements tend to be just 2 to 5 sentences long.
- Your mission statement should touch upon what you want to focus on and what you want to accomplish in this part of your life. Think about specific actions, behaviors, habits, and qualities that would have a significant positive impact over the next one to three years. (You might say, “I seek to be a person who cares for others,” or “As a person of faith I will be a person who will try to be the face of Christ to the people around me.”)
- Make sure your mission statement is positive. Instead of saying what you don’t want to do or don’t want to be, say what you do want to do or become. Find the positive alternatives to any negative statements.
- Include positive behaviors, character traits, and values that you consider particularly important and want to develop further. (Things like being truthful, trustworthy, kind, caring, faithful.)
- Think about how your actions, habits, behavior, and character traits affect the important relationships in your life. (For instance, you might say that you want to be a person who seeks to support your parents, be a positive influence on your peers, or be a leader in a certain group.)
- Create a mission statement that will guide you in your day-to-day actions and decisions. Make it a part of your everyday life. To do so your mission statement must grow out of who you understand yourself to be. “You are loved by God, and right now, God is seeking a deeper relationship with you.”
- Write your mission statement down and put it in a place where you will see it frequently. Your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator door, the back of the TV remote or cell phone might be good places to put it.
God’s and Jesus’ mission statement
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
What is yours?
