​​​The English word "mission" comes from the latin term "missio" which means to send. To be on mission is to be sent out for a purpose. Mission is not just an aspect of theology nor just a function of the church, but is at the heart of the scripture and is central to the identity of the church.

​

Scripture as a book of mission:

​The whole of Scripture tells the story of God's mission to bring redemption to His creation. After laying out the intention for God's creation and the subsequent rebellion of man leading to the fall of humanity and creation itself, we see the bible being made up of a story of God's sending work to fulfill His mission to redeem and restore what had been lost in the fall. The Scriptures are ultimately about God's mission to bring redemption to His creation through His Son. 

​

The Old Testament tells the story of how God sent His law and prophets to form a people by which He will bring about redemption to the world. In sending the prophets God was also pointing toward the sending of His messiah, the one that will ultimately accomplish God's mission of redemption. The Gospels are the account of how God was fulfilling His mission by sending His Son, as the Messiah, to accomplish His mission of bringing about redemption. The book of Acts then continues the story by telling of how the Father and Son sent the Spirit to establish and equip the church to be sent out to the ends of the earth with the ministry and message of God's redemption. We also have many wonderful letters written to different local manifestations of the church to equip them and call them to live a life of mission in line with the Gospel message. Finally we have a book of encouragement to the church (revelation) which depicts a future picture of the completion of God's mission accomplished by Him. 

​

A sending God:

​Our God is a missionary God. He sent the prophets to reveal His nature and will. The Father then sent the Son to die as an atoning sacrifice on our behalf. The Father and the Son then sent the Spirit to draw men and women back to God and to apply the work of the Son to individuals to form the church. The Spirit was also sent to equip and empower the church for the sake of mission. God has now sent His church into the world to be a reflection of His coming Kingdom and to cary His message of redemption to the ends of the earth. The beauty of the Christian faith is that our God is not one that sits back hoping we will come back to Him, but He is a missionary God, coming after us and continually sending out those that belong to Him to draw many more to Himself. 

​

A sent people:

​As the church we are a people that have been called to God because of His mission, to then be sent out for the sake of His mission. At E3 we like to say that God's mission doesn't exist for the sake of the church but the church exists for God's mission. By Christ we have been reconciled to God and in that we have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation. The Scripture calls the church the body of Christ, ambassadors of God, and lights to the world. Our life and existence as a people redeemed by Christ is to live our life as a reflection of Christ, displaying and declaring the good news of God's redemptive mission to all who are in our midst.

​

Gospel and Mission: 

​Gospel and mission are intimately tied together. The Gospel is the good news that God's mission to bring redemption and restoration is coming to completion through the death, resurrection, and coming return of Jesus.

​

Missional Community:

​At E3 wewe view every believer as a missionary for the Gospel to the people God has place in their midst. So we view our "Gospel Communities" as a collection of missionaries, joined together, to live on mission to the people around them. God's mission is intended to be lived out in the context of Gospel formed community and for a community to be healthy and faithful to the Gospel they must be a people living a life of mission. Joining a Gospel Community means that you are joining with others to fulfill God's mission for that particular community. 

​

Missional Life:

​Mission is not just something we go and do but more a lifestyle that we live. How we live our lives is to be a display of the redeeming power of the Gospel to the world around us. As a people called by God through His Gospel to be sent by God for His Gospel, we must then reorient our lives around the Gospel. Every thing we do now has purpose. Our friendships, finances, careers, community, family, recreation, relaxation, etc., carries significant meaning because it is out of those things that God is calling us to both display and declare the Gospel to our world.  

​

​

​For more information on living missionaly and being a community on mission click here.