Many of you will remember the television program of the past that began with words from a hidden tape recorder (along with an envelope of photos and instructions) that spoke like this: “Good morning Mr. Phelps. Your mission Jim, should you decide to accept it is… (with a brief description of the challenge … then going on to say…), “As always, should you or any of your I.M. Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.” And then there would be smoke from the machine, and the tape would blow up … kinda like my computer did last week.

The program, and multiple movies that followed later, went by the title of “Mission Impossible.”

We often speak about our role in life, particularly as God’s servants and emissaries, as being our “mission.”   We talk about going on a “missions trip” and we support “missionaries”. And this week as we conclude our seven weeks of discussion called “Why Church,” we talk about what is our ongoing mission and responsibility, both individually and collectively, as members of the Church, the body of Christ.

But for many people, being on “mission” for God is about as confusing to understand and impossible to accomplish as maybe it would seem to be for Jim Phelps in the famous TV show.

However, our mission as God’s people is not impossible, it is very possible. It is necessary, it is divinely empowered, and it is the greatest thing to be a part of that the world has ever known.

This gets to the core of what is our purpose. The purpose of God’s people is the worship of God. In the present age, this is accomplished through the Church. The mission of the Church, therefore, is to bring outsiders into the family of God so that they, too, might worship the one true God.

We were called to this by our salvation, as Peter said, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” So in a big way, the mission chose us before we chose to accept the mission.

So stick with us this week as we share with you four components of being on mission for God … after all, you were chosen to do this – the greatest thing ever!