The whole of Christian Scripture is the revelation of the mission of the Triune God. Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck summarizes this idea in a pithy and powerful way when he wrote, “The essence of the Christian religion consists in the reality that the creation of the Father, ruined by sin, is restored in the death of the Son of God, and re-created by the grace of the Holy Spirit into a kingdom of God.” In other words, the whole cosmos is the stage for the mission of the Triune God. Mission, therefore, is the central idea of reality. There is nothing outside God’s mission or unused in His missional ends. As God’s called and gathered community on earth, the Church is the epicenter of His mission to the cosmos. Paul famously said in Romans 8:19, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” The latter part of that verse is remarkable. Paul is saying the liberation of the very earth itself, currently under the bondage and curse of sin, longs for the Church to be revealed in its full glory. With this full revelation of God’s people, the shalom, meaning cosmic peace of God, that the earth was created to experience, will be not a future hope but a present reality. Christians, then, are to be agents of His shalom, revealing glimmers and shadows of this coming reality and hope.
This short theological reflection is a way to introduce Redeemer not just ideas about missions for us to do but also an identity for Redeemer to reflect on as God’s people have been called to be. So, for the entire month of May, Redeemer will engage in service and mission throughout the city and region. We will kick off on Sunday, May 4, in between services, with a Missions Fair. We’ve invited local ministries like Mission Possible (serving underprivileged youth in central Austin), Safe Families (serving families in crisis who would otherwise be at risk of separation from their children by providing a circle of support and care to parents and children), the Austin Center for Faith and Work (focusing on holistic gospel-formed discipleship that reflects biblically and theologically about how our work is part of God’s redemptive purposes in the world), and others laboring in gospel ministry throughout Austin and the region. Be sure to attend church on May 4 and stop by each table to learn about different ministries and how to begin to serve with them.
Second, we have several service opportunities throughout the month of May. The first will be on Saturday, May 17. We will take a team of volunteers to Foundation Communities at M Station for beautification work. M Station (in our backyard!) is a non-profit providing affordable housing for underemployed, refugee, or displaced people. Foundation Communities also provides a regular food pantry, vocational coaching, after-school programming, and health and wellness coaching to people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to this kind of support.
Then, on Saturday, May 24, we will take a team of volunteers to More than Welcome and help organize and clean their supply warehouse. More than Welcome serves refugees and asylum seekers coming to the US for safety and opportunity not otherwise possible in their country of origin. More than Welcome bridges the gap between languishing and flourishing for those in a new country who cannot navigate the complex system toward legal citizenship while providing relational stability and presence to this marginalized community.
Click here to read more and volunteer for these projects.
Third, throughout the month of May, we will also collect English and Spanish Bibles for the Heart of Texas Crisis Pregnancy Resource Center. You can purchase the approved Bibles linked above or donate on Sundays by writing “Bible Drive” in the memo line. We have generously been given a matching opportunity of $750 for this project, so every Bible you purchase will become two Bibles, and $20 will become $40!
Finally, we are also launching a program called the Meet Your Neighbor initiative. In our increasingly secularized culture, hostility to the gospel continues to increase. However, the closer someone is to a Christian they know and trust, the more likely they are to discuss spiritual matters and participate in them. This means Christians cannot expect to extend invitations only to non-Christians and see them attend church or engage in spiritual discussion. Like the first-century church, Christians must engage in slow fermenting practices that serve as a window into the gospel (See Alan Kreider’s book The Patient Ferment of the Early Church). One of the simplest yet most radical ways to help non-Christians look into the nature of the gospel is through hospitality. We make the gospel palpable and real as we extend the grace and love Jesus Christ has extended to us. Hospitality is a signpost to the reality of the Kingdom of God and His grace. Like the early church, Christians today cannot merely speak about love but must go out of their way, more so than was even needed 50 years ago, to demonstrate the reality of the love of the Christian gospel. So, the Missions Committee is encouraging the entire congregation to do two things over the next 12 months:
- Get to know three neighbors you don’t already know (a literal neighbor, a family at your child’s school or sports teams, etc.) by simply learning their name.
- Have one of those families come to your home for dinner in the next twelve months. Commit to praying for them and their salvation.
If every family at Redeemer did this, it would be over 600 people or families we don’t currently know, and over 190 families have been shown hospitality. Romans 12:13 says, “Seek to show hospitality,” and Luke 14 says, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” And, of course, Hebrews 13 which says, “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers.” In the coming weeks and months, we will return to this initiative and provide practical ideas and guides on showing hospitality.
We hope the month of May will be a catalyst for missional engagement, service, and gospel fruitfulness in the life of our church, the city, and in each of your families and homes. With the Apostle Paul, we remind you of the expectation Christians have in God, who does far more than we can ever do on our own, “ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:20).
Partners to Volunteer with or get involved in:
Safe Families– Cheyenne Erikson austin@safefamilies.net
God of Hope– Robert Dorrough rdorrough@thegodofhope.org
Austin Center for Faith and Work– Steve Teng steve@austincfw.org
Heart of Texas Crisis Pregnancy Resource Center– Hillary Funes hillary@heartprc.org
RUFI UT– Noel Coppedge noel.coppedge@ruf.org
Mission Possible– Jordan Wilcox jordan@mpaustin.org
Side by Side Kids– Atalia Palma atalia.palma@sidebysidekids.org
More than Welcome– Lauren Bazan and Kaitlyn Rogers lauren@morethanwelcome.org katelyn@morethanwelcome.org
Other ways to serve: