Groundbreaking Vision: A Place Where it Becomes Impossible Not to Share Jesus with the World

This is the fifth week of our groundbreaking Easter message.  A groundbreaking event is a real life changing event, like Jesus rising from the dead. The resurrection proves Jesus is who he said he is, God.  The Apostles continue Jesus’ groundbreaking work by moving beyond their fears and investing in other people, by building relationships and inviting them to become part of the early movement of Jesus followers, which becomes the church.

Last week we encouraged you to be like the apostles, to invest in others who do not come to church.  Spend some time building relationships with them, and when the time is right, invite them to church. Some people will say no when you invite them; that’s okay.  It is all about building relationships and extending the invitation. That is exactly how the early church formed and grew. One of the things that made the early church so successful was clarity of their mission and message.

This week we are going to take it a step further.  What about our mission, our message, our vision? Here is a vision for you: Imagine this.  Just imagine if our parish was like this! Wouldn’t it be great if your teenagers, your adult children, your teenage friends, your adult friends, your adult nieces and nephews, the people who you love most said to you:

When I come to church here I feel like I belong.  I want to stay!

I want to be part of this place and what is happening here.

I never knew church could be like this.  I want to invite my friends to church here.  For the first time I understand what it means for me to have a relationship with God, and I feel like I can do that.  I look forward to Sunday Mass all week...

Just imagine that!!  Imagine that!

In order to achieve what I just asked you to imagine, we have to be crystal clear about our mission, our message, our vision of who we are as church.

We want clarity of mission, message, and vision so that we can be successful like the early church and have a great impact on the world, including all those who we love.  With that sort of clarity, our parish will be groundbreaking because we will change lives.

Are you as clear as the early church was about our mission and message at Saint Mary? Why are you here?  Why are we all here? Who are you as church? Who are we, who are you, as Saint Mary Catholic Church?

Bringing people to Jesus is the mission of the church.  So bringing people to Jesus is the mission of Saint Mary Catholic Church.  

Bringing people to Jesus is the reason you are a member of the church.  Bringing people to Jesus is the reason you are here.  Is that a surprise to you?

Consider this.  One of first things Jesus says to the disciples after he rises from the dead is: As the Father has sent me, so I send you.  And just as Jesus ascends into heaven he says, go make disciples of all nations.

So, Jesus says to you, as the Father has sent me, so I send you.  Jesus says to you, go and make disciples of all nations. We read about the apostles doing just that in today’s first reading.  Making disciples, means, bring others to Jesus.

You are not here primarily for yourself and what the church can do for you, you are supposed to be focused on others, and what you can do for them.  And the primary thing you are supposed to do for others is bring them to Jesus, that is what it means to make disciples, bring them to Jesus.  That is who you are as church.  That is your calling.  Your primary life’s calling, as given to you by Jesus Christ, is to bring people to Him, everything else is secondary, everything else is secondary.

How about this famous saying: The church is the only institution that exists primarily for the benefit of those who are not its members.  Have you ever thought about church that way?

The church is the only institution that exists primarily for the benefit of those who are not its members. Just like the early church, the current church exists, we exist here, to bring, other people, non-members per se, to Jesus.

The problem is, there are many in our parish, and many in other parishes, who are here to be spiritually cared for, fed, and kept safe.  That is, we mostly exist for our own good, not solely for the good of others.

Many of us think that others are responsible for leading people to Jesus.  Many people think that is the work of priests and deacons, while everyone else is here to be spiritually cared for, fed, and kept safe. That is incorrect.

The priests and deacons are not the only disciple makers. You are also disciple makers.  You are sent by Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, to make disciples and bring people to him.   If you are truly the church, you are here for others, not yourself.

Yes, we gather here around the Eucharist, and receive the body of Christ in Communion, and the primary reason we do that is so we can go out and be Christ to others.  You are only church when you exist for others, especially for those who are not here.  The way we exist for others, is to make disciples, to bring those who are not here, to Jesus.

That is why Jesus calls you together here, and that is why he sends you, to make disciples, to bring people to him.  

And, I’m not talking about one and done service type opportunities, like a clothing giveaway, visiting a nursing home, a small group serving at a soup kitchen or a short-term mission trip.  These are only a means to help you discover your true primary vocation, which is what Jesus says to you, “as the Father has sent me, so I send you, to make disciples” by bringing others to me.

Remember we said: clarity of mission is very important, It’s why the early church was so successful.

The mission of every Catholic parish in the world is to fulfill Jesus’ great commission: go out and make disciples of all nations.  And as I’ve said a few times already, to make disciples means to bring other people to Jesus.

So . . .  what is our mission at Saint Mary?
Our mission is to do what Jesus tells us: go out and make disciples of all nations, to bring people to him.

Based on this, what is our vision for Saint Mary parish, why do we exist?  Our vision for Saint Mary parish is this: A place where it becomes impossible not to share Jesus with the world.

That is our vision for our parish. A place where it becomes impossible not to share Jesus with the world.  You see, sharing Jesus with others has to happen first if we are to make disciples, if we are to bring other people to him, we must first share him.

We share him by sharing the news of how much God loves all of us, and the more we do that, the more we become a place where it becomes impossible not to share Jesus with the world, because God’s love and Jesus are one and the same.   

What does it look like to become a place where it becomes impossible not to share Jesus with the world?

It’s what we imagined earlier!!

Our teenagers, adult children, nieces, nephews, family and friends and all those we love want to come here on Sunday, and they don’t want to leave!  They understand and feel what it means for Jesus to love them and be their Lord and Savior.

They feel the fire of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, and they  want to bring others to Jesus, too!!

Wouldn’t it be fantastic for the people you love the most to say and feel these things?  Can you imagine! How wonderful would that make you feel?!

How wonderful would you feel that this faith, which means so much to you, began to mean so much to those you love the most, so much so, that they want to share it with others?

This is what it means to be a place where it becomes impossible not to share Jesus with the world.  We must first encounter the person of Jesus here at Saint Mary, we must grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus here, and then we go out to bring others to him.

Through a personal encounter with Jesus we will become a place where the Holy Spirit is so active and on fire among us, that we are a place where it becomes impossible not to share Jesus with the world.

This is our vision for Saint Mary.  We have been working hard on this, revamping our homilies and putting together more engaging homily series for the last several months.  The homily message is spread throughout our children's ministries every week, including our entire school, every week.

We have been working hard on being a place where it becomes impossible not to share Jesus with the world by giving you some tools to use to share Jesus, such as the invest and invite strategy we have been explaining for the last two weeks.  Invest in someone, and invite them to come to Mass one weekend. What else?

We have been working hard on being a place more on fire with the Holy Spirit by completely revamping our music ministry.  Our worship through beautiful music is fully integrated, with our primary message, through the entire Mass. And the areas of Homilies and Music continue to evolve and grow.

We are beginning to work on our hospitality ministries, so that everyone feels welcomed and embraced because they belong to Jesus, they belong here in this place.  We are working on creating a brighter more welcoming environment here in church with an improved sound system, windows, lighting, paint, new doors, etc.

We are working hard on our vision for children at Saint Mary by developing children's ministries, where our children fall in love with God and his Son Jesus, where they want to come to Mass every weekend and do not want to leave, a place where our children go forth wanting to tell their friends, their parents and the world about God’s love for them, and thus sharing Jesus with others.

This is our vision for Saint Mary, working hard on having a prayerful staff, and prayer filled ministry teams, where all of our staff and ministries are first and foremost teams of prayer who follow the call to share Jesus with others.  

Want to be on our staff and involved in a ministry?, then you must live the call to pray, and share Jesus with others, whether you are a reader, a hospitality minister, or an EOMHC, children’s minister, school teacher, etc. Staff and all ministry members must set the example for prayer and sharing Jesus with other people because that’s why you're here.

This is what we want you to know today. You are church!  And the only time we are church is when we exist for others, especially those who are not here, following Jesus’ call to share Him with the world.  That’s what we want you to know.

This is what we want you to do.  Pray for your personal transformation to change, to be on fire for God’s Son and the courage to share him with others.  Pray, pray for yourself and our parish’s transformation.

We are praying for you.  We are begging God’s Holy Spirit to give you courage.  We are begging God’s Holy Spirit to give you courage. To give you courage to follow Jesus’ call to share God’s love with the world.

We are praying and working hard on allowing God’s Holy Spirit to work through us, in all things, and in all ways, so that all of you, all of us, are more and more empowered by God to be a place where it become impossible, where it becomes impossible, not to share Jesus Christ, the resurrected Son of the living God with the entire world!