Grace Notes 2025-11-12

What is the mission of the Church? There are a number of correct answers as the matter is stated differently in various Scripture verses. But they all have to do with the same thing. I would summarize it as a continuance of Christ’s redemptive work that after His ascension into heaven He entrusted to his disciples.

What is the mission of the Church? There are a number of correct answers as the matter is stated differently in various Scripture verses. But they all have to do with the same thing. I would summarize it as a continuance of Christ’s redemptive work that after His ascension into heaven He entrusted to his disciples.

Among the many passages that describe this I will share with you three. The first is probably the one most used. It is Matthew 28:19-20 which reads, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The second is from Luke 24:46-47. It reads, “and [He] said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.’”

And the third verse I will share with you is from Acts 1:8, which says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

There are a lot of ways to say it, but every congregation has this one and the same mission. What starts to be distinctive of each congregation is how they go about serving in the community in keeping with the message and mission that we all have. And this will depend on the gifts and talents of the congregation and the particular needs of the community in which they are serving. I speak of lesser needs, for they differ. But all people have the same great need, and that is to know the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to trust in the forgiveness of sins that He freely offers.

Since You Asked

What do Lutherans believe is given in Holy Communion? 

“We believe, teach, and confess that in the Holy Supper the body and blood of Christ are truly and essentially present and are truly distributed and received with the bread and wine. We believe, teach, and confess that the words of the testament of Christ are to be understood in no other way than in their literal sense, and not as though the bread symbolized the absent body and the wine the absent blood of Christ, but that because of the sacramental union they are truly the body and blood of Christ” (Formula of Concord, Epitome, Art. VII.)

The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10 that the bread is “a participation in the Lord’s body.” If the Lord’s body were not truly present, the bread would perhaps be a participation in his spirit. But Paul says it is a participation in his body!