When and how did His ministry become our ministry? In simple terms, the ministry of Jesus Christ became the ministry of His church through the Great Commission He gave to His disciples and recorded in all four Gospels. Interestingly, each gospel writer emphasizes a different aspect of the Great Commission which underlines the common objective of sending the church out into the world bearing the good news. Or, as succinctly stated by Eddie Gibbs, professor of church growth at the school of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California: "The Great Commission represents a vast and unrelenting search and find operation."

The Gospel of Matthew emphasizes the objective of the task, which is to "make disciples" (Mat. 28:19, N.R.S.V.). In the Gospel of Mark, attention is on the extent of the task being "to everyone, everywhere" (Mk. 16:15, N.L.T.) which would be reinforced by miraculous signs. In the Gospel of Luke, the means is the focus which is what the "Father promised" (Lk. 24:46, N.L.V.): the disciples would receive the Holy Spirit which would empower them to be effective in undertaking the Great Commission. Finally, as Professor Gibbs reminds us: "Not until the Lord was risen could his ministry become their ministry." Therefore, in the Gospel of John, the emphasis is on the continuity of the disciples' mission with Christ's own mission: "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (Jn. 20:21, N.I.V.). The Apostle John places great emphasis on the fact that Jesus' departure would be to the advantage of His disciples because He would send another to be their advocate, comforter, teacher, and encourager (see Jn. 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-14).

Since the Church has the mission (which means "sending") of fulfilling the Great Commission, the Church is known as a "missional Church." The term "missional" sees the church primarily as the instrument of God's mission. As Dr. Gibbs says, it "draws attention to the essential nature and vocation of the church as God's called and sent people." Then he adds a critical part when he states: "A church that is missional understands that God's mission calls and sends the church of Jesus Christ to be a missionary church in its own society and in the cultures in which it finds itself." This final statement captures Jesus prayer to His father concerning His disciples: "As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world" (Jn. 17:18, E.S.V.).

So, how and where do we begin in our society and in our own culture and specifically
in our own neighbourhood today 2007?

The Apostle Paul responds: "Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized - whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ - but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!" (I Cor. 9:19-23, The Message).

Clearly, His ministry is our ministry and "It's A Lifestyle!"