The Joy of Loving and Serving God and People
Our mission at Neath Church is: “Loving and serving God and people.” This is based on Jesus’s response to the question, “which is the great commandment in the Law?” Matthew 22:37-39 records his response, “And he (Jesus) said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” These two simple commandments of Jesus are referred to as “The Great Commandment”
Our mission also includes the act of serving. Jesus taught that even he came to serve rather than be served. Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is John chapter 13 where Jesus humbly washes his disciples’ feet shortly before going to the cross. Jesus was giving us an example of service to follow.
Our mission, “Loving and serving God and people.” is simple and short at the same time as being profound because it is biblically based. This simple mission is behind everything we do at Neath Church. When we love God, we will gather to worship him and seek to grow in our personal relationships with Jesus. When we serve God and love people, we will tell others about Jesus and make Matthew 28:18-20 a reality in our lives, it says: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.’” Furthermore, when we serve people, we will be a positive influence in our community as we care about the needs of our community and seek to meet those needs.
I want to make an important point regarding our mission at Neath Church. It is not a set of rigid rules to be followed in order to somehow be good enough for God. The Bible is clear that we cannot be good enough on our own…we need Jesus! Our Church’s mission seeks to model Jesus’s example. Our church’s mission is a joy to live out instead of being a chore. Our aim is to live joy-filled lives of love and service to God and others.