Upreach: The first and greatest commandment
Jesus summarized the entire "law and the prophets" by saying that we are to love
the Lord our God with everything that we have and are. Loving God is our most
consuming and glorious calling. This has primary reference to our commitment to
be, above everything else, a worshipping community. We are committed to
developing worship that is "in spirit and in truth." Reality, not mere ritual,
is our goal. If we could be known for any one thing, we would want it to be that
we are a family of believers who love our Lord openly and unashamedly. He alone
is worthy of all of our affection.
Inreach: The second great commandment
Jesus also gave a second "great" commandment, which he said was like the first.
It calls us to "love our neighbors as we love ourselves." Love demonstrates that
we are true followers of Jesus Christ. Thus, at Oak Hills we are committed to
become and grow as a caring and discipling community. God has made us for
relationship, with Himself and with each other. And yet, while there is nothing
as satisfying as good relationships, there is nothing as hard to come by.
Relationships require work. Relationships require openness, honesty, and
vulnerability. And they take time. But these relationships are truly the
foundation for the Body of Christ.
Outreach: The great commission
The third part of our philosophy of ministry concerns our commitment to become
an outreaching community. The very last words Jesus spoke to His disciples
before He ascended were in the form of a parting charge. We have been
commissioned to take the glorious gospel of God's saving grace to every nation,
beginning with our own hometown. History, as we know it, is bound up with God's
commitment to redeem for Himself a people from every race, tribe, tongue, and
nation. Thus, at Oak Hills we are excited about both home and world missions;
ministries of proclamation and demonstration; church planting in the greater
Metro-Kansas City area; and being a "sending and spending" church to the far
corners of the earth. One of the main ways that we demonstrate the reality of
our love for God is by loving all people who bear His image.
All three - Upreach, Inreach, and Outreach, are vital. We are not being faithful to one if we neglect the other two.
|
