What Is Epic's New Day?
By Bruce Kane | February 22, 2014
All of need a fresh start once in a while. Even churches can be in need of a fresh start. Epic Church of Hanford is on the threshold of a fresh start: a new day dawning.
Our new day. Our new day is a renewed commitment to our place in this community. It is a brand new look at the structures we use to facilitate our mission. It is a new and stronger zeal for the power of the Lord God Almighty at work in us and through us.
In evaluating our dreams for the future of our congregation we discovered that we had drifted from the mission which had originally defined us. And in that drift, we had lost something so invaluable that it demanded rediscovery.
We are determined to be a church that doesn't do business as usual. We won't rest on past success or go through the motions that may grow to comfort us because of familiarity. We will be an uncommon community, constantly striving to refine our activity to match the needs of our community and our world as we represent Christ here.
We will reach. Yes reach. It is an active mission that we have been given. Innovation is nice but a mission is first of all a vocation. A job to do and a goal to strive for. We will reach beyond ourselves. We will not be a church whose primary purpose is to serve our wants and desires for Christian goods and services. We will be a church whose primary purpose is to live the gospel of Christ's love to our community and to the world.
We will live the gospel. We are not the kind of religious people who gain any self-satisfaction from standing on a street corner with a bullhorn, lambasting passers-by with angry misrepresentations of scripture. No, we are people who believe that the gospel is best served by serving. That's right serving. Through active service and kindness in our community, we intend to live the gospel of Christ Jesus in our actions: healing hurts, feeding hunger, lifting spirits, holding hands, crossing boundaries, and giving love.
It's a New Day for an age-old mission - Jesus said, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free..." Our mission is to extend His mission.
Perhaps you have been feeling the need for something new in your life. We would like to suggest that maybe what you need is something to live for and to give your life to. The mission of Jesus is just that! Our renewed commitment will launch on March 23, 2014.