(Following video of Kennedy speech and moon walk; "Made for a mission.")

Many of you can remember those words of John F. Kennedy, delivered in a special address before Congress on May 25, 1961, just 20 days after the first U.S. manned space launch when Alan Shepard took a 15 minute ride into space. Kennedy's words were shocking in the challenge put before the nation—to land a man on the moon and safely return him home…before the decade was out! You'll recall that it was a perilous time, the United States and the Soviet Union in the midst of the Cold War—each with a suspicious eye toward the other and racing for an advantage, not only in space, but in the potential for delivery of nuclear weapons. So, Kennedy's special address to Congress—a kind of second State of the Union message following the first of his administration delivered in January.

The point in the use of that speech to introduce our fifth and final purpose for our lives—made for a mission—is this: Kennedy set before the nation a particular goal and focus, one that required reaching, literally, for the stars, one that required stretching beyond comfort limits. So also, in our search for purpose and meaning in life have we been challenged to reach and stretch to new challenges: Challenges in our approach to worship, making every action in every day an act of worship that brings God pleasure; Challenges in how we view our fellowship as a church family and the level of our participation in that family; Challenges in seeking to live more and more like Christ so that others would see the reflection of Christ in how we live; Challenges for using our gifts and skills to serve, not in self-righteous service, but in true service that meets the needs of others and honors God. And today, the challenge of committing ourselves to a mission, the mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ to others around us. We were "made for a mission," and we can only find purpose in life if we involve ourselves in that mission—telling others about Jesus. We do that mission in two areas—both locally and globally. And we do that mission in two ways—by our words and our deeds.

Providing opportunities for you to be involved in mission is one major purpose for the church. Our staff strives to provide and encourage a variety of ways for the varied people of this church family to be involved in the mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. For example, we have put together a new "Program Guide" that tells of those opportunities. Many of those opportunities are local ones. I encourage you to pick up a Program Guide for yourself and look through it, looking for a place where you might hear God's challenging call to you, specifically, to be involved in the Great Commission. There are also global opportunities for your involvement. Two of them you heard from this morning. Look for opportunities to be involved, both locally and beyond our community, in our mission to share Jesus Christ with others.

We share Christ, as I mentioned earlier, by both our words and our deeds. We're doing pretty well at sharing by our deeds—our housing the homeless in our church through Moccasin Walk, our providing clothes for those who need it through Suit Up and Suit Yourself, our trip to the San Juan area to help in the building of a Habitat Home for someone, and other such activities. We're doing pretty well at telling others about Jesus Christ through our deeds. We could always do better, but we're doing pretty well.

The "state of our church" at telling others about Jesus Christ through our words, however, is lacking. Oh, we have programs at the church where that is happening. But, I wonder how much we are telling our faith story away from this church. Are we prepared, in fact, to tell that story? What would we say if our deeds of proclamation led to someone asking us why we would do that? For without our words of proclamation, our deeds of proclamation can be mistaken for just another good deed, another benevolent act of service with no context of Christian faith. To put into words our faith in Jesus Christ as motivation for our deeds can be a scary proposition. That is why one of our mission programs at Shepherd of the Hills is Alpha. The major mission program of proclamation is Alpha. You have heard me talk about it. I think it is a God-anointed program for proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. You've heard Rosalie talk about it. In a lifetime of ministry filled with moments of inspiration and profoundness, Rosalie will tell you that her involvement with Alpha has been the most inspiring and profound ministry she has done. You've heard from Rosalie and from me. Now it is time to hear the voices of others.

(Play Alpha video)

Folks, that is our mission field. Our mission is to tell—by our deeds AND by our words—the good news of Jesus Christ to the Kristens, and the Chucks around us. I don't know if you noticed or not, but the "people on the street" interviews on the video were filmed in Denver. People on the 16^th Street Mall who cannot articulate what their purpose in life is, or who Jesus is. Folks, that's our mission field. Our mission is to see the lost around us with the eyes of Jesus and come alongside them with fellowship and care—our deeds of proclamation—and sharing with them our faith story—our words of proclamation. Are you prepared to do that? Can you articulate your faith story? The time is now to be able to do that. If you aren't sure what your faith story is, the time is now to give some thought to it and develop it. To discover and develop your faith story through living a life of purpose—a life of worship, fellowship, discipleship, service and mission. To give thought to how Christ has impacted your life and put words to that experience. And when you find it difficult to articulate it with someone God brings across your path, invite them to Alpha. Attend Alpha yourself to help you put your faith story into words. And when someone sees your good deeds and wonders why your life is different from what they see in our culture and they ask you why, tell them your faith story…and invite them to bring their own search for meaning and purpose in life to Alpha. Then be a gracious host and friend with them as you make the journey together.

In his message to Congress, John F. Kennedy also said this: "I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are that we have never made the national decisions or marshaled the national resources required for such leadership. We have never specified long-range goals on an urgent time schedule, or managed our resources and our time so as to insure their fulfillment." I believe the same could be said for the church. We possess the resources and talents necessary. But, we've never made the decisions or marshaled our resources, haven't looked at the urgency of our time and place to insure the fulfillment of our mission. It is no longer adequate to think, "Well, here's the church building, people will come if they want to." We must be an inviting church—extending an invitation through our deeds and our words to all the Kristens and Chucks around us, inviting them to come with us and discover what a life of meaning and purpose in Jesus Christ is all about. That is our mission. Are you prepared to make that decision and use our resources in order to accomplish it?