Ps Steu continues this week reminding us of the mission of the church.  This is simply Matthew 28; 19-20. It's to go and make disciples of all the nations baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe that all Jesus commanded and as we do that he is with us!  We need to take this great commission seriously and as we go further into 2022  if the vision of the church is to run its best lap ever then we must run our best lap ever as individuals and to do this we must have a relationship with Jesus and have His presence within us. We need to draw near to God. 

Last week we shared Hebrews 12; 1-2 (NIV) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”.  So we do need to lay aside all the weight and sins that trip us up, else we cannot think of running our best  lap…we need to be at our best potential. 

We need to keep our eyes on Jesus. In John 14; 15-18, He said, “If you love me, keep my Commandments. I love will pray the Father and he will give you another helper” – the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. In Acts 1, early verses, we read of the baptism, the drenching of the Holy Spirit upon them in order to receive power and be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the whole earth. 

Today as then, God wants to fill his people with the Holy Spirit and empower them to live a Kingdom life. In the book of Acts, we read about the disciples being filled with the power of God when they were baptised with the Holy Spirit, immediately running sharing the Gospel. This is the story of the early church. People then dispersed and churches formed the world over. 

So for us now, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus, look to the Holy Spirit to empower us, train us and raise us up, drawing near to God for our best lap yet