Christianity is a mystery to be unraveled. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a mystery to be proclaimed.
Colossians 1:26
The mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery.
Ephesians 6:19
Pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.
We believe the unravelling of this mystery begins among us. Mountain View is aware of the global conundrum of full churches filled with non-practicing Christians. It is our primary burden to reach out to our own people first, who don’t really know the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18), before reaching out to this lost world.
A non-practicing Christian is one who comes to church, gives their money, does “good deeds” but really doesn’t know of the inward Kingdom of God (Luke 17:21) and a life lived in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25). They are genuine in their Christian intent, but their practice is not according to Scripture (Ephesians 2:8-10). Their religious activity stems from a desire to earn God’s love and approval, rather than their religious activity stemming from God’s love and approval already attained for them through Jesus Christ’s redemptive work on the cross.
It is our strong desire to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel of Jesus to everyone, beginning with us. A local congregation has no business reaching out to the world if they haven’t already reached in to their own. Therefore, outreach at Mountain View begins with us. It is our hope that our own people will be rooted in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. From this foundation our congregation will be adequately equipped to reach out to our city and world.
