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Last fall, I preached a sermon series titled "What on Earth Are We Doing?: The Commitments of a Church on a Mission." But where do I go from there? God used the sermon series to get my congregation moving – or thinking about moving – in the right direction. But how can I keep doing “missional preaching” now that I’ve finished the series on mission?

Recently, I stumbled on a good idea. I’m trying to build in a “mission touch-point” to each sermon. A “mission touch-point” is a two-minute segment in which I show how the passage I’m preaching connects to our church’s mission. I’m committed to this whether I’m preaching Proverbs, Judges, or Ephesians. But does every biblical passage I might preach really connect to our mission? Yes! After all, the Bible is all about mission. If you want a theological framework for this claim, read Christopher J. H. Wright’s new book, The Mission of God: Unlocking the BIble's Grand Narrative (IVP).

Let me come at this from another angle. I’m convinced that sermons on individual texts should point out the connection to the overall storyline or big idea of the Bible. Basically, the Bible is the story of God re-establishing His presence among the people He created. Our task, then, as a church, is to participate in the expansion of God’s presence. That’s what the Great Commission is all about. So in every sermon I preach, I’m trying to show how the text informs or challenges us about engagement in this mission. Of course, it’s appropriate to preach specific sermons or series on the church’s mission. But a commitment to missional preaching means showing the connection between every sermon text and the mission of God.