Jesus Sends (The Spirit and The Mission)

In Seeing Jesus Clearly: Jesus Sends (The Spirit & the Mission), City Parish concludes its five-week journey through the person and work of Jesus by focusing on His continuing mission through the Holy Spirit. After His resurrection, Jesus told His followers, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you,” and breathed the Spirit into them (John 20:21–22). This moment was not a farewell but a commissioning. The mission of God now continues through Spirit-empowered people—ordinary men and women called to bear witness to the reign and redemption of King Jesus in every corner of creation.

From the locked rooms of fear in John 20 to the outpouring of power in Acts 2, the Spirit transforms hesitant disciples into bold ambassadors. Jesus’s followers are sent not alone but filled with divine presence: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The church’s calling, then, is both personal and cosmic—to bring God’s shalom to hearts, homes, and nations, joining the Spirit’s work of renewal in all creation through the powerful message of the gospel.

Drawing on theologians like Michael Goheen and Craig Bartholomew, Joe reminded us that mission is not limited to evangelism but encompasses the full restoration of God’s world—bearing witness to His kingdom in politics, education, business, art, and family life. Empowered by the Spirit, the Church becomes Christ’s body on earth, embodying His compassion and truth wherever we go. Jesus’s sending is both gift and responsibility: we go not in our own strength but in His peace, proclaiming and displaying the good news until the whole world sees His glory.