the Bullseye
One old addage says that if you aim for nothing, you'll hit it every time. If you're like most people who've visited a local church on Sunday mornings, it seems like the only thing being aimed for many times is simply the completion of a religious exercise. We wholeheartedly believe differently.
At Church in the Boro we believe that every local church has only one aim summed up by our mission statement: reconciling sinners to God, people to each other, and the world to King Jesus. It makes sense therefore that a Sunday gathering at a local church be a time dedicated to refocusing on that mission. The temptations and distractions of this world and our culture are constantly reminding us of the absolute necessity of keeping our eye on the target.
The Bullseye is our attempt at Church in the Boro to help regular attenders do just this: to keep our mission statement at the center of our lives. If you're an athlete, then think of this time as the locker room session where your coach emphasizes once again the fundamentals. If you're a student, then see this time as the professor emphasizing once again what's going to be on the next test. If you're an employee, then see this time as the boss emphasizing once again the company directive. If you're a Christian, then Sunday mornings are the time when we put the bullseye of the church's mission in front of you once again.
We open at 10 am sharp with a powerful song meant to call our minds, voices, and hearts to attention and worship to the one and only living God. This is followed by a brief welcome, introduction, and explanation of what to expect that morning. Then we unleash ourselves in the praise and adoration King Jesus deserves through several biblical reflections. Dancing and shouting our praise to God are both biblically-expected reflections of a heart that's been set free from sin. Singing in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is the reflection of a heart freshly filled with the Holy Spirit. And exercising the spiritual gifts, and especially tongues and the prophetic word, are comforting, encouraging, and upbuilding to those who are gathered.
The last song in our set is our "giving" song in which we encourage people to continue to their praise and worship through giving, followed by a release of children to their respective ministries. Then, we continue in worship through the preaching of the Word of God, which often combines exposition (verse-by-verse teaching) with a particular topical focus based on where we believe God is leading us as a local church.
The preaching of the Word leads us into the very center of the bullseye, which we believe is the Lord's Supper. It is a symbolic meal we eat of each week in remembrance and celebration of the work and ministry of Jesus Christ for us, and which He offers to the world to reconcile everything to Himself (Col. 1:20).
Everything we enjoy on this day is only made possible through the finished work of Jesus as the only acceptable substitute on our behalf to the Father. We're sinners. We need a substitute. That substitute is Jesus Christ. He rescues, redeems and regenerates people through His message of good news and the power of His Holy Spirit. Then, the Spirit refreshes, reinvigorates, and revitalizes our hearts with the same good news through a devotion to singing, koinonia, the Lord's Supper, the preaching of the Word, and through giving (Acts 2:42-46).
Ultimately, the focus on the bullseye has one main purpose for us at Church in the Boro: to fill our hearts afresh so that we can stay focused on the mission. Therefore, when Sunday morning is over, the goal is simple and clear: expand the kingdom of God to the nations throughout the rest of the week by doing what we just did that very morning...worshiping God.
If you are a believer who knows you're lacking focus in life, or if you have sensed that you may be lacking that one, overarching, driving purpose for your life, the Bullseye where you'll find it, and Church in the Boro is the place to pursue it.