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Mission, Love and Restoring Relationships. 17/08/25 - Eoghan Cosgrave
1 – Thank you for the invitation to share from God’s word today
Greetings from Toulouse International Church and the Alliance family in France, AECM France.
Self-presentation - My name is Eoghan COSGRAVE, Irish, Living in France over half of my life with my wife Brigitte
2 – Serve throughout the world as a Mission Mobiliser with the Alliance World Fellowship, which is at its core, a Missions movement bringing the good news to the nations.
Fellowship of national Alliance churches – a Family of equals
80 Countries, where a national church exists – 22 000+ churches
6.4 million believers – a Family of equals – passionate about sharing the Gospel and missions
3 - Alliance Family
People from all nations, for all nations
Acts 1:8 family, based on verse 8 of the first chapter of the book of Acts
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
This is why the Alliance is a missions movement bringing the good news to the ends of the earth
4 – God’s vision for English-Speaking Church of Mirepoix
Joy of leading a vision casting workshop with the church Leadership Team identifying the vision, or calling, that God has given your church, the English-Speaking Church of Mirepoix.
Every church has the same mission Go and make Disciples of all nations!
But each church has its own specific character and its own specific calling.
Just as we, as individuals, have our own specific character and our own specific calling.
At the end of the vision casting workshop, we came to the revelation that the specific calling for the English-Speaking Church of Mirepoix is to be a church where people find family and friendship as they enjoy getting to know God, his love and his peace.
This is a great vision statement as it is all about relationships with each other finding family and friendship and all about a relationship with God getting to know God, getting to know his love, getting to know his peace, and ENJOYING getting to do these things!
Consequently, the title of the sermon that I feel God has put on my heart today is Mission, Love and Restoring Relationships, with relationships at the core!
which is completed in phase with the calling that God has placed on your church.
5 - Mission is all about loving your neighbour, not simply just preaching the good news.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in the first verse of Chapter 13 of First Corinthians.
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” 1 Corinthians 13:1
I hope that you do not see me as a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal today!
Mission is all about loving your neighbour, wherever or whoever they may be – this also is the second part of the Greatest Commandment
Mark 12:30-31
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
6 - Loving your neighbour is about having a loving relationship with them, not simply just being a good neighbour.
God has designed us and created us for loving relationships!
God created:
1. mankind to have a relationship with mankind
2. the world and gave mankind dominion over all of creation
3. man and woman to be one, in a loving relationship
Sin entered the world and destroyed these relationships 1 – 2 – 3
Jesus came to restore these relationships by his sacrifice on the cross 1–2–3
Because of sin, we are surrounded by broken relationships everywhere – which only Jesus can heal(list) – Estate agent?
Even people who seem to have it all together, very often they are hiding broken relationships.
7 – Our calling / our mission, as followers of Christ, is to help people restore their relationship with God, helping people to get to know God, to get to know his love, to get to know his peace
We can only do this with the help of God's Holy Spirit – It is not about us and what we can do, it is about God’s power in us
It is about God’s love in us, about when we overflow with His Love and love others the way He loves them – when we love others the way Jesus loves them - when we see others the way Jesus sees them
It is about God’s grace in us, when we overflow with His Grace in a way that impacts others for Christ.
How can you love others if you haven’t, first of all, experienced the love of our living God in your own life?
To love others the way that God loves them.
if you have yet to experience the love of our living God in your own life, feel free to come and speak with Martin or myself after the service
Each and everyone of us is called to this mission, to be a missionary – it is not a task to be completed, but a passion, a love to be shared
God has dispersed people all throughout history – even British and Irish people to the South of France!
This is all part of God’s plan to send missionaries everywhere to reach all peoples
God even brings people to our doorstep, giving us the opportunity to build loving relationships with them.
Sometimes he has us move our own doorstep to another country, giving us more opportunities to build loving relationships with other people.
8 – The Church – the body of local believers
I believe that every local church should be focussed on
Bringing people together into loving RELATIONSHIPS, UNITED in Christ, being TRANSFORMED by Him to IMPACT the world for Him.
To Impact the world for Him through loving relationships
This is the vision that God has given to his church in Toulouse, Toulouse International Church
Not just to welcome and love people but being family for people who don’t have family
Whether due to geographical reasons, cultural reasons or broken relationships
Helping them restore their relationships, with God, and with others
This is who we are in the Alliance Family
People from all nations, for all nations.
Bringing people together into loving RELATIONSHIPS, UNITED in Christ, being TRANSFORMED by Him to IMPACT the world for Him.
To Impact the world for Him through deep loving relationships
9 – Conclusion – I want to leave you with an Exhortation
1 - Encourage you to go and love others this week, whoever they may be, wherever they may be from. even if it is difficult even if the person concerned is a difficult person
2 – Go and Mend broken relationships. Do you have any broken relationships in your life?
Go and make every effort to mend them, admitting where you were wrong, even if it only represents 1% of the reason behind the broken relationship. Own your share of the cause behind the broken relationship! That is your responsibility before God!
3 - Be family for those who need family
Whether due to geographical reasons, cultural reasons or broken relationships
Helping them restore their relationships, with God, and with others
Do not see culture and language as a barrier to building relationships, loving relationships. Use your culture and language to build loving relationships
Adopt other cultures to build loving relationships
Move out of your comfort zone
Be on fire for Christ, and let yourself be empowered by God's Holy Spirit
10 – Prayer
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