H7 Story: "On Mission Together"
On Mission Together
Written by Beth Anne Liebert
One of the goals of the marriage ministry is to create a paradigm shift in how couples view marriage. God designed marriage as a picture of the Gospel as seen through Christ’s relationship with the Church. Marriage is meant to be a mirror of this relationship to show the world what God is like. That is our mission. This is why we care so much about marriage at FCC!
Understanding our marriage in light of eternity underscores our call to live on mission with our spouse.
Understanding our marriage in light of eternity underscores our call to live on mission with our spouse.
“Too much is at stake! God created us for a purpose. We can’t afford to waste our lives. We can’t afford to waste our marriage by merely pursuing our own happiness.” ― Francis Chan, You and Me Forever: Marriage in Light of Eternity
Several years ago, Carl and Christa DelSorbo would have said they had a good marriage but they now realize they were missing out on a critical piece that God intended for them: being on mission together. They came to FCC looking for a church where they could more readily serve, not just individually but also together. As they jumped into serving on the Guest Team, Worship Team, and on the Marriage Team, they quickly realized that in serving together, they became aligned in so many other areas. They became more aware of greater things and a greater mission. They confessed,
“Before, we would often let the every day things of life and what our culture values continue to distract us.”
“But as Francis and Lisa Chan say in their book You and Me Forever, “while we cannot allow lesser things to destroy our marriages, we also cannot allow marriage to distract us from greater things.””
How does this show up practically? They now regularly discuss their expectations for the week, which keeps them from being distracted with frustrations when the other doesn’t meet their needs. It also keeps them aligned in the areas where they are on mission together. Carl and Christa shared that, “Our priorities have changed to carving out more time for areas where we serve, intentional time to strengthen our marriage, time of fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ, and more focused prayer. Being on mission together reminds us there is something much greater than ourselves, a war that is being fought, and rather than sit on the sidelines worrying about remodeling our kitchen or hanging that big screen TV, we need to be reminded of 2 Timothy 2:4, “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.””
Carl and Crista Larsen’s marriage has also benefited from this paradigm shift. They joined FCC a few years ago, looking for godly community. In addition to faithfully serving in Kids Min and Tech, and after attending re|engage, they joined the Marriage Team. They said,
“Serving together as a facilitator couple with FCC's Marriage Ministry has been a tremendous blessing for us! This shared experience of serving Christ has deepened our marriage bond, created special moments and memories in our marriage, and increased our intimacy and closeness through prayer, communication, and reading God's Word.”
“Being on mission together, with the common goal of furthering God's kingdom through nurturing strong marriage relationships has been both a joyful and humbling experience!”
In Philippians 1:17, Paul says he wants to hear that believers “… are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” How better to do this than with our spouse? May learning to view our marriage in light of eternity and Gospel mission transform our marriage for God’s eternal glory!
Posted in Tell the Story