2) Teach, nurture and baptise new Christians

As we live out the calling to be a blessing to Milton Keynes and the rest of the world, the five marks of mission does something quite extraordinary. Many of us just want to roll up our sleeves and get “out there” to do some good. Don’t worry, we will. And it’s going to be epic; but first we’re told to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom, and then we’re instructed by Jesus to “Go and make disciples”. We’ve been called to make the name of Jesus known here in our city, but also to help people learn how to follow Jesus too: to get to know him and become more like him. The audacious claim of Jesus is that as we do that, we will already begin our important work of being a blessing to those around us. It doesn’t mean making people look exactly like our own version of what we think a Christian should be. It means encouraging, inviting and challenging each other as we all seek to become more like Jesus. And the crazy thing is that as we do, we’re going to make the final three marks of mission so much more fruitful.