The Mission

One of the most oft quotes verses in the entire Bible is Jeremiah 29:11:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Truly, it is a great verse. Except that no one ever reads poor verse 10... This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and ful ll my good promise to bring you back to this place.”

Wait. What? The Israelites had to wait 70 years for God’s plan? Most of them wouldn’t even be alive to see his promise ful lled. And yet, God had not forgotten them, nor had he even left them on their own, because just as God has always had plans for tomorrow he has always had plans for his people today.

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says... seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
[Jeremiah 29:4–7 NIV11]

And so this is our mission. To serve the city in which we have been placed. Yes, we dream of tomorrow–A world where it is done on earth as in heaven–but that hope is not a passive one. It lives and breaths as we adopt the rhythms of our city and discover what it means to be good neighbours, good friends, and good citizens in the common life of Kensington.