Category: Mission (Page 7 of 26)

The congregation in Antioch was blessed with a number of prophet-preachers and teachers: Barnabas, Simon, nicknamed Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, an advisor to the ruler Herod, Saul. One day as they were worshiping God—they were also fasting as they waited for guidance—the Holy Spirit spoke: “Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do.” So they commissioned them. In that circle of intensity and obedience, of fasting and praying, they laid hands on their heads and sent them off (Acts 13:1-3, The Message).

The Holy Spirit is integral to the work of missions. More to the point, the Holy Spirit is integral to any successful work of missions. We see from Acts 1:8 that the Holy Spirit brings power. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit in-dwelt the believers in dramatic fashion and launched a new missionary age.

The Holy Spirit is the source of power for those who go; power abundant and never ending. This is an incredible promise. Let this soak in for a minute. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Three in one. God dwells in you and God goes with you. Afraid of what might lie ahead? That’s natural. But the all-powerful God dwells in you as you go. Intimidated by the people you meet? God, who knit each of those people together in their mother’s womb, who knows every hair on their head, greets them with you. Worried about visiting a land where nobody appears to follow Jesus? Remember that the “earth is the Lord’s and all it contains” (Psalm 24:1). The rightful owner, the Master, the King of all lands and countries and seas and presidents and emirs and dictators and kings and queens is traveling with you. Of course, none of these places are new to the Lord. He’s been there all along. People have just lost him along the way, and you’re there to help them rediscover him.

Through every bit of this discovery process the Holy Spirit is involved. When you ask someone to become a disciple of Jesus, you are asking them to change their entire reason for living. This decision will change their life, their family, their future. One decision changes everything. We cannot change a person in this way. But the Holy Spirit can and the Holy Spirit does all the time. As we go, our success does not depend on us, but on our reliance on the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Have you every experienced the Holy Spirit clearly at work in your life? Take a minute and pray and ask God to fill you with his Holy Spirit.

Are you willing to follow wherever the Holy Spirit leads? Will you trust your fears and your future to the care of the Holy Spirt? As you pray, continue to pray for the courage to follow wherever the Lord may lead.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (Luke 10:1-2, English Standard Version).

Jesus sent out his followers in pairs to prepare the way for his teaching and healing tour. Then he gave this interesting directive, to ask the Lord of the harvest for more workers. Jesus told them, and tells us, to pray to God for more missionaries. Why? Because people are ready to respond! Today there are plenty of people ready to follow Jesus. The lack is not money, or expertise or messaging; it’s people willing to go.

Most of the world is open to missions, maybe not every single place, but open it is. We have technology to help us get there, we have the ability to share our message, and while we often lack funding, that’s still not the primary issue. The main obstacle is that there remains a need for laborers for the harvest, just like when Jesus shared this request with his disciples so long ago.

Pray for committed men and women who will carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. As you pray, consider the radical idea that you might just be the answer to your own prayer. Maybe you’re the one missing from the labor pool. Is Jesus calling you to work in His harvest field?

As you ponder this proposition, pray for courage to follow wherever the Lord may lead.

Jesus told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world” (Acts 1:8, The Message).

Isn’t it interesting to think about the people who heard these words of Jesus and the world in which they lived? They heard the call to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, places they knew. They lived there, walked there, slept, ate and sneezed there. They spoke the language and knew the customs. They had favorite restaurants, or at least favorite foods. Although there were many differences, it was familiar.

You have to wonder what ran through their minds when they heard “ends of the earth?” The boundaries of the Roman Empire? Egypt and beyond? Persia and India? Were they afraid they’d sail off the edge of the world? They would have known little of Northern Europe and Eastern Asia, and nothing of the Americas. How did they feel about the ends of the earth? How do you feel about the ends of the earth?

Most of us are “ends of the earth” people. That is, we were born and raised and became followers of Jesus in a part of the world that fits into Jesus’ ends of the earth construct. Likely, you aren’t from anywhere near Jerusalem or Judea or Samaria. We had the privilege of hearing and understanding the gospel in our native land and language because a succession of men and women took seriously the call to the ends of the earth. Our faith is real to us because someone, or many someones, acted on the words of Jesus.

John Calvin, the great reformer, wrote these words in his introduction to his commentary on Ephesians, “The gospel does not fall like rain from the clouds, but is carried by the hands of men wherever it will go.”

Jesus said to go to the ends of the earth, to the whole world, to be his witness and to make disciples. As we’ve received this gospel, this gift and this teaching, it’s now our turn to go, our turn to carry the good news to the ends of the earth.

Is there an “ends of the earth” location God is laying on your heart? Ask God to show you the role He wants you to play in carrying his message throughout the world. Then, pray for the courage to follow wherever the Lord may lead.

Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-29, The Message).

A dozen or so men and women gathered on a hillside, warm under the bright son. Over the last few weeks they witnessed a series of events unparalleled in human history. These were the most committed followers of Jesus of Nazareth and they came to this lonely spot to hear him teach. This would all be beyond belief if they were not experiencing it themselves, as Jesus hung dead on a cross only a few days before. But they’ve since seen him alive and spoken to him and touched him. One even stuck his hand in the wound on Jesus’ side. Jesus has eaten with them and reassured them. It’s been a joyous, miraculous celebration of Jesus. However, Jesus said he would not stay long and this was one of the last times together with these, his most devoted disciples.

So, what did Jesus tell these faithful followers? What instructions did he leave them? How did he encourage them to carry on? His directions were quite simple. But like all that Jesus taught, in his simplicity lies a depth of profound meaning.

Jesus told his disciples to GO. He told them to make more disciples, disciples from all nations. He let them know that his vision was not just local, but encompassed Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.
Picture it. A handful of his followers, mostly uneducated, certainly not powerful or wealthy or well connected. Sitting on a hill at the edge of the empire in a subjugated country. Jesus told them to go and make disciples of all the nations. What did they do next? They spread out over the world.

Jesus’ command to go and make disciples is as fresh today as it was on the hillside 2,000 years ago. What part might you play in this great commission? Where could you go?

Ask the Lord these questions, and then pray for courage to follow wherever the Lord may lead.