Saturday August 4, 2012

Pick a missionary that your church supports and write them a letter of encouragement.

Read Genesis 12:1-3. Galatians 3

 

Abram, later called Abraham, was chosen by God for a special mission and received from God great promises. One of those promises was that all the families/peoples (the Hebrew word can mean either) of the earth would be blessed through him. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

 

As we turn to the New Testament, we see that believers in Christ Jesus are the true seed of Abraham. Believers are the spiritual offspring of Abraham and receive that promise by faith just as Abraham did.

 

But another issue comes to light as we consider the promise to Abraham. God told him that all the peoples of the world would be blessed through him. As the recipients of that promise to Abraham, our responsibility is to continue taking the promise to all the families/peoples of the earth. This as we saw earlier this week, is the church’s mandate. That mandate forms a large part of the work of the church.

 

Each and every single person in the church has this mandate, even though we may not all see ourselves as missionaries. The work starts right here in our own backyard. Each and every single believer is called to be sharing the good news with friends and family. Each and every single believer can make the most of every opportunity. Each and every single believer can be a shining light for the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Others will be called to a more formal ministry or outreach or mission position. Some may be called to sell up and go overseas or to another part of their own country. But even with these who are so called, each one of us are partners with them. They need our prayers. They need our practical support. They need our financial support. The church can only be as generous to missionaries as the church is generous in its giving and tithing. If the individuals are generous the church can afford to be generous.  If you are not on a formal mission then please be supporting those who are. Support them in prayer. Support them financially. Support them in any practical way that you can - write letters to them, send them the sermons from church, go and visit them if you can and so on.

 

The bottom line is simple. The church is an army not an audience. We are called to proactively  take the gospel out to the nations, not to sit and watch a weekly show on stage at our church.

 

Prayer:

¨ Think of the Missionaries that your church supports. Pray for each missionary, missionary family by name.

¨ Pray for the church to form a vital and organic mission support team or task force so that mission becomes a high priority on our agenda. Pray that God would raise up people to work on mission and mission support in your congregation.

 

This week’s reading notes are taken from ‘It’s Not a Salvation Issue???’  Theological Implications of Reinterpreting Genesis 1-3.’ by Pastor Esa Hukkinen. Please feel free to get a copy of the entire booklet from the church office and to pass it around to others.