Mission - Jeremiah's Vow

Lent 2020 | Day 25: “Go”

The irony of today’s word focus is not hard to notice!

The world has virtually stopped. What was once hustle and bustle has now become still and quiet. This is the world ruled by an invisible adversary.

And yet, in the midst of all of this God has called us to be a people who go. Go the extra mile. Go for the sake of others. Go into the highways and byways of the world. God to the least of these.

Just because we have to be more aware of the threats around us does not relieve us of the charge to go. We may have to get more creative. We may have to do things we never thought we could. We may even have to step far outside our comfort zone. But the admonition to go is about making an assessment of our own hearts. Are we willing to consider others before ourself?

It can be quite challenging to serve one another. It can even be down right difficult to serve a stranger. But, the call to go is at its core a call to serve. What many of us don’t realize is that we will discover the assignment or task when we get moving. Not before.

God wants to see us get up and move. Then he can see if we are being serious. Not everyone is ready to take a step like that. But, I think only difficult step is the first one. After that I just becomes a habit.

Until we see that the biggest issue with going is in the heart, we will find ourselves worried about the where we will be sent. Don’t worry about it. If God is in it, you will never be alone.

Lent 2020 | Day 19: “Sent”

What I find most interesting about this moment in history for the church, is that it is redefining what it means to be sent.

The focus for today’s devotion is “sent.”

I find today’s focus a little ironic considering the fact that mass population quarantines are being recommended or enforced. And yet, in the world we live in, we can still find ways to live as people on mission.

What I find most interesting about this moment in history for the church, is that it is redefining (not in the sense of a new meaning, but in that of returning to the original sense) what it means to be sent. Being sent is not about location. It is about mindset.

Because of our new birth, we have been made Ambassadors for Christ. We have been given a mission to which we must all submit. Our jobs are not an impediment to being sent, it is the place we have been sent to. Our recreation is not a distraction to being sent, it is an opportunity to demonstrate the normalcy of our “sent-ness.” Our families are not hindrances to being sent, they are the first recipients of who we have become in Christ.

What the pandemic has done, what it is doing is reacquainting us with who we, those who claim membership in Christ’s body, were always bent to be and what we were always meant to be doing. This is quite remarkable.

I don’t know why we must live thru these days. I don’t know what life in this world will look like after it’s all over. But, I am growing in my sense of this, we will not be able to look at ourselves the same. We will have changed. My hope is that it will be for the better. I pray that we will take advantage of the time we are being given.

The urgency of the situation requires an equally urgent response. The world needs to know that God has spoken and when we who have responded to his call respond, we will respond like Jesus who was sent into the world. We will say, “I am ready. Send me.”

The Ambassador Way, Pt. 3 | Embrace Your Mission

When you know who you are and why you exist, how you are going to live out these two realities is vitally important.

Introduction

This is the third article in series about The Ambassador Way. This is how I have described what it means to live out our identity as called out group of believers. If we are going to make sense of what we are supposed to do, we have to intentionally move through each of these phases. Each phase helps us stay focused on the main thing for our church.

So, once you have defined your identity as a church and have articulated your vision, the next step is to embrace your mission. When you know who you are and why you exist, how you are going to live out these two realities is vitally important. Continue reading “The Ambassador Way, Pt. 3 | Embrace Your Mission”

“Faith is…” Series, Pt. 7 | Faith is… Consummating the Mission of God

“²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, ²⁵ of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, ²⁶ the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. ²⁷ To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. ²⁹For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Colossians 1:24-29)

What does it mean to consummate? Webster defines consummate in this way: “To finish, complete, make perfect or achieve.” So the question that we have to ask ourselves is this: In what way, or in what sense, does God’s Mission need to be completed. What is lacking? Continue reading ““Faith is…” Series, Pt. 7 | Faith is… Consummating the Mission of God”