The Mission
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข What was the most surprising thing that happened to you this week?ย
โข Recall a time when an underdog won. Tell us about what you saw and experienced.ย
โข Tell us about the farthest place you have ever been from home. Why did you go there?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ข๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด.ย ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ณ:๐ญโ๐ฎ
(Read also ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ณ:๐ฏโ๐ณ.)
Godโs people are to know Him and make Him knownโin all the earth. This prayer and desire of the psalmist continued beyond the Old Testament into the New Testament when Jesus came to save us. It even continues today to us who have heard the gospel and are called to fulfill Godโs mission. We have a part to play so that the world can know and fear God. Godโs people todayโthe Churchโare not just to be recipients of Godโs blessing (a mission field) but are to proclaim Christ relentlessly to the world (a mission force). Today, letโs look at how God involves His people to take part in proclaiming His name to the nations.
๐ญ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ.
๐๐ข๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด. . . . ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ; ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ถ๐ด; ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ!ย ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ณ:๐ญโ๐ฎ, ๐ฒโ๐ณ
Christians have a God-given purpose to make Him known. In whichever field we find ourselves in, we are to exemplify Christ and proclaim Him in our words, actions, and lifestyle. By doing so, we reflect His greatness and goodness to the people around us. How will people know about God and His faithfulness to us unless we tell them? How can our everyday encounters be opportunities to present the gospel?ย
๐ฎ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐.ย
ย . . ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ; ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ!ย ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ณ:๐ฎโ๐ฏ
The scope of our lives and ministry is bigger than our local context. We are called to be a blessing to every nation, that all people may know and praise God. God does not see us the way we see ourselvesโHe sees how His way and power can be demonstrated through us in the world. Up to where do you pray the gospel would reach in your generation? How can our church be a blessing to the nations?ย
๐ฏ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑโ๐ ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐ถ๐บ.ย
๐๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ; ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ! ๐๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐บ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ. ๐๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ; ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ!ย ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ณ:๐ฏโ๐ฑ
In spite of all the hostility and division in the world today, Godโs heart is for people to rejoice in Him. He is worthy of all our praise. In this fallen world, we are His ambassadors, serving as His hands and feet, telling others about Him. We are privileged to proclaim Him and see His eternal plans come to pass. What do you think heaven will look like one day when people from every nation worship God together?ย
Our church is not just a mission field; we are a mission force, called to make Christ known wherever we are and wherever we go. Imagine what God can do through people wholly submitted to Him and devoted to fulfill His mission on the earth!
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Take some time to reflect on Matthew 28:18โ20 this week. Write your thoughts and be ready to share them next week.ย
โข What is the role of the church in reaching the nations? What do you think your role is in this? Do you see yourself participating in either praying, giving, or going?
โข As part of a global family of churches and ministries, how can you support and connect with cross-cultural missionaries and friends? How can you encourage one another to remain steadfast in fulfilling Godโs mission, even if you are in different places and contexts?ย
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His love for His creation, for our salvation, and for His plan of redemption.ย
โข Pray that our church would be a blessing to the nationsโa mission force in proclaiming the gospel. Pray that you would know and fulfill your role in this, wherever God places and leads you.ย
โข Pray that people in every nation would turn to God, fear Him, and follow Him. Ask God for more workers to be sent out, especially in the 113 nations where we do not have an Every Nation church yet.ย