then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to antioch with paul and barnabas. they sent judas called barsabbas, and silas, leading men among the brothers,with the following letter: [acts 15:22-23a]
the senders and the sent:
john piper has said that “missions exists because worship doesn’t” that is, that there are still people around the world–and in our neighborhoods who have not heard the gospel, and therefore do not worship, Jesus. the solution to this is that christians have always, always been a sending, a going, a proclaiming people–this is by our Lord’s design:
go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that i have commanded you. and behold, i am with you always, to the end of the age.” [matthew 28:19-20]
go! be sent! is the command–in our local body, it is the vision to send 50 out into full-time missions, by 2030, this vision is connected to our desire to be faithful to the command of sending–there must be goers, and there must be senders.
how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?and how are they to hear without someone preaching? and how are they to preach unless they are sent? as it is written, “how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” [romans 10:14-15]
like these early christians, we choose those from among us, and we are obligated to send–as you abide with Jesus today, ask God to give you a bigger vision for worship, how can you be a sent ambassador in your neighborhood, how can you play a part in the global sending of missionaries to places where Christ is not named?
the other day, i was with a brother and we went to a local indian market, when we spoke to a worker inside, the question quickly turned to spiritual things–when my friend asked him what he thought that christians believed, the man answered “they go to their church, they are kind and respectful and light candles to god” when my brother then told the truth of the gospel, he told us the way to get to heaven was “doing work, working hard, and the gods will reward you.” he said he would read a bible if he had one, so we gave him one with the admonition to read the book of john. even in our own city, there is a void, a darkness, a lack of knowledge of Jesus and his saving work. it may seem discouraging or daunting whether you are sent locally or globally, but you are sent, you and i are ambassadors:
but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. [1 peter 2:9]
we get to be part of sending global missionaries, and we get to be sent, remember your call today–ask the Lord to give you opportunities to proclaim the excellencies of Jesus Christ. please take some time to pray for our friend at the indian market, that the Word would penetrate his heart, and that our follow-up with him would bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.
~ ce