Confidence

From the church's that I'm familiar with I'd have to say that confidence is where we lack. So many people are so comfortable in their little pew seats that they have learned to just sit back and relax. It may be more of an abundance of selfishness rather than a lacking in confidence, but with this situation I believe they run together. Not only are we so selfish that we can only think about our own needs and desires, but we also lack the confidence to even begin to reach out to people. I've seen such a lack of confidence that people won't even pray out loud anymore, and we go for the silent prayer so we don't make people feel uncomfortable. How in the world do we plan to share our faith with strangers and people outside of our congregations if we don't have enough courage to pray out loud or share our testimony in our own bible study groups? So what can we do? Like anything, I believe training in such areas of our lives need to be improved. Practical, simple, just go out and do it. An even better idea would be for the church to start a training course in evangelism where the members learn how to evangelize and then go out into the community and share the gospel, and hopefully the constant practice will turn into a lifestyle where we seize each opportunity to act and speak as witnesses, gifted by the Spirit, to the life changing events of Christ's power and grace in our lives.

Two in One; Bearers of God's Mission, Bearers of the Spirit

The first instance where we see the Holy Spirit in action is when all the disciples begin to speak in tongues, and the significance of this is the inclusiveness of grace for all the peoples of every nation. The  gift of the Spirit to the church is Christ's fulfillment in the Great Commission to be with his people always, until the very end of the age. The Spirit came to the church to clear any boundaries between race, culture, and status and to make salvation available for all who call upon the name of Jesus and who act according to the grace they have received. The Holy Spirit is vital to God's Mission. The reason Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Spirit is not that they couldn't spread the news of Jesus and his resurrection without it, but once it descended on them they would show the world through their actions as well as their words that they have the same power and the same Spirit that Jesus had. With the Spirit the disciples become "bearers of God's mission."

Disciple Disciple Disciple

The Mission of God is the complete inauguration of his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. How does this "Mission of God" reflect in the Great Commission? "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I commanded you, and surely I am with you until the end of the age"(Matthew 28:19-20). God uses his people to carry out missions, which is the call to make disciples of all nations out of an overflow of delight in the Lord, this is the overall Mission of God. His kingdom is inaugurated through the church, but how can his kingdom advance if there are not disciples of Christ that make disciples that make disciples? It can't be done! That is why the Great Commission is so important to the Mission of God!

A Dispute of Culture and Ethnicity

Barnabas was faced with a big challenge with the early church in Antioch and throughout the Near East, bringing together Jews and Gentiles. Today we face the same problem that Barnabas faced, we have multiple ethnicities, cultures, and beliefs in the world, and we are called to reach them all regardless of the disputes and differences between them. Barnabas encouraged the believers in Antioch, both Jew and Gentile, Greek and Hebrew to continue in the faith and to welcome all who joined them. So how would this be practical for us today in our separate communities, separate states, separate countries, and separate continents? First, like Barnabas, encourage a connection. I've noticed that Southern Baptist Christians have a problem with joining with groups that have different beliefs, cultures, and backgrounds than ourselves. Are we like Antioch? I believe so, we have caucasians, hispanics, african americans, etc. and in each of those we have people with different backgrounds and culture, and then different denominations in which we categorize ourselves with. It's sad! We don't even have to say it, our actions alone show that, "Oh, I'm a white baptist, so I'm going to hang out with other white baptists and won't give a second thought to partner with those Catholic's or presbyterian's, maybe I'll ask those methodist's and nondenominational's to come help with an event every once in a while though." Barnabas encouraged the Jewish converts to accept the Gentile converts, and even further than that, the Greek Christians to accept the Hebrew Christians. This is an encouragement to me to accept those who are different than me, a white southern baptist, and connect better with other believers that come from a different background and culture than myself, and even if they have slightly different views of Christianity than I do. As long as they know Christ they are still my brothers and sisters, and we are both obligated to take the good news of the Gospel of Christ Jesus to all nations as one body of believers.

Tell of His Wonderful Works

This psalm is an awesome example of worship and missions. It praises God for who he is, and exalts him for all that he has done, and then states what he has done for his people. This is what missions is supposed to be, an overjoy and overflow of praise and delight in God that produces an expression in words and actions through his children of what he has done in their lives.


Psalm 105

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
    make known his deeds among the peoples!
² Sing to him, sing praises to him;
    tell of all his wondrous works!
³ Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
⁴ Seek the Lord and his strength;
    seek his presence continually!
⁵ Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
    his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
⁶ O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
    children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

⁷ He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.
⁸ He remembers his covenant forever,
    the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
⁹ the covenant that he made with Abraham,
    his sworn promise to Isaac,
¹⁰ which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹¹ saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
    as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹² When they were few in number,
    of little account, and sojourners in it,
¹³ wandering from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people,
¹⁴ he allowed no one to oppress them;
    he rebuked kings on their account,
¹⁵ saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
    do my prophets no harm!”

¹⁶ When he summoned a famine on the land
    and broke all supply^[a] of bread,
¹⁷ he had sent a man ahead of them,
    Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
¹⁸ His feet were hurt with fetters;
    his neck was put in a collar of iron;
¹⁹ until what he had said came to pass,
    the word of the Lord tested him.
²⁰ The king sent and released him;
    the ruler of the peoples set him free;
²¹ he made him lord of his house
    and ruler of all his possessions,
²² to bind^[b] his princes at his pleasure
    and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³ Then Israel came to Egypt;
    Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
²⁴ And the Lord made his people very fruitful
    and made them stronger than their foes.
²⁵ He turned their hearts to hate his people,
    to deal craftily with his servants.

²⁶ He sent Moses, his servant,
    and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
²⁷ They performed his signs among them
    and miracles in the land of Ham.
²⁸ He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
    they did not rebel^[c] against his words.
²⁹ He turned their waters into blood
    and caused their fish to die.
³⁰ Their land swarmed with frogs,
    even in the chambers of their kings.
³¹ He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
    and gnats throughout their country.
³² He gave them hail for rain,
    and fiery lightning bolts through their land.
³³ He struck down their vines and fig trees,
    and shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came,
    young locusts without number,
³⁵ which devoured all the vegetation in their land
    and ate up the fruit of their ground.
³⁶ He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
    the firstfruits of all their strength.

³⁷ Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,
    and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
³⁸ Egypt was glad when they departed,
    for dread of them had fallen upon it.

³⁹ He spread a cloud for a covering,
    and fire to give light by night.
⁴⁰ They asked, and he brought quail,
    and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.
⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
    it flowed through the desert like a river.
⁴² For he remembered his holy promise,
    and Abraham, his servant.

⁴³ So he brought his people out with joy,
    his chosen ones with singing.
⁴⁴ And he gave them the lands of the nations,
    and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' toil,
⁴⁵ that they might keep his statutes
    and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!

Caught Up in Working Rather Than Delighting

What I learned from "Let the Nations be Glad" is to simply delight in God, and the grace that we have through Christ. I always get caught up thinking that I have to be doing this and that for God when what he wants first and foremost is for me to delight in him, and then that delight in my heart for God prompts me to go and talk to others about him. A lot of times I would think I would be serving God, but now I understand that God cannot be served like other gods, but made himself a servant so that our only obligation is to delight in who he is! This blows my mind. It makes almost everything that I thought I was doing as a service to God look like a selfish actions, and really... it was, but now it is an action produced from passion, delight, and love for my God!