Recipient, Apprentice, and Messenger of Grace
Sunday night our CityReach team had our last preparation session before our departure for this grand adventure.
It was a bit… awkward.
Well, it was for a moment now and then.
Of course, we could say the same for our time of commissioning prayer as various individuals came along and put their hands on our shoulders as they prayed for us. Some people are rather uncomfortable with such things. But then I suppose that’s part of the point of this whole project.
Well, sort of…
We were called this week to “Embrace the Mission.”
What mission? It is the sharing of the hope of new life made possible by Jesus’ death and resurrection until every creature on earth has heard from us and seen in us the truth of God’s unfathomable love.
As to how we approach that mission, we have to seek the vision that can only come from being fixated upon Jesus (it is born of worship). That’s the vision we were challenged to enlarge. But, let’s face it…we have a hard time embracing something for which we can only see the first step.
I have written before about my loathing of the stupid triptik – a device from days gone by that was basically a map of a desired journey that was chopped up into pieces and bound together. I hated that thing because I wanted to see the whole thing. I wanted to know the journey and not just the next step.
The reality is that the mission is so much bigger than me that I could not possibly see or understand it all. It’s so much greater than I am capable of comprehending. And I, like a single soldier among a great army must be fully, passionately, and unceasingly committed to the mission. Continue reading A Mission to Embrace
I’ve been in meetings this week with representatives from hundreds of churches – new and old – from around the world. I have missed this meeting the last few years, but I am enamored with the things I see God doing among us.
Our brother that was chosen to lead this meeting has challenged us with three very simple, very powerful phrases. The first one, “Exalt in Worship,” I must confess at first seemed a little plain to me. But he pointed out that all that we ever hope to accomplish in the kingdom of God begins with acknowledging God for who He is…recognizing His worth…which is precisely the meaning of the word, “worship” – to see the worth of God.
As I have been reflecting on this idea, I realized that the most powerful things that God has done in my life have come out of a time of intimate experience of God’s presence. Continue reading Born of Worship
