No Approval Yet...But God's Plan Continues to Unfold
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV)
God is on a mission to reconcile the world to Himself. And all who are in Christ, are His ambassadors.
I had the opportunity to share my testimony last night, my story of how God has changed my life. One pivotal point in my story was two years ago after a missions trip to Thailand and Laos. Jason and I have had several missions opportunities in our life, and typically we’d come home asking the Lord if He is calling us to serve Him overseas. But not after this trip. Instead, we came back realizing that if we aren’t viewing our current place as a “mission field”, then would we really do that in a different country?
God’s mission is to reconcile the world to Himself. Jesus says in Acts 1:8 that we will be His witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. This means it starts where you are at, and extends to your city, your country, and to the entire world.
We came home convicted about how and if we were being obedient to sharing the message God has given us, then challenged to begin looking at this differently.
We wanted to begin looking at where we were at as our “mission field”. For us, it would not of made sense to stop everything we were involved in and attend church activities every night of the week - you have to be where there are unbelievers. Instead, we wanted to take what we were involved in and turn our view of those things to missional opportunities. We would meet neighbors while walking our dog, and play with people from all over the world on a soccer field, or looking at who we work with as an opportunity to share.
We began to look at the circumstances we were as launching points of our “mission field.” We began to see what we may have in common with others to begin building a relationship - maybe it’s being a ‘young’ :) couple, maybe it’s being a pet owner, into sports, love Africa, from upstate New York, or gardening. It might be the harder circumstances you are in that God will use to show you who to reach out to. Maybe that’s a couple dealing with infertility, or someone else waiting to bring their child home who is on the other side of the world.
So as our mindset has changed, God has shown us more each day how He wants to use us on His mission here and now. We still have the conviction that the Gospel needs to go to those unreached as we saw in Thailand - those who don’t have any Christians going to them, and those who may have Christians in there presence but satan has such a stronghold, that very few are choosing to follow the one, true God. We have looked at where we live, and look at people groups all over the world who need a chance to hear, we’ve asked God if these two convictions will intersect? Our new mindset on where our “mission field” is, and those unreached for the Gospel.
This past week, God confirmed that the opportunities for Him to use us will intersect. Literally. As we discovered a website that maps out where people groups are in our city (people groups from all over the world are in Indianapolis), I am blown away by the fact that their are over 400 Thai people living in our city, in a community 5 minutes from our house!!!
The Thai people are unreached with the Gospel - they desperately need the chance to hear and respond to the Gospel. What Christ did for them on the cross this very week many years ago. And, we have a little Thai boy coming into our home who may make an easier connection for us with them. And, that large Thai community in our city is 5 minutes from us! What an intersection God has shown us!
God’s attention to detail, His direction, His guidance, His patience as we aren’t always obedient to Him, His grace to give us second chances to please and worship Him…we see more each day how we might not understand what God is doing at first in our lives, but as time rolls on and we begin to see more, we are blown away by how great His plan is. And, I’m sure as Jesus died on the cross, many questioned why. But three days later, sin and death was conquered, I am blown away by how great God’s plan was because He loved us first!
(2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV)
This week is such a great reminder that it is what Christ did for us on that cross, that gives us the opportunity to become a new creation. What does that mean? Turn from our sin and make Jesus our boss!
God is on a mission to reconcile the world to Himself. And all who are in Christ, are His ambassadors.
I had the opportunity to share my testimony last night, my story of how God has changed my life. One pivotal point in my story was two years ago after a missions trip to Thailand and Laos. Jason and I have had several missions opportunities in our life, and typically we’d come home asking the Lord if He is calling us to serve Him overseas. But not after this trip. Instead, we came back realizing that if we aren’t viewing our current place as a “mission field”, then would we really do that in a different country?
God’s mission is to reconcile the world to Himself. Jesus says in Acts 1:8 that we will be His witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. This means it starts where you are at, and extends to your city, your country, and to the entire world.
We came home convicted about how and if we were being obedient to sharing the message God has given us, then challenged to begin looking at this differently.
We wanted to begin looking at where we were at as our “mission field”. For us, it would not of made sense to stop everything we were involved in and attend church activities every night of the week - you have to be where there are unbelievers. Instead, we wanted to take what we were involved in and turn our view of those things to missional opportunities. We would meet neighbors while walking our dog, and play with people from all over the world on a soccer field, or looking at who we work with as an opportunity to share.
We began to look at the circumstances we were as launching points of our “mission field.” We began to see what we may have in common with others to begin building a relationship - maybe it’s being a ‘young’ :) couple, maybe it’s being a pet owner, into sports, love Africa, from upstate New York, or gardening. It might be the harder circumstances you are in that God will use to show you who to reach out to. Maybe that’s a couple dealing with infertility, or someone else waiting to bring their child home who is on the other side of the world.
So as our mindset has changed, God has shown us more each day how He wants to use us on His mission here and now. We still have the conviction that the Gospel needs to go to those unreached as we saw in Thailand - those who don’t have any Christians going to them, and those who may have Christians in there presence but satan has such a stronghold, that very few are choosing to follow the one, true God. We have looked at where we live, and look at people groups all over the world who need a chance to hear, we’ve asked God if these two convictions will intersect? Our new mindset on where our “mission field” is, and those unreached for the Gospel.
This past week, God confirmed that the opportunities for Him to use us will intersect. Literally. As we discovered a website that maps out where people groups are in our city (people groups from all over the world are in Indianapolis), I am blown away by the fact that their are over 400 Thai people living in our city, in a community 5 minutes from our house!!!
The Thai people are unreached with the Gospel - they desperately need the chance to hear and respond to the Gospel. What Christ did for them on the cross this very week many years ago. And, we have a little Thai boy coming into our home who may make an easier connection for us with them. And, that large Thai community in our city is 5 minutes from us! What an intersection God has shown us!
God’s attention to detail, His direction, His guidance, His patience as we aren’t always obedient to Him, His grace to give us second chances to please and worship Him…we see more each day how we might not understand what God is doing at first in our lives, but as time rolls on and we begin to see more, we are blown away by how great His plan is. And, I’m sure as Jesus died on the cross, many questioned why. But three days later, sin and death was conquered, I am blown away by how great God’s plan was because He loved us first!
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