The Holy Spirit in Mission

     The Holy Spirit had a huge impact on the church after Jesus ascended to heaven. What Luke makes apparent in Acts is that the Holy Spirit is a confirmation that Jesus is still alive and at work in His people. The Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus in the life of a Christian. As seen all throughout the gospels, Jesus’ mission was to work to the fulfill God’s mission. Because the Holy Spirit is another part of Jesus and God, the Trinity, when we have the Spirit in us, we have the same mission as God. The Holy Spirit allows us to have the power, courage and strength of God to do missions.

     As I prayed with the presence of the Holy Spirit about missions, I prayed for those very things. I prayed for the empowerment and courage and strength of God to fill me daily as I live for His mission. I prayed for the people who I will interact with for the rest of my life, that God would already be working in hearts that I would be allowed to touch, and that He would be planting seeds for me to water as well as allowing me to plant seeds to be watered by others. I was inspired and empowered to be bold for God and pray more specifically about missions and God’s mission through me.

Syria

     Syria is a country of war. With different fighting groups and threats of terrorism, the people there do not have a sense of security. The recent expansion of ISIS has been especially prominent and threatening, not just to many Syrians, but also to the rest of the world. Being a Middle Eastern country, it is not a surprise that the majority of the people are Arabs, and the common religion is Islam. Major issues of prayer include peace and strength for the Christians in this country, the spreading of the gospel to the many Muslim people, and wisdom for the leaders of Syria and the world as war continues.

Missio Dei and the Great Commission

     The Great Commission, spoken by Jesus, says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” The Missio Dei, meaning “Mission of God,” is God’s mission is to build His kingdom throughout the world. Making disciples is the most effective way for Christians to do their part to build God’s kingdom, and is in fact a requirement as a follower of Jesus. As we can see in the Great Commission, Jesus is using His authority to demand we pursue God’s mission through discipleship.

     The idea of God’s mission to build His kingdom helps us to understand the Great Commission in a more pressing way. It reveals the urgency and importance of working to fulfill the Great Commission at all times. We will not experience the kingdom of God until His mission is fulfilled, and even though He could work without us, God chooses to use us. Our role as followers of God is to continually make disciples for His glory.

The Early Role of Barnabas

     Barnabas seems to me to be a man of strong character and faith. As a representative from the church in Jerusalem he had a lot of power in what he said, but he also faced a lot of potential conflict. Barnabas was given the task of determining Jesus’ reach by going to a city with a very different people group than Jerusalem. It was up to him to decide if the followers of Christ in Antioch were doing God’s will. The church in Antioch combined Jews, Greeks, Hebrews and Hellenists as people who could receive Jesus into their lives. The book of Acts shows us that Barnabas saw the variety as good and encouraged the believers. This encourages me to be more accepting of people who claim to follow Jesus based on their love for Him rather than the immediate differences we seem to have. This also challenges me to be more open to the idea that the good news of Jesus is not limited to people who are just like me that I am comfortable with. I think that the example of Barnabas should not only challenge me but the church as well. Because of his obedience in God’s will to be accepting of every type of person, the church has a high standard to meet in reaching everyone. This event demands action from the church today to continue to accept people who are different and to be specific in reaching everyone from this city, to the next, to the world.

Worship and Missions

John Piper talks about missions as being second to worship. The article talks about worship as a passion for God which overflows into sharing joy with others. It also points out that God is who everything is about, not human beings. I agree. Missions is not about people doing something to please God . Missions is about sharing God’s plan of intimacy with everyone in the world. That is what worship is. Worship is being intimate with God.

     Doing missions is a byproduct of worship. Without regularly experiencing joy and intimacy with the Creator, telling other people about His greatness is impossible. God created humans to praise Himself and magnifies Himself in our lives when we worship Him and understand His presence. Only when we understand and live that out can we prepare ourselves to do missions.

Psalm 67

Psalm 67

     1. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine on us - 2. so that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. 3. May the peoples praise You, God; may all the peoples praise You. 4. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the people with equity and guide the nations of the earth. 5. May the peoples praise You, God; may all the peoples praise You. 6. The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. 7. May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear Him. 

     

     Psalm 67 effectively combines the idea of worship and missions. This entire psalm is a praise sung directly to God. A dominant theme is praise to God in gratitude of His blessings. Worship is encouraged through singing and the people are told to praise four times within seven verses. Verses 2, 5 and 7 talk about God's name being known all over the world. The author recognizes the importance of every person knowing who God is, His plan of salvation and how worthy He is of praise and awe.