February 16, 2024
I love missions. What a privilege it is to be able to bring, or send, or pray for the spread of, the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations! Some have never heard the words of life, and some have heard and never believed them to be beautiful and true. And we have those words of life in the proclamation of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every year our Missions Festival rolls around, I am thankful for how our missionaries and ministry partners encourage and spur me on to be more faithful in my praying, in my giving, in my own reaching the lost for Christ privately and publicly, and in having a worldwide vision for the work of God.
From my childhood and through my youth, missions has been a part of my experience as a disciple of Jesus. My parents were host families through our church for international students at LSU - we got to know believers from countries where it was difficult to be a Christian, like China and Pakistan. My church in high school and college (First Presbyterian Baton Rouge) took us on mission trips to Reynosa, Mexico, Mandeville, Jamaica, and the Yucatan Peninsula. Groups from that congregation went regularly to Russia. I thank God that everywhere I have had the privilege of serving after graduating from LSU, the people of God were already missions-minded, committed to supporting missionaries in every corner of the globe, and desirous to bring the gospel to the lost and to encourage the missionaries and the believers in the churches. I thank Him that as Pastor Carl shared with us last Sunday, missions has been in the DNA of POPC from its birth. What a privilege! What a responsibility!
Why do we engage in the work of missions?
Because God has promised that in Abraham's seed all the families of the earth, all the nations, shall be blessed (Genesis 12:3; 22:18).
Because Jesus has commissioned us to make disciples of all the nations, having gone out into the world baptizing and teaching them to obey all that He has commanded (Matthew 28:18-20).
Because God commands all people everywhere to repent - for a day has been fixed on which He will judge the world in righteousness by His Son, the man Christ Jesus (Acts 17:30-31).
Because apart from Christ all people everywhere are dead in sin, full of hopeless despair and the fear of death, unreconciled to God and slaves of sin, and desperately need the forgiviness, peace, hope, power, and life the gospel brings.
Because the Spirit has revealed that in the age to come, a great multitude from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages will be declaring that salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb (Revelation 7:9).
These motivations and more should move us to have a missionary spirit that longs to hear more of how God is working around the world, to give more generously and systematically, and to respond more faithfully to Jesus' call to serve in whatever way He might open up for us. I pray that our Missions Festival will bear much fruit in all of our lives, and I encourage you to consider prayerfully what sort of commitment you will make to missions in 2024. Obviously you can give or pray or go without filling out a commitment card or the online commitment form - but the act of making a commitment helps you to fix it more firmly in your heart and life.
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Please spread the word to any visitor you know who would like more information about Christianity or our church or who knows they want to join POPC -- we will begin a New Members Class on the first Sunday in March in Room 127. The class will run through the Spring quarter (March-May). May the Lord continue to be pleased to add to our number those who are being saved, and who desire to grow in their knowledge and service of Him!