"Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him." (Genesis 18:18-19)

by Rob Rienow, Marriage and Family Pastor

As a youth pastor, I led many short term mission trips with students. These young people would return home on fire for God and be amazed at the "spiritual high" they experienced on the trip. Why was there so much spiritual energy and focus on the trip, but seemingly so little at home? The answer is simple. On the trip they were doing three things every day: 1) They were spending private time in God's Word and in prayer, 2) They were worshiping together daily with others on their team, and 3) They were intentional, as a team, about making a difference in the lives around them.

Have you ever thought of yourself or your family as a short term mission trip? If God has blessed you to be a part of a family then His desire is that throughout the year, your family unit would function just like a short term mission team, with each team member: 1) spending time daily with God in private devotion, 2) the entire family coming together for family worship, and 3) the entire family being intentional, as a team, about making a difference in the lives of your extended family, church, neighbors, and beyond.

Of course this applies whether you are part of a traditional family or not. We are all called to spend time with God daily, participate in community with other Christ followers, and be intentional about reaching the world.

God called Abraham to begin a multi-generational mission to reach the world for Christ. It was not an individual mission, but a family mission, which began with intentional spiritual life in the home. God told Abraham that if he would begin his spiritual mission at home, the results would reach all the nations on earth!

"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." (Matthew 28:19)

by Marie Allison, Director of Evangelism and Connect Ministry

Imagine being a student teacher. You have learned from the best teacher you could ever imagine. Then the teacher sends you to the head of the class and says, "Now it's your turn."

You shake in your boots, but then realize that this, after-all, is what you have prepared for.

That is what Christ has done with us. Christ's intention for His disciples is that they move from student teacher to teacher, from disciple to disciple-maker. Discipleship means that you are sitting at the feet of Jesus. You are His student. He is your teacher. You are emulating Him and, by the power of His Holy Spirit, becoming like Him. Disciple-making is when you, as a well-trained student, accept the authority the teacher has given you to teach others.

We have been called to act. To participate in what God is doing to bring all people to Himself. If we are truly to emulate Christ, we need to follow His example, leave our comfort zones and "dwell among" those we are trying to reach. This may sound overwhelming. But God equips us for this work.

Three different times in the Gospels Christ gives believers His authority. First, to the 12 disciples (Luke 9), following that to the 72 disciples (Luke 10), and finally, to all of us (Matthew 28:19).

Disciple making is the full-orbed process of coming to Christ, growing in Him, and then reaching out to others in hopes that they will do the same. Disciple-making occurs in our families, our neighborhoods, and our workplaces as we reach out to those we care about with the Good News of Jesus Christ and then walk with them as they get to know Christ through His Word and prayer, becoming emulators of Him just as we did.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 1:8)

by Chris McElwee, Local Impact Pastor

Read Matthew 14:14, 15:32 and 20:34. You won't have to look hard to find a common theme: compassion. What motivates Jesus to serve those in need? How is Jesus able to find the compassion to serve the sick, the hungry, and the blind? More practically, how do we?

What drove Jesus' compassion was that He was the Creator of all humankind. As the Creator, He loves the creation, us. When things are not going perfectly, He intervenes in order to serve and to bring people into a faith relationship with Himself. His compassion ultimately led Him to the cross to die for the sins of the world.

What can fuel our compassion? Our compassion grows when we begin to see others as Jesus sees us. In other words, the more we reflect on what happened on the cross, the greater our compassion for others becomes. We must see people as Jesus see us and all humankind. We were not worthy for anyone to die for us, and yet Jesus Himself laid down His life for us. We are not worthy to have so many of the blessings we have, yet God is outrageously generous with us anyway.

Sometimes our hearts are shriveled. We view other people as unworthy of sacrifice or blessings. Perhaps they are drug addicts, going through a divorce, displaced or living as refugees, or are dying from AIDS. Do we understand? While we were sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Let's go to the cross, and discover the compassion Jesus showed us! We were not saved for a life of comfort. We were saved to join with God on His rescue mission to a lost and hurting world.

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  (Matthew 28:18-20)

by Cindy Judge, Global Outreach Education and Missionary Care

Shortly before He ascended into heaven, Jesus impressed upon His followers a clear purpose for all their future actions. It's often called "The Great Commission." Read Matthew 28:18-20 and think again about what Jesus was sending His fledgling flock out into the world to do.

Make disciples. What does this mean? As we ponder this command, let us never think that just specially called workers or missionaries are sent to those without the good news of a Savior. We all are to be engaged fully in making Jesus' final command our first concern. But we're not left to do it on our own.

As Jesus was telling them to "make disciples," He gave them startling affirmation at the beginning and the end of this commission. What was it? In essence, "I hold ultimate control . . . and I will be with you each step of the way!' He also said in John 16 that the Holy Spirit would guide and empower us to do this work. The Holy Spirit will convict individuals of their need for a Savior-that's His job, not ours.

Referring back to the Great Commission, what are the components described in making disciples? They include a public act of baptism to display the person's decision to follow Christ and then a lifetime of learning and living in congruence with the truth. A responsibility for all of us as believers is to urge others to live as Jesus' disciples as well. Those who learn to help another person down this road know an unparalleled joy.

The "epistles" (letters) written to new Christians in the New Testament (like the second and third chapters in Colossians) are filled with advice and ideas on how to get God's truth across strategically. Paul gives one of his disciples, Timothy, inspiration regarding how to multiply this learning to hundreds of others. Christians all over the world know this principle of multiplication:

"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." (2 Timothy 2:1-2)

God calls His people to specific tasks. Some people are called by God to serve cross-culturally as missionaries. For those who are called and go, they need a support team. In the military, for every person who serves on the front line, there are usually nine or more people backing them up. Those who go into spiritual battlefields need people who provide prayer, financial, and other types of support. Those who stay and those who go have different responsibilities. But working together, God uses them for the expansion of His kingdom.

We are all called to be involved in God's redemptive plan of salvation. Financial participation is one way for those of us who are not called to go to get involved and invest in our church's global outreach. We have a high privilege of investing our money in ministries overseas and seeing how far God will stretch those dollars.

As you direct some of your earthly treasure in ministry around the world, your heart for God's global work grows, you view world events from a different perspective, and your prayer life is enhanced. Your financial help allows missionaries to devote time to their ministry work and gives you a way to participate in the work of God.

"Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name." (Psalm 86:8-9)

by Brian Hogan, Worship and Creative Arts Pastor

John Piper begins his book Let the Nations be Glad! with the quote, "Missions exists because worship doesn't." At face value, this notion seems a bit simplistic and narrow. Seriously, how often do we think about missions being a developmental ground for worshipers? We would more readily agree with a statement like this: Missions exists to share the Gospel and to lead people to the point of salvation through faith in Jesus. Now that resonates with most of us when we think about missions.

However, if we engage Piper's quote long enough, our mind's eye will give us an amazing picture of heaven. In fact, it may even energize our view of and approach to missions. This is good for us in the American church because we often suffer from near-sightedness. Our goals and objectives often focus on success and prosperity in the here and now. We often fail to see that God's call to us originates with His glory and will culminate with His glory.

Expounding on his thought, Piper suggests that missions will one day come to an end, but worship will never end. Think about it: the place being prepared for us in heaven is for all people of all nations to worship before the throne of the Most High God for eternity! In this regard, the goal of missions is to gather even more worshipers to the throne of God.

"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'" (Revelation 7:9-10)

Pray today that God would give us this vision for His church's destiny and for His church's eternal impact through missions.