Missions: For the Glory of God

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Acts 1:8

The purpose of missions is to declare the gospel of Jesus Christ, giving opportunity for sinful man to call upon God for salvation.  When that happens, God’s name is magnified and God is glorified. This is perhaps one of the greatest aspects of  our Christian faith.  When we are involved and see how lives are impacted through the gospel, we bring glory to God.  

This week we will be celebrating and giving attention to the missions ministry of the church.  John and Beverly Tolbert will be with us the entire weekend giving attention to their work in South Asia.  It will begin with a men's breakfast at 8 am, an international pot luck at 6 pm (bring your favorite dish) and sharing from God's word throughout Sunday morning. 

In John Piper's book  Let The Nations Be Glad, we find one of the most potent quotes that can help us, “Missions exist because God’s glory doesn’t.”  Piper was writing that one of the reasons for missions is bring God to places where God is not known.  In those places where God is not known, God is not glorified.  Therefore, missions exist to bring God glory.

Some are tempted to think that creation and the world around us are enough to point a man back to God.  But it isn’t.  Man needs to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Man needs to hear that message that as sinners there is forgiveness and the power to change.  That is why the church does missions, to bring God where He is not.

This is why Jesus Christ commissioned His disciples to go into all the earth and make disciples of all nations before ascending back to heaven.  (Matt 28:19-20)  God commissioned missions to be done through us so that the message of who God is and His salvation in Jesus Christ would be known.

We should be glad that we as a church we are investing to bring glory to God throughout the earth.  We should rejoice and pray as we continue to impact France, India, China, Brazil, Kyrgyzstan, and other areas of the world for God's glory.  It is in the proclamation of the gospel that man can know who God is and His Divine glory.  This only happens when Christ is made known and Christ is made known when the church is engaged in missions.  When that happens, sinful man will hear the goodnews of the gospel and know who God is.  Only then will God be glorified where He isn’t.

And so let us be engaged in missions.  Let us participate in extending to the world around us our faith in Jesus.  That is at the heart of missions and when we do that God will be glorified in places where He presently is not.   Hope to see you this weekend!