Texas District

In April of this year, we lost a brother in Christ: Pastor Peter Horn of the Hill Country Bible Church network unexpectedly died. Peter was a friend of our District who joined us to deliver a keynote speech in 2017 when we gathered in Taylor around the theme “Multiply.” He said something in his speech that I will never forget. His words were not eloquent but pierced my heart by asking and answering a simple question. He prefaced his question by referencing some basic statistics: Approximately 2.1 million people live in and around Austin and approximately one third profess Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior, leaving about 1.4 million people who profess other faiths or have no faith at all.

 

Then Peter asked, “How long will it take to reach every single one of these 1.4 million people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?” I remember thinking to myself: “a really long time!” But then he answered his own question: “About 30 minutes if the 700,000 Jesus followers each took 15 minutes with two unbelievers to share the Gospel!”

 

In Matthew 28 just before Jesus ascended to heaven, he issues his Great Commission to his followers: “Go and make disciples of all nations…” We hear this charge and can quickly become overwhelmed by the size of the task. “All nations” is a BIG mission field! We can get hung-up on the magnitude of it all and just chalk it up as impossible. But our God specializes in doing the impossible! In Ephesians 3:20-21 we read Paul’s testimony about God’s power: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for ever and ever! Amen.”

 

While I get overwhelmed at the thought of reaching my neighborhood for Jesus, Paul reminds us that God can do immeasurably more than we could even ask for or imagine! God calls us to trust that he has the ability do to above and beyond what we think is possible! And Paul also reminds us that God chooses to work in us and through us: “according to the power that is at work within us.” Throughout scripture God has chosen his children to be this primary instruments of accomplishing his purpose. Yet the task of making disciples of all nations is not for any one of us to accomplish individually. Instead, it is a collective call for all Christ followers which certainly includes you, but not you by yourself.

 

Instead, we need unity in our mission as congregations to evangelize and make disciples starting in our own communities. Mike Bradley, LCMC’s Service Coordinator, has been praying for the congregations in our association to “come together as one so that millions may be drawn by God to faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord!” Start the conversation in your church today. God desires to work through you and your congregation to fulfill his mission to reach the unreached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And coming together around a shared mission and empowered by Almighty God, you might be surprised just how possible the impossible might be!

 

 

 

 

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