Another great mission’s convention has come and gone.  To date we are only $3,300 away from reaching our goal of $100,000 in faith promises.  I believe we will easily surpass that figure in the next few weeks.  This amount sets a new record for missions faith promises received at RLA! 

Our theme this year was: COMMITTED – to Pray, Give, and Go.  Everyone is committed to something.  The big question is: Am I committed to the right things?  Am I committed to the things that really matter?  I think we all have to ask ourselves if we are committed to the same things God Himself is committed to.

There seems to be a lot of misdirected commitment in the world today.  Last week I listened to Chip Ingram as he addressed a crowd of one thousand gathered at the Bonita Prayer Breakfast.  It got pretty quiet when he suggested there might be a higher purpose in life than striving to put a little white ball in a four-inch hole in the ground in fewer strokes.  Isn’t it amazing watching people knock themselves out over things that have little if any eternal value?

I think it was Leonard Ravenhill who asked the searching question, “Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?”  While recreation certainly has its place, and vacations are nice, there is a higher cause worth living for.  It’s called the Great Commission.  There is no higher cause.

Last Sunday our guest missionary, Jason Frenn, made a statement that resonated deep in my heart and brought out an instant “YES!”  He said, “A mission’s convention is the transference of God’s burden for the lost to our hearts.”  It’s not just about raising money so we can send missionaries, although that is an important part of it (Romans 10:14-15).  But it goes deeper than that.  It’s about our hearts getting in alignment with God’s heart.  It’s about our commitments and priorities lining up with His.

Financially, this year’s mission’s convention was a success.  But the true success will be measured by the ongoing commitment level of our hearts to the Great Commission.  That’s the deal.

Pastor Todd Weston

Here is a number for you to consider - 6,889.  No, it’s not the total of ceiling tiles in our building or my cumulative golf score from 2011.  It’s the number of unreached people groups in the world.  Think of it!  Nearly seven-thousand people groups have yet to receive an adequate presentation of the gospel.

Wow.  That seems kind of overwhelming.  There ought to be a plan on how to reach all of those people.  There is.  It’s called the Great Commission.  It appears first in Matthew’s gospel, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

The Great Commission appears in one form or another in each of the four gospels.  And just in case we still don’t get it, it appears again in Acts, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). 

The Great Commission is the greatest undertaking, “Go into all the world,” to deliver the greatest message, “and preach the gospel,” to the greatest audience, “to every creature” (Mark 16:15). 

Our response to this call is echoed in our mission’s convention theme – COMMIT, to PRAY, to GIVE, to GO! 

·        Pray – for our missionaries, and for God to give you a heart for missions.
·        Give – make a faith promise on Feb. 26th and give faithfully to missions.
·        Go – make yourself available to God and start others about Jesus.

God has determined that the gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations (Matthew 24:14), and we are the ones He intends to us.  So let’s do it!  And here is what we will find:

A great commitment
To the Great Commission
Will build a great church!

 
Pastor Todd Weston