We Are All Sent
When God called me, He didn’t just call me to be a pastor, He called me to be a missionary. He called me to leave my homeland and venture to another land. It’s pretty clear that God doesn’t call every believer to do what Wibke and I have done. Even though I left home and went as a sent missionary, it doesn’t absolve me of the responsibility of living as the sent one of God. While it is true that not every Christian is called to be a missionary (sorry Spurgeon!), it is true that every follower of Jesus is called to missions in the sense that we are all sent. One of the distinct challenges of following Jesus is rediscovering the significance of our own sent-ness. I’m convinced that as leaders, we’ve not done a great job at helping Christians discover the significance of their own sent-ness.
Our Water’s Edge Sundays have been created with the intention of doing something to change that.
This weekend we welcome Ed Stetzer to Central. He will take us to John 20:21 where Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” What I love about this passage is that the resurrected Jesus has to repeat the greeting of ‘Peace.’ He gave it the first time in verse 19 when he spontaneously appeared in a room. “Peace be with you” He said, before showing them His hands and His side. After the disciples had recovered from the shock, He set His coming to them in the context of them going out.
I can’t wait for this weekend and I’m hoping you’ll join me. Stetzer did his PhD in missiology even though he knew that he’d spend most of his time in the English speaking western world. He did it because he passionately believed that the church needed to rediscover the mission and the principles of missiology because they are key theological constructs in the time that we find ourselves. So rather than studying evangelism and church growth, Stetzer prioritized mission, missions and the principles of missiology. His goal was to help shape the church in America for the priority of the Gospel in our nation and world.
It’s going to be a great Sunday. Hope to see you there.
Craig
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