Genesis 9; Genesis 10; Genesis 11; Luke 4
I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too
The Urgency of the Gospel…
Scripture
Luke 4
42 Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. 43 But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.” 44 So he continued to travel around, preaching in synagogues throughout Judea.
Observation
Every Christian has been called to take the Gospel to the lost around them. The Great Commission is a command for every believer. But God has called some to take the Gospel to those who live in other countries, who have different cultures, and who speak different languages. These folks are called cross-cultural missionaries.
As Kathy and I make plans to once again begin working with an unreached people group in some other country I know that the response from some in our church or from some in our family might be, “Eddy, there are plenty of people right here in Tampa that need to be reached, why don’t you stay right here and be missionaries to them.” I appreciate that they love us and don’t want us to leave; we can see that Jesus had the same situation in Luke 4. His response is our response, “I must preach the Good News of the kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.”
The Apostle Paul is our Biblical example of a cross-cultural missionary.
That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.” Acts 23:11
“I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God…” Acts 26:20
“…The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.” Colossians 1:23
“Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews.” Galatians 2:7
"My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else." Romans 15:20
"By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News." Ephesians 3:7
Application
Kathy and I will do all that we can to fulfill God’s call on our lives.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, You have called us and we want to be obedient. We don’t know how to do what You have called us to do so we must depend on You. You are our Mighty God. I pray for those who will partner with us to take the Gospel to those who have not heard about Jesus. Give us wisdom. Give us the resources. Give us people that will come along side of us to help us. I pray for our church that they would embrace the idea of reaching an unreached people and that they would commit to seeing that people group come to Christ. It is a huge task. We have a huge God! Thank You for answering my prayers. You are Worthy of Praise!
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