"But 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 ESV)
In my last post I wrote about a potential partnership between Petal FBC and churches or new church plants in western New York state. As many of you already know, our student ministry has entered into a partnership with an area of God's work in Southeast Asia. Our goal is to be engaged in church planting efforts around the world, both close to home and far -- in our state, in North America, and overseas. We believe that is the pattern demonstrated in the New Testament. In other words, we want to be an Acts 1:8 church.
Occasionally I will hear of someone saying something like this: "Well, I believe in missions, but there are a lot of lost people right here at home. I think we need to put our focus and energies here before we try to go to the other side of the world." What we need to understand is this: taking the gospel to those here at home and to those on the other side of the world is not "either-or" -- it is "both-and." We are to be continually proclaiming Jesus "to the end of the earth." We are to make disciples of all the nations. Should we have a burning desire for people in our own community to know Jesus? Absolutely! Should we do all we can to make Jesus famous around the globe? Without question!
Wherever people live, whatever language they speak, whatever the color of their skin, people need the Lord. Let's get busy being witnesses -- to the end of the earth!
Occasionally I will hear of someone saying something like this: "Well, I believe in missions, but there are a lot of lost people right here at home. I think we need to put our focus and energies here before we try to go to the other side of the world." What we need to understand is this: taking the gospel to those here at home and to those on the other side of the world is not "either-or" -- it is "both-and." We are to be continually proclaiming Jesus "to the end of the earth." We are to make disciples of all the nations. Should we have a burning desire for people in our own community to know Jesus? Absolutely! Should we do all we can to make Jesus famous around the globe? Without question!
Wherever people live, whatever language they speak, whatever the color of their skin, people need the Lord. Let's get busy being witnesses -- to the end of the earth!
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