Hello, fellow missionaries and evangelists! You might be wondering why I am opening my article calling each of you a missionary and an evangelist. Well, the truth is that scripture mandates each and every one of Christ's followers to be exactly who they are: missionaries and evangelists! We find Jesus' mandate written for us in Matthew 28:19-20, NRSV (which is also known as Jesus' Great Commission): "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Each of us is commissioned (sent out) to accomplish God's mission of teaching, baptizing and making disciples of all nations. Granted, the scripture does not necessarily call us to travel the globe to make this happen (though some might feel led to do so); rather, Jesus is sending us out, right where we are, to invite others to experience a relationship with himself. This is God's calling on our lives, and it is so relevant and timely as we are considering how to hold one another accountable to inviting two people to experience Jesus at United Baptist Church this fall (and beyond). After all, our new church year begins on Sunday, Sept. 11th (the day of our Watchword Service), and August is the premier time to practically reaching out to two people the Spirit is laying on our hearts. So, how do we go about being missionaries and evangelists in our own environments?
You may remember last month's newsletter article. In it I referenced that our call is for EACH ONE, to REACH TWO, to TEACH THREE reasons why United Baptist is a place to meet and get to know Jesus Chrirst. This month we are going to focus on EACH ONE--that means you! No one is exempt from sharing God's great love with others. And I need to make a distinction here: sharing God's love with others doesn't necessarily equate to an invitation to church. Inviting your "2 in '22" is a wonderful way to show God's love, but it's one of countless ways to do just that. Our love is not defined by how many people we invite to Jesus but how faithful we are in inviting others to experience the love of Christ in their own experiences. Yes, we are in the middle of a wonderful outreach initiative where I'm hoping each of our church members will invite two to get to know Jesus at United Baptist, but I'm more concerned about the ways you are speaking about Jesus and demonstrating his love in action than whether or not someone attends our church. So be bold in your witness of Jesus' work in your life, and at the same time don't neglect an opportunity to invite someone to worship, to Mathetes Bible Study, to Sunday School, to a Missions meeting or any other church event. EACH ONE is called to show Jesus' love to others; our outreach initiative is done to bring as many people to hear about Jesus and experience his love at UBC as possible. Yes, we want to grow numerically, socially and spiritually--we want to see our church continue to thrive for years to come. But we want others to see Jesus and get to know him, more than anything else...even more than whether or not they remain and join our church. After all, we are spiritual farmers, planting seeds of faith in the hearts of those we're called to love. If they enter our church doors, they are newcomers to our family, no longer visitors, and that is the kind of message EACH ONE of us is called to deliver as often as we have breath.
Remember this--if God wanted all to become overseas missionaries how would we reach out to those within a five mile radius of our church and our homes? The reality is that you are God's called missionary, and God's called evangelist (God-news sharer), because there are people in and around our towns and neighborhoods and workplaces that need an invitation to Jesus Christ. Think about your calling as an Invitation Hymn itself--you have words that honor and reflect the love of God in Christ, and the specific way you share those words will cause others to respond (either yes or no) to the gift of Jesus' Holy Spirit. EACH ONE of us is only responsible for opening our mouths and hearts to inviting others to experience Jesus; however, we are not responsible for the change in someone's heart (that's God's job alone!). Remember the following truth from the book of James? "Draw near to God and God will draw near to you" (James 4:8, ESV). Furthermore, consider Paul's words to the Corinthians when he talked about the assembly line of spiritual work among the people: "What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and each will receive wages according to their own labor. For we are God’s coworkers, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building" (1 Cor. 3:5-10, NRSV). I love those verses, don't you? EACH ONE of us is called to plant; EACH ONE of us is called to water. But who gives the growth? Who beckons hearts to come to him? Who draws people to the grace and mercy of salvation in Christ? Only God, friends, God alone!
So I urge you, as surely as I am writing this article in this moment, to remember that God calls people on an individual basis. He called Noah that way. He called Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that way. He called David that way. He called Deborah, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Habakkuk, Haggai and Malachi that way. And when he sent Jesus he called his disciples, one by one, along with Paul, as individuals called by God so that EACH ONE could do his/her part. And that is the same truth and urgency that I hope to pass along to you as you are reading this paragraph. EACH ONE of us is called to share Jesus' love, and out of our gratitude for Jesus, we are called to teach others and reach them in order that they might hear about Jesus (SS, preaching, teaching) and come to know of God's love for them. I mean this with all of my heart--I'm more concerned with whether or not someone receives Christ by faith than whether or not someone joins United Baptist Church. If our hearts are focused on souls adding their names to the "roll up yonder" then our UBC membership rolls will take care of themselves. That's 100% fact. EACH ONE is called to be God's representative in the world, and our sole focus is that we know Jesus and make him known! Let us hold one another accountable to sharing Jesus with others and in the process, invite others to worship with us on Sunday mornings. Our fellowship will grow when people say yes to Jesus, and our fellowship will grow secondarily if they decide to join our church. But the reality of Christ's call remains the same: EACH ONE is called to bring others to Jesus, just as Andrew brought his brother Peter to meet Christ.
When EACH ONE accepts his/her calling to reach out to others and invite them to Jesus (and hopefully worship with us at UBC), we will all be obediently doing our parts to build up God's Kingdom on earth, just as it is in heaven. And that, my friends, is something to truly celebrate as the body of Christ at United Baptist Church!
Here's to EACH ONE saying yes to God's call to share Christ's love with others!
><> Pastor Will <><
John 3:30
