A. What Is Biblical Mission? “Biblical mission means more than simply going overseas to plant churches or spread civilization. It means the church participating in the ‘mission of God (Missio Dei)’ and seeking the restoration of God’s rule and glory throughout the whole earth. Mission is not a program that begins with human enthusiasm; rather, it is the heart of God that runs throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and is a fundamental reason for the church’s existence. Let me clearly summarize five essential principles of true mission as presented in Scripture. 🌍 1. The Mission of God (Missio Dei) The subject and initiator of mission is not human beings but God. In order to save fallen humanity, God first comes to us, sends His Son, and sends the Holy Spirit. He is the “missionary God” who sends. Biblical basis: “As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” (John 20:21) Key meaning: The church acknowledges that God has the initiative in mission and serves as His agent, obed...
A pastor may sometimes
experience being at the bottom of life.
The
officials took the prophet Jeremiah and lowered him
by
ropes into the cistern of the royal prince Malchiah,
which
was in the courtyard of the guard.
The
cistern had no water, only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud
(Jeremiah
38:6).
As I
meditate on this passage,
I am
reminded of the prophet Jonah, who disobeyed God's command.
When
he prayed to his God from the belly of the great fish
(Jonah
2:1), he described himself as being in the deep waters (vv. 3, 5)
and sinking
down to the roots of the mountains, imprisoned in the land of death (v. 6).
Yet,
despite his situation, the prophet Jonah prayed to God,
saying,
"But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you.
What
I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord" (v. 9).
As a
result, the Lord saved the prophet Jonah’s life from death (v. 6).
If
the Lord rescued the disobedient prophet Jonah,
wouldn’t
He also save the prophet Jeremiah, who was obeying God’s word?
The
Lord used Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian court official, to go to King Zedekiah and
say,
"Your
Majesty, what these men have done to the prophet Jeremiah is an evil act.
They
have thrown him into a cistern, and he will starve to death there
since
there is no bread left in the city."
So,
King Zedekiah commanded Ebed-Melech, "Take thirty men from here with you
and
lift the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies."
Thus,
the prophet Jeremiah was rescued from the pit where he had been trapped
(Jeremiah
38:7-13).
It
seems that even pastors, who are servants of the Lord, may sometimes experience
being
at the bottom of life, like being in a pit or the depths of the sea.
Such
experiences can lead them to feel a sense of despair.
However,
the great grace of God given in those desperate situations is
that the Holy Spirit makes them long for the
Lord even more and fills them with hope,
ultimately
allowing them to experience God's salvation.
댓글
댓글 쓰기