"…He showed them His hands and His side…Then Jesus said to them again, 'Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you'" (John 20:20-21).
The work of Calvary is complete, but the WORD of Calvary is not complete. There are untold millions yet untold! "…All authority has been given to Me…Go…make disciples of all the nations…" (Matthew 28:18-19). Out of His divine and sacrificial authority Jesus commissioned His disciples to their own mission in the world. Fort Caroline Baptist Church, hear your pastor well. We have a mission from Christ. Our mission is not to be a country club for comfortable Christians! Our mission is to be a lighthouse in a darkened world, a lifesaving station on the seas of sin, and a hospital for the hurting. God has called us to be fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium! Every decision we make as a church must be motivated by a desire to fulfill our God-given mission to reach the lost! George W. Truett, the late pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas used to say, "A church that is not missionary does not deserve the ground upon which its buildings stand." (Building An Evangelistic Church, Paul Powell, p. 65). If we refuse to live as missionaries in our culture and community then we will forfeit our right to exist as a church! If we are not living as "sent-ones" in our daily lives then we have missed the imperative of the Great Commission.
Church, please hear my heart. I know that I do not always make decisions that please all of you. I have never intentionally tried to antagonize you or change things for the sake of change. I do not want to be trendy. I am not trying to make our church like some famous pastor's church. Every decision I make as your pastor is motivated out of a deep desire to lead our church to fulfill our mission of reaching the lost. Christ has called us to communicate the Gospel to our generation. Like a missionary who serves overseas, we must communicate the unchanging message of Jesus in a way that the people we are attempting to reach can understand. The MESSAGE never changes, but METHODS often do. Jesus did not die for our methods; He died for men. He did not hang on the cross for our preferences; He gave His life for people. He did not sacrifice His life for styles, but for souls! I know that you will not always like my methods, but at least you can appreciate my motives! A lady once complained to D.L. Moody, "Mr. Moody, I don't like your methods." Moody reportedly replied, "Well, my dear, I don't care for some of them myself. What are yours?" She replied, "I don't have any." Moody then responded, "In that case, I like the way I'm doing it better than the way you are not doing it." The point is, if I made all my decisions based on what I like or only on what Christians like then things would be a lot different. We would never change anything. We would do things like we used to in the "good-ole days." But Christ has not called us to turn inward and do things only for ourselves. He has turned us outward towards a lost and dying community! I have no problem calling Christians to sacrifice their preferences in the name of the One who sacrificed Himself for the world. Our church is trying to reach your neighbors, your co-workers, your friends, your family members and your grand-kids. Help me as I follow Christ on this mission!
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