For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)
We here at New Community verbally acknowledge and believe that our personal lives, as well as the life, and purpose of the church is first and foremost for the glory of God.
We hold to this, and rightly so, but there are so many aspects of our personal lives and in the life of the church where this primary motive can easily get lost so to speak!
And one area is that of missions. We can be so caught up in programs and planning, that the spreading of God’s glory in missions can take a back seat. The late pastor, Steve Fernandez, known to us, once wrote “The bedrock of missions is not the value of man. It is the spread of God’s glory. The biblical commitment to evangelism and missions is rooted in God’s passionate concern to make His name known.” [Grace quotes]
We so easily forget this. We tend to think of mission involvement as an added value to a person or the church that sends or supports missionaries. But this is a wrong take on missions. Being involved in mission is not about us - it is all about God and His glory! And might I say, glorifying God through mission is not an option for an individual or a church, it is a command to be obeyed.
All this is to say is that while we can be encouraged in how we support missionaries and have the joy of meeting the Hoyts today and during the week, let us never limit the opportunity to spread God’s glory. This is what the purpose of the church is to be about. Let us pursue Jesus Christ, first and foremost because as we do we will joyfully support, send and go as missionaries to the lost of this world, as that glorifies God.