Sep 1, 2021
We’re wrapping up our “Reach” teaching series today. This has been a great series with an emphasis on an outward focus on our neighbors and the nations fueled by a genuine and powerful filling of the Holy Spirit.
1) God’s Heart for the Nations God has a heart for the nations that stretches from one end if the Bible to the other:
John 3:16 – “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Revelation 7:9-10 – “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”
I want you to know that the same Gospel that God commands us to verbalize to our neighbors is the same Gospel that God commands us to verbalize to the nations.
2) Our Reach to the Nations At Crossgate Church, we have a heartbeat for the nations, and it’s displayed along three lines.
We pray for the nations. We make it a point to pray for those on the international mission field, especially that they would realize a harvest of lives transformed by the power of the Gospel.
We go to the nations. We send people to the nations at Crossgate Church in two ways: We currently have two full-time, long-term missionary families from Crossgate Church. The Shipp family in Bangkok, Thailand and the Rickett Family in the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu. These families have been sent from our church and we’re excited about what God is doing through them.
We also send short-term mission teams, most recently to remote and forgotten villages along the Amazon River in partnership with the missionary sending organization, Amazon Outreach.
We give for the nations. At Crossgate Church, we give for the nations along two lines:
First, as of this year, 10 percent of your tithe gifts given to Crossgate Church go directly to missions, both local and international. To my knowledge, that’s the highest percentage toward missions in the history of Crossgate Church. Part of that ten percent goes toward the International Mission Board, which is the international sending agency of the Southern Baptist Convention—the denomination with which we partner. That supports missionaries all over the world.
Second, last fall, we introduced the idea of bi-annual missions offerings for very specific initiatives and projects. These offerings provide direct opportunities for everyone to put their hands on the missionary enterprise here at Crossgate.
Conclusion: Ask yourself, and more importantly ask God, “What role will I play in my praying, my going, and my giving that will add people to that great multitude?”