The Global Impact Celebration (GIC) is almost here! So this Sunday we’ve asked guest speaker Dr. Bill Jones to whet our appetites for all things missions.
We’ll be pausing our journey through the book of Galatians for these next 4 Sundays. Actually, however, you might say it’s not so much a pause as it is an opportunity to flesh out (catch the pun?) an important theme in Galatians: missions! True, we don’t find the word “missions” in Galatians, but the very foundation of this letter is proclaiming the Good News to the nations. In fact, we find either the noun “good news” or the verb “proclaim the good news” 14 times in these 6 chapters.*
Consider some instances:
- Why is a “different gospel” so dangerous (1:6)? And why does Paul level a curse on any who proclaim a different gospel (1:8-9)? Because people’s eternity is at stake! If they don’t get the real good news, they miss out on salvation!
- Who is ultimately behind those who “distort” or “pervert” the gospel (1:7)? The enemy of God and of our souls! Satan is hell-bent on preventing people from being saved by the Good News!
- Where did the Good News originate? From man? Not on your life, says Paul. It came straight from God Himself! (1:11-12; 2:2) Anything less could never save a person!
I’m asking the Lord to use this GIC to deepen our commitment to getting the Good News of Jesus Christ to Thailand, Siberia, Italy, and all the other places our partners serve. And to let us establish new frontiers for the Good News in places like the Amazon Basin!
What do you suppose the Lord will do among us? I don’t know, but I’m hoping and praying it’s really big! Join me in asking, won’t you?
* Some Bible versions translate the term “good news” as “gospel” and “proclaim the good news” as “preach” or “preach the gospel.”