As I write this, I have just finished praying with a woman who is moving to England to go on mission. You heard that right, she is not going on a mission trip, but has retired from her career as a teacher, and is now using her life to be on mission in another country. In just a couple of weeks, we have a father and son in our congregation who are leaving to go on a mission trip to Russia. They are taking part of their summer to tell people in Russia about the good news of the gospel. I praise God for people who are willing to invest their lives living on mission.

I know that not all of us are able to move to England or to take some time off in the summer to travel to Russia, but I know that we are all called and able to be on mission for the Lord. Maybe being on mission for you is starting a Bible study in your home to reach friends and neighbors. Maybe it is seeking to meet the needs of people around you who are hurting or struggling. Maybe it is speaking with the guy or girl who sits across from you at the coffee shop you frequent. I pray that we will embrace the idea of living intentionally on mission. I pray that God will make this a regular part of your life as you follow after Him.

I have been burdened by the lost and unchurched of our community. When I think of how few people are regularly connecting with a church on any given Sunday morning, and how many people are walking without the Lord, I am reminded that we must do something. There is not a program that we can implement at the church that will fix this, but Bible gives us a methodology that works.

In Matthew 9:35-38 we see Jesus addressing the helplessness of our world. As He looks on, He calls them “sheep without a shepherd”. Jesus was moved with compassion for them because of the state that they were in. Oh how I pray that God would give us a compassion for the people of the world in which we live. That we would see them in their state of lostness and be moved by it. Jesus tells us that the “Harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few.” All around us is a harvest of souls that need a savior. He then tells us to “pray to the Lord of the Harvest.” Before we just act, we need to pray. We need the Holy Spirit of God to be at work because we cannot do this on our own; we are solely dependent on Him. Then we need to be willing workers in the harvest. We must do something. While no program exists that will fix this problem, the members of the church can have a great impact in our communities. It will begin when you and I live outside of ourselves and decide to live on mission.

Join me and others in our church who are living on mission. Live outside yourself. Live with a kingdom mindset. Let us work together as laborers in the harvest together.

For His glory and your joy,

Pastor Charlie