Missions Sunday - Pastor Bradley Peters
The Lord’s goodness stands at the front of the day, because missions begins with the gift Christ has already given. God has changed lives through Jesus, and that gift is too precious to hold tight like something meant only for a few friends and family. The Great Commission in Matthew 28 gives the shape of the work: Christ has all authority, Christ sends his people to make disciples of all nations, and Christ promises his presence to the end of the age.
The church’s mission cannot stay inside one sanctuary or one community. The word from Peter Thiesen lands heavy: “If the church isn’t out doing missions, eventually it becomes a mission field.” The call is not to pat backs or build a name, but to notice where God is working by and through his people so discouragement does not get the last word. The world map between the bathrooms becomes more than decoration. The map gives eyes a place to look, prayers a place to land, and willing hands a way to ask where God may be calling next.
Romans 10 presses the need even deeper. People cannot call on Christ if they have not believed, and they cannot believe if they have not heard, and they cannot hear without someone preaching, and preaching happens when someone is sent. “How beautiful the feet” becomes a plain and strong picture of missions. God uses feet that go, mouths that speak, hands that serve, and churches that send.
The AMC partnership shows one way that sending takes form. Billy and Gabriela Fros are serving at Steinlech Bible School, where German-speaking communities and now Spanish-speaking students are being equipped for gospel work across Mexico, Belize, Bolivia, Paraguay, and beyond. That work is not far away from the local church, because support, prayer, and partnership make the church part of it.
The local and practical work matters too. Shoebox ministry, relief work in San Angelo, Foot Soldiers of the Cross, care for older people at Sunland, orphan ministry in several countries, and Kairos prison ministry all show different doors where love can walk through. Galatians gives the needed warning: “Let’s not grow weary of doing good.” New projects often gather energy quickly, but faithfulness is tested when the work keeps going. Christ’s love, because he first loved, calls the church to serve humbly, not for its own glory, but for his kingdom.