Beyond Our Walls

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 

(Acts 1:8)

The Gospel - the good news about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ - was never meant to be kept inside the walls of our churches. The very last word Jesus spoke to His followers as He was taken up to heaven following His resurrection from the dead were these words. He tells them: You will receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem (right where you live), in Judea and Samaria (in the larger state where you live and across cultures) and to the ends of the earth (well, to the ends of the earth!).

One of the biggest mistakes the Church has made in our nation in the last century, in my opinion, has been to hunker down inside our walls, love one another, and wait for lost people to come to us. The inward focus of making the Gospel all about what the church can do for me has left millions of people without a living witness of the reality of a risen Savior.

This weekend at the church I serve we have hosted our four mission partners for a Global Impact Celebration, "Beyond Our Walls." We have heard our mission partners share their hearts for making Jesus known in our Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria through our county's Fellowship of Christian Athletes (making Jesus known to students in our schools) and through Hellfighters Mission (making Jesus known to unsheltered people). We have been blessed to hear the work God is doing at the ends of the earth through Project Education Honduras (making Jesus known in public schools in and around Copan, Honduras) and through Impact Ministries in Guatemala (making Jesus known through Christian schools in and around Tactic, Guatemala).

In the coming days and weeks and months and years we will partner deeply with these four ministries through prayer, personal service, short-term mission trips and financial giving. The reach of the proclamation of the Gospel from our congregation will stretch Beyond Our Walls in ministry that wins lost people to Jesus, strengthens discipleship, feeds and clothes and visits and helps "the least of these." We are determined to add this "ends of the earth" focus to the inward ministries of worship, children's and youth ministries, small groups, fellowship and service within our congregation.

And we are as clear-eyed as we know how to be in taking on this mission work. The task of taking the Gospel across the street and to the ends of the earth is bigger than we could ever accomplish in our own power and strength. We claim and we walk in the power of Jesus' promise: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. The mission is not our mission to our city and county and state and nation and world. We are joining the Lord in His mission to redeem the world.

The question each of us must ask is simple and deeply challenging: Why did Jesus save me from sin and death? To sit and be satisfied? To make me happy? To ignore broken and hurting people around me and focus on making sure my own needs are met? Or to be part of His glorious mission to redeem lost people of every tribe and tongue, and even creation itself? The Biblical answer to that question is simple and clear. God intends to use every believer as a witness to the redeeming grace, love and power of Jesus Christ. We are saved to serve.

So the follow-up question is also a vital one: What will be my part in this glorious mission? Is God calling me to pray more deeply and consistently for the Gospel to be proclaimed through my church and our mission partners? Is He calling me to give financially to this work? Might Jesus be calling me to plan and save and invest myself in a short-term mission trip to Honduras or Guatemala (or elsewhere) in 2026? Could His call in my life be lived out in some hours of service down the street at Hellfighters? (If you are reading this and you are not part of our local congregation and our mission partnerships, the questions still apply to God's call for your life in connection with your local church and its mission partners.)

Father, we ask that you pour out your Holy Spirit on us, who believe in your Son, Jesus, and who have given our lives to His Lordship. Make us witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth by the power of your Spirit. Amen and amen!