May 24: "Aligning with God's 21st century moves"

The main title of Pastor Gary’s message last Sunday was Aligning with God’s 21st century moves and he mentioned 5 main points:

1. The world has been turned upside down! - Here Pastor Gary stated how in the 1900s, only 10% of the Christian missionaries were living in the Southern parts of the world and 90% of the Christians were living in the Northern parts of the world. But in the year 2000, 80% lives in the South and 20% lives in the North, meaning more missionaries are going to those places. He also used a quote that said, “I looked, I saw and I heard” which means that we have to go and look for those needy places, see the people and hear about their needs. He finished his point by stating how the very hard and difficult places belong to God and the people from these places are the ones Christ died for.
2. The Gospel is about the Kingdom! – Pastor Gary mentioned that Jesus wants to bring his reign, his rule and his kingdom to the earth.
3. Social unity is essential for credibility! – He said that God wants us to be united. He wants us to bring the world into complete unity; just as he (God) and Jesus are united. If we as a church become one, then the world will believe in God because of our example.
4. Send the right people to the right people! – The easy places have been captures and the tough places are the ones left. So, as members of a church, we have to recognize the calling some of our people have for missions and send them because Jesus’ mission is to capture all the nations.
5. You will run into pain and suffering! – God wants us to be a part of the pain, suffering and persecution of the world because we are the church of Christ and this is our calling.
He finished by saying that to be a follower of Jesus is to participate in the greatest moves!


The points that are most relevant to us as we prepare for our trip are:
¤ Mancora has been turned upside down! This little town is changing with time. Last time we went we prayed for a youth pastor and now God provided one. God is changing the lives of the people in Mancora because Jesus died for them too and he is also sending people like us to love and serve the people in Mancora.
¤ If we as a team are united, we will be setting an example to the people in Mancora and they will believe.
¤ Mancora is not one of the hardest places to go as missionaries but that does not mean that it doesn’t have its problems. Jesus wants to capture the whole town of Mancora and we have to obey his calling to go and serve and love.
¤ When we go to Mancora, we will run into pain and suffering because of the poverty there is and the need for God’s love and forgiveness.