Great and Commissioned

"Your Mission, Should You Decide To Accept It ..."

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14 NIV

I'm starting a new sermon series on the Great Commission. But I'm not just talking about Matthew 28:18-20, which is the Scriptural bases for must understanding of the Great Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I'm referring to many more of the Scriptures in which God gives His global mandate: Genesis 1:26; Proverbs 24:27; Joel 2:28-32; Luke 24:49; Mark 16:17-18; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:43; Acts 2:38-42-47; and Galatians 3:28; James 1:27.

There is really no such thing as "private faith." Faith has be public because the Christian faith requires action based on belief. James 2:14, 20, and 26 say:

"What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ...

But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? .. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke has said, “Anyone can believe when God is already moving. But real faith is when you step out when it seems that God is not moving.” John Wesley, founder of Methodism, said, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can." Benson Idahosa, a Pentecostal preacher, said, “Don’t tell me how big your mountain is. Tell your mountain how BIG your God is.” Francis Beaumont said, "Faith without works is like a bird without wings; though she may hop with her companions on earth, yet she will never fly with them to heaven."

UFMC is beginning new forward thrusts into the world with training in personal evangelism, discipleship, foundational and action-oriented Bible studies, all geared for pubic faith. Our current Servolution ministry will be continuing. Our new Sunday evening service "Too Far From Sunday," an alternative worship service, led by Ed Loukota, will be calling people to Christ. With "Live@Five" we will be sending out teams of two out into Uniontown on 5th Sundays instead of our usual Sunday worship service. People will be wearing T-shirts and badges identifying themselves mowing lawns, delivering much-needed supplies (with the help of Operation Blessing), and other service ministries designed to let the community know that Jesus loves them, we care about them, and want to be Jesus' hands, voice, ears, and hands. On those Sunday mornings, our faithful members who can't go out for one reason or another will be at war with the enemy in prayer on our behalf and on behalf of those we reach.

We will be making changes in our facility to make it an attractive resource for people to want to come in, have a cup of coffee, and find out about Jesus.

We will again be having block parties and health fairs for the neighborhood. Marjorie Loukota has a vision for us to take the lead assembling Christians from a number of other churches in the area for service, activities, and events geared toward reaching Uniontown. We won't be guarding our own turf or compromising our beliefs. There are plenty of people all around to reach with the love of Jesus Christ for all the churches. We will all gain from this move and nobody will lose - except satan.

When faith is not a private affair, but a public outreach, the world changes for a lot of broken, hurting, dying people. That is why God has placed us here in this place and at this time. "Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14 (NKJV).

UFMC will be a place and a people for training and equipping and going. We will be moving to support the expanding response to the Holy Spirit, but we can't do that until we have committed ourselves psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. Things will not look normal anymore. We will expect the supernatural to be natural, and for God to pour out His gifts of power to His people to reach the world.

Like in the TV show and movies "Mission: Impossible," our mission, should we accept it, is to go, make disciples, and reach our neighbors with the life-changing power of the Gospel. We will be expecting miracles and lives changed.

Wanna hop on and ride with us?

Blessings from here to eternity,

Pastor Drew