At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day — for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Luke 13:31-35
DISCIPLES CAR WASHING AND TAGGING
TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE SPECIAL
MISSIONS CONTRIBUTION!
Jesus marched into Jerusalem to conquer them with the gospel! He had a mission and he worked to that end to complete his mission…nothing was going to stop him and no one, not even King Herod, could keep him from his goal! Jesus fought to win and winning for him meant the path to bring salvation to the entire world. With such determination driving him it is easy to forget that Jesus was devoted to a goal that would ultimately end in his death! How motivated were you to just get out of bed this morning? Jesus marched into Jerusalem knowing he was destined to die…and that he did- on schedule and undaunted. Jesus was and is a man of character who led the charge in sacrifice, suffering and maintained a God-focused joyful heart all the way to the end!
Difficult goals are easy to avoid. Costly goals are even easier to put off or forget about all together. All that said, we are disciples and we will go after our faith goals with a vengeance because that is what our Lord did! Paul writes in Colossians 1:21-26: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. We are literally called to suffer in our bodies to get the job done…the evangelization of the nations depends on whether or not you and I will finish the work Jesus started by our willingness to suffer to save as many as possible!
Looking at the Eastern USA/South Asia World Sector we have to be honest with ourselves and own that we have not done our best for God the first quarter of 2016. Very few have been baptized and many have fallen away (SEE REPORT BELOW). Overall we have only seen a 3% growth of all the churches combined and we can do so much better…thus the call to MARCH! Let’s get things going and have an amazing 2nd quarter for the Lord.
We have begun our 90 Day March as of May 1st and are now 15 days in! What an exciting time and yet very difficult goals have been set before us. We are striving today to finish our 22 times Special Contribution…that is a lot and has taken faith and hard work…suffering and prayer. Here is a reminder of what the leadership has put before the church for our 90 Day March:
- 1 for 1 visitors at each Bible Talk and at church at least once by July 31
- Each sister share with two men for every woman they share with
- Every member in a Bible study (we have 105 members)
- Mighty Man of God group each Saturday morning at 6:30 AM
- See 15 men added to the church by July 31
These are challenging goals yet not too much for our God…with powerful prayer and unsurpassed unity we will knock these out of the ball park for God! Let’s have an amazing “beginning of summer” 90 Day March for the Lord!
He stoops down to make us great,
Matt Sullivan
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