Reaching the World for Jesus in Missouri

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””
(Acts 1:8, HCSB)

Note: I heard a sermon at an annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 2000 by Dr. Charles Wade. This sermon was the inspiration for what I wrote here.

God has called me to missions in Missouri

We are called to do missions in Missouri. This verse identifies our spheres of influence: local, surrounding centers, cross-cultural missions, and world missions. But the fact of the matter is this: We don’t even have to leave the state to do missions. I want to talk to you about places where we can do missions in Missouri.

There are people in Washburn, Exeter, Seligman, and Cassville; all in Missouri. These people need to hear about Jesus from you and me.

There are Purdy people, Clever people, Famous people, Radical people, and Peculiar people. They need to hear about Jesus from you and me.

There are people from the Far West, from the East End of Missouri to the West End of Missouri. There are people from Center, Missouri to Halfway, Missouri.

They need to hear about Jesus from you and me.

There are people who live in Grace, but don’t know the grace of God.
There are people who live in Joy, but have no joy.
There are people who live in Faith, but need to place their faith in Jesus Christ.
There are Liberals in Missouri, but strangely no Conservatives.
There are people who Doolittle, but also want Fair Play.

There are very patriotic people in Missouri. They live in Seventy Six, Missouri, as well as Independence, Freedom, Republic and Union, Missouri.

There are all kinds of people in Missouri. We need to reach them. They can be famous people like Brumly or Cosby, or Collins, or Dalton.

Apparently, there are a lot of people named Glenn in Missouri. They live in places like:

Glenallen, Glencoe, Glen Echo Park, Glenwood

We need to reach out to people who live in towns in Missouri with names like these:

Jack, Jeff, Joanna, and the James Brothers, or Kelso, Leslie, Laurie, Leonard, or Jane. Perhaps you know Roscoe (no, not the one from the “Dukes of Hazzard”). Maybe you know Stella, Tina, Preston, or Watson, or Elmo (and I don’t mean the red muppet on “Sesame Street” – although he might need saving too.)

Maybe you know Bran-son, Jack-son, Jame-son, Fergu-son, or Eugene, or Cooter, or Craig. Maybe you know Franklin, or Ethel, or Emma.

They all need to hear about Jesus, in Missouri.

Red, Yellow, Brown, Black, and White – they are all precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children. Well, there are kinds of different colorful folk, as well as colorful towns you will find in Missouri.

There is Grayson, Blue Eye, Blue Springs, as well as Ginger Blue. There is a Brown Station, as well.

However, the predominant color of Missouri must be green:
Greencastle, Green City, Greendale, Greenfield, Green Park, Green Ridge, Greentop, Greenville, Greenwood

I told you that you can go to all kinds of places in Missouri.

You can go to Cool Valley, Deep Water, and Town and Country, all in Missouri.
You can go from a Summerville to a Springfield, all in Missouri.
You can go from Sunrise Beach to Sunset Hills, all in Missouri.
You can go to Sugar Creek, or Sweet Springs, all in Missouri.
You can go to a Holiday, or a Goodnight, both in Missouri.

If you are interested in gems, minerals, and rocks, Missouri is the right place for you. You can go to Cobalt, to the Golden City, to the Irondale, Crystal Lakes, or Emerald Beach.

You can travel all over the United States if you wanted to, and never leave Missouri. You can go to famous cities like these: Houston, Memphis, Osceola, Richmond, Bowling Green, Gainesville, Beverly Hills, Miami, Coney Island, and Denver, all in Missouri. You can travel to different states to do missions. You can go to California, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington, all in Missouri.

You can travel the world to famous cities, and never leave Missouri.

You can travel the world for missions – in Cairo, Paris, Lucerne, Versailles, Verona, Vienna, Budapest, Strasburg, Warsaw, all in Missouri. You can go to Cuba, Peru, Mexico, Japan, Lebanon, Scotland, and Holland, all in Missouri. You can even go around Globe in Missouri.

At the same time, it must be a very spiritual state. There may be many spiritual people in Missouri around you. You may know:

Saint Ann, Saint Charles, Saint Clair, Saint George, Saint James, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Louis, Saint Martins, Saint Mary, Saint Paul, Saint Peters, Saint Robert, Saint Thomas, Saint Genevieve

All of these people may be around you in Missouri. They may seem holy to you. They may talk about how spiritual they are. Yet, they still need to hear about Jesus, in Missouri.

Now if you are counting, I just quoted 136 places you can travel in Missouri. You don’t have to go far to share Jesus. You have enough people and places around you in Missouri to reach the world for Jesus Christ.

Look around you. There are all kinds of people who need to hear about Jesus, in Missouri. Who are you going to go to share about Jesus?

Photo by Brittney Butler on Unsplash