Part 16 of series: The Mission of God and the Missional Church How Can I Be Involved in God’s Mission When I’m Already Too Busy? As a pastor, I’ve often heard something like this: “I could get pretty excited about being a part of God’s mission in the world. But, frankly, I’m overwhelmed already. I’ve got way too much to do right now. What should I do?” For most of us, involvement in the mission of Christ will alter our... Read more
Part 15 of series: The Mission of God and the Missional Church In my last post, I began talking about how we are sent as a community of the good news to join in the mission of God in the world. I said that our corporate sending is important because: first, we get our training and support from our Christian community, and, second, many aspects of Christian mission cannot be accomplished by individuals working along. A third reason why we’re... Read more
Calling God “Abba, Father” (Part 3) Romans 8:15-17 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15 In yesterday’s reflection, I talked about how the idea of God as father is difficult for many people because of their painful history of relationship with their own earthly father. In fact, I believe all of us tend to... Read more
Part 14 of series: The Mission of God and the Missional Church When Jesus sent his first disciples into the world, he sent them as a community, not as a bunch of isolated individuals. How else would their mutual love prove to the world the genuineness of their discipleship? Even when the early Christians left their home churches to share the gospel elsewhere, they usually chose to do so in teams, not as Lone Ranger evangelists (Mark 6:7; Acts 15:22;... Read more
Part 13 of series: The Mission of God and the Missional Church Until 2006, most people were unfamiliar with William Wilberforce. The release of the movie Amazing Grace in that year changed the situation considerably. This film, starring Ioan Gruffudd as Wilberforce, narrates the first part of Wilberforce’s truly amazing, grace-filled and gracious life. Born into wealth and privilege in 1759, Wilberforce was known in his early years only for his love of socializing and his several physical infirmities. He... Read more
Part 12 of series: The Mission of God and the Missional Church Yesterday I began to explain how we can enact the good news of Jesus even as we speak of this good news. Such enactment is essential if want people to hear us when we speak. How can we enact the good news in today’s world so that people might experience the presence of God and be drawn to believe in Jesus? In a nutshell, we are to do... Read more
Part 11 of series: The Mission of God and the Missional Church Like Jesus, we have been sent to enact the good news. Not only are we to proclaim what Christ has done for us, but also we are to live out that good news in our daily lives. We must speak of God’s reconciliation and live as agents of reconciliation, as peacemakers in our combative world (Matt 5:9; 2 Cor 5:16-21). As we tell people that God loves them... Read more
Part 10 of series: The Mission of God and the Missional Church In my last post I mentioned that my college friend Lance, who was so free in talking about his Christian faith, didn’t have the knowledge to satisfy his friends’ inquisitiveness and criticisms. So he asked me and our mutual friend John to meet with his friends’ for an open forum on Christianity. They would bring all of their questions and objections, and we’d try to answer them. John,... Read more
No Condemnation! Romans 8:1-4 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 Romans 8:1 is one of the most important verses in all of Scripture, from both a theological and a psychological point of view. Theologically, this verse makes crystal clear the fact of our forgiveness in Christ. God has done through Christ that which we could never do, setting us free from the power of sin and death. Thus if we “belong... Read more
Part 9 of series: The Mission of God and the Missional Church In my last two posts, I’ve been explaining how we who believe in Jesus have been sent by him to share his good news with others. In my last post, I said that one of the easiest ways to do this is simply to be honest. As an example, I talked about one of my friends in college, a man named Lance who, though he was a new... Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Mark D. Roberts
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In