Last month, Beth wrote a post about what we do here in FLL. In it, she talked about the trips we take to do trainings. Part of our teaching includes a section on vision casting where we answer the question, “Why are we here?”. So for the blog today, I wanted to share some of this with you to answer the question, “Why we do what we do?”.
Why are we here in FLL? There are 3 passages from the Bible that I want to share to explain why. First start with Ezekiel 36:22-23 where I think we can see God’s Pulse.
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.
23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. (ESV)
Israel has been exiled from their land and is now in captivity, yet we know that God has promised never to leave his people and he will restore them to their land. But look closely at what he says again. See? God acts and works for the sake of his name alone! He is not going to restore Israel for their sake. They were the ones that profaned his name! And as God makes his name holy, his name will then be made holy among all the nations! You see, there are so many places around us where God’s name is profaned every day through the worship of idols and false gods. It is God’s heart to see His name made holy in these places.
Knowing this truth, we can then look at Revelation 7:9-10 to see God’s Promise.
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (ESV)
The apostle John here describes for us this beautiful vision of what we sees in heaven. Among the great multitude worshipping Jesus on the throne, John writes that he recognizes people from every nation, tribe, and language. Think about that for a second. In heaven, there will be at least 1 person from every people group and/or language group in the world! And not just those living now but from every group that ever was or ever will be! So what does this mean? As we go out into these nations where God’s name is not known, we have a promise from him that there will be people from these groups worshipping him. We can rest knowing it is not our responsibility to save them, but merely to make his name known. He is the one who is doing all the work!
Now that we know God’s Pulse for all nations and have God’s Promise of believers from every nation, tribe, people, and language, we can look to Matthew 28:18-20 for God’s Plan for making his name known.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)
Here in the Great Commission, Jesus is giving his disciples the plan for growing the kingdom of God. There are 3 parts to this commission. In the middle, we find God’s Plan. The command here is to make disciples through baptizing them and then teaching them to obey Jesus’ commands. That’s it! The simplicity of this is amazing, and it’s why the church grew so quickly in Acts. What’s even more comforting in this command is the statements book-ending it. At the beginning, Jesus states that all authority is his. No one is above him. Then at the end, he tells his followers that he will always be with them. So get this: the one who has all authority will always be with us. Therefore, we can go and make disciples without worry; Jesus is with us!
In part 2, I will explain more about the brutal facts of our area and why we came here…
This little precious alien is Mahaney dressed up in her Ariel wig from Grandaddy and Granmommy during room time! I posted on Facebook that she’s so cute in an E.T.-ish way!
This just amazes me every time…the bamboo just holds up the concrete…not sure it’s the best idea, but it’s what they use and it works…for the most part…
We recently went over to have dinner and play w/ some friends and this is the little get-up Maddie came out with…she’s such a hoot!
called them to do as believers! They usually come back that evening and give a report to how their practice went – this is a fun time of encouragement and tangible way to pray.
We use these year round!
