Typically on Saturday evenings, The Road Home, a fellowship less than a year old, meets in a school in Newberg, Oregon. Aside from our primary desire to worship the Lord we want to reach our surrounding community with the gospel and raise up disciple makers. Like most churches, we sing, share, pray and teach God’s Word. Currently we are working our way through Luke’s gospel.
A healthy fear consumes our body. We are afraid of becoming ingrown. We realize that if we focus our attention on our needs and pleasures at the expense of outreach that we will fail in our quest to bring the gospel to our neighbors, co-workers and friends. Tomorrow, I should be preaching on Luke 8:1-15, the Parable of the Sower. But instead we will meet, read the passage, pray and leave. That’s right—leave! Most of us will go out into Newberg to sow while some remain to cover us with prayer. Why? Because it is too easy to talk about sowing and not do it! It’s too easy to be a gathering when we should be messengers. It’s too easy to be a noun when we should be verbs.
Meditation
Luke 8:1—After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.
The word proclaiming in the verse above comes from the Greek word, evangelizo from which we get the word evangelize. The Bible is replete with proclamation. Over 86 times the English word proclaim in some form recognizes God, His works, His Word, His attributes and most incredibly for us, the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation He brings us. Prophets proclaimed Jesus’ coming. Kings shared God’s endearing qualities. Leaders like Moses and Joshua testified to the power of God’s word. The Bible is truly a book of proclamations thus it was natural for Jesus to travel throughout Israel proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom. After all, the Word was modeling the word.
You and I cannot be reminded enough of our sacred responsibility to proclaim what we know and have experienced. Good news was never meant to be stored in jars of clay. God did not make us to be vases He made us to be candles. We are to burn every day the light of Jesus; fragrant aromas of salvation from eternal wicks fashioned joyfully by the Father of all. Too often we extinguish our wicks because we don’t feel like shining. But God’s plan was never fashioned upon our feelings but rather His will. It is interesting that when we shine in obedience we also experience deeper joy.
Tomorrow night we will sow. Then we will come back and share what we learned and pray for those precious souls God allows us to meet. Will you pray for us—that we would be excellent candles! And will you proclaim to someone today the awesome news that Jesus came to save sinners. Unless we sow how will a hungry world hear? Something to think about . . . in reveration!
Inspiration
Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the Gospel of God.—Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest
