There is More: Missio Dei Sunday
Ephesians 3:20 (TPT)
Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.
Today is Missio Dei Sunday, and we are believing God for more. He is at work in our world, and we celebrate that by inviting him to do more in us and through us.
Romans 8:5 (MSG)
Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.
Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you. We are all invited into God’s mission. Whether you work in the church, in the corporate world, as a creative or a student, we are all called to ministry. Whatever you are called to do, God has gifted you, anointed you and graced you to bring glory to him.
Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the greatest creatives of all time. But did you know that the church rejected Bach? They said his music was too showy and distracting. So he took his music to the world and left a trail of impact and influence. Still to this day, people all over the world perform and study his music.
Henrietta Miers felt called to ministry, but the church did not believe that women should be allowed to preach. So she became a children’s sunday school teacher, but she was no ordinary Sunday school teacher. You might not know her name, but you might know some of her students: Billy Graham and Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, were just a few of her students who went on to leave incredible marks on the world for God’s mission. She took every opportunity she had to do what she was doing for the glory of God.
The church in its purest form is an agent of change in the world. When the righteous are in power, you can see the full potential of the church. Today, I want to invite you to participate in God’s great plan.
The motivation of the Wright brothers was God-inspired. Their father was a pastor, and they started out in the printing business to help spread the Gospel. Then they got into the bicycle business to help make traveling long distances more efficient for the sake of God’s mission. Ultimately, they became pioneers for aviation. Today, we see the fruit of their partnership with God’s mission: flight allows people to travel all over the world and advance the work of God.
Everything that we have can be used and elevated to become part of God’s mission. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu found God’s calling at a young age. She was stationed in a convent in Ireland. She went to her superiors with 3 pennies and said she had a dream to build an orphanage. They laughed at her, but she continued to give what she had. Many people don’t know the name “Anjezë,” but you know what she came to be called: Mother Teresa. Today there are thousands of sisters all over the world who are continuing the work that she started to advance God’s mission by helping the sick, the orphaned, and the poorest of the poor.
All of these world-changers were inspired by God and recognized that they were called and purposed for God’s mission. Begin to connect with God’s spirit inside of you who makes you alive to his work and his heart for people. Pray that the spirit of God would lead you into his mission and make your calling and your purpose clear in this season.
Today, we are asking you to make a pledge: a commitment of your time, talent and treasure. This is an opportunity to partner with God’s mission through the expansion of City Church Chicago and the service of our city by partnering with one of the many organizations helping the poor, the sick, and the broken in Chicago and in the world.
Discussion/Reflection Questions:
- What is the “more” that you believe God wants to do in you and through you in this season?
- How is God calling you to serve stronger and give greater?
- What pledge or commitment do you feel led to make today towards God’s mission?