Focus 2020 – The Great Commission: Perspectives from LeadersSample

God’s Agenda: Taking the Church to Where It Is Not 

Bible passage: 

“As truly as I live, and all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs…shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers.” (Numbers 14:21) 

Devotional: 

One of the saddest stories in the Bible occurs in Numbers 13 and 14. The Israelites, after two years in the wilderness, were now in position to take possession of the land promised to Abram more than five hundred years earlier. Twelve spies scouted out the land. But they brought a fearful report of walled cities and giants in this Promised Land. Fear gripped the hearts of the people. Caleb and Joshua earnestly pleaded with them to trust God. But they would not! 

God said something truly remarkable in pronouncing His judgment for their unbelief. He began with a vision, “As truly as I live, and all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs…shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers.” God’s deep desire is that His people would by their presence bring His glory into the land. That generation died in the wilderness. 

Thirty-eight years later Joshua led the next generation into this Promised Land. He divided the land for each tribe, and then they saw God bring victory through them. Joshua exhorted them to fully occupy what God had promised—to fulfill God’s agenda for them. 

I was recently asked “What core convictions underlay what you do?”  

1. We must increase our efforts to engage profoundly unreached peoples! To reach people in the hardest places with the Gospel is a matter of justice. 

2. The church in America must stay engaged in missions around the world. The Great Commission is still in our Bible. We must not shrink back but must still “Go.” 

3. We must partner and work alongside God’s people around the world. The task remaining can only be done by working together. 

The first recorded words of Jesus were spoken after Mary and Joseph found their 12-year-old boy in the temple with the religious leaders, “Why were you looking for Me? Don’t you know I must be about my Father’s business?” In another place Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34, ESV). Jesus was firmly focused on His Father’s agenda. 

The Father yearns that we wholeheartedly “accomplish His work” today. The Holy Spirit is conducting an “orchestra” of His people from many nations, each playing their part in the Great Commission symphony. Let’s embrace His agenda every day of our lives, loving God and seeing people from every tribe and nation transferred from darkness to light—to dwell in the Father’s house! 

Quote: The motto of every missionary, whether preacher, printer, or schoolmaster, ought to be “Devoted for life.” - Adoniram Judson 

Question: Has your commitment to the Great Commission diminished in any way because of current circumstances?  

Dan Brokke 

President, Bethany Gateways