One afternoon we visited Matola to meet with the moms. Our question to them was "How do you know God loves you?" The reply was humbling. One of them said "because we just know". We dug deeper asking "how do you know?" This time they replied with "because we exist". The final answer was "because of the conditions we live in, we experience God's grace for life everyday."
Jzus te ama is Portuguese for "Jesus loves you" and is the message that I will be sharing with the people of Mozambique. You can read more by clicking here.
A glimpse at Mozambique. Missionary and founder of Unveiled Faces, Dominique Phillips made a recording of her most recent visit to Mozambique. As you maybe aware I will be traveling to this part of Africa myself in August. Please take a look at this video and remember the people of Mozambique in your prayers.
The motto for this year must be, "Continue in prayer."
Col 4:2 says, "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving”. The timing of this verse is relevant considering that we are entering a new year. As C.H. Spurgeon writes, " If thou be a child of God, thou wilt seek thy Father’s face, and live in thy Father’s love. Pray that this year thou mayst be holy, humble, zealous, and patient; have closer communion with Christ, and enter oftener into the banqueting house of his love. Pray that thou mayst be an example and a blessing unto others, and that thou mayst live more to the glory of thy Master."
Join with me in seeking God’s presence and let’s continue in prayer!
The sermon at church today included 3 reminders for the new year:
1) Intimacy with Jesus. It's the foundation of our life as God is our very life giver.
2) Hope for things to come. In spite that our economy is in a recession, we have to put our trust in God and now live in fear.
3) Direction for God's will in your life. As many people make new year's resolutions, we should really be asking God what is His plan for this year and how do we fit into it. We should be cautious of making our own plans and just follow His.
As we enter another Christmas season I think about the words to a song, Come let us adore Him. Eventhough we may only sing this once a year, my desire is to see the lives of people faithfully coming to adore Him everyday. Mt 1:23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"— which means, "God with us." Have you come to adore Him, the God of the universe, today?
I just wanted to share a few definitions from a book that I have been reading, Breaking the Missional Code.
Evangelism: telling people about Jesus
Missions: understanding the "lost" before we tell them about Jesus.
The latter is essential before the former can truly be effective. We are to be missionaries in our own community. As Christians, we can no longer just think of missionaries as someone who goes overseas. We must look at our own country and communities as such.
A mistake that I have seen many make is expecting the "lost" to come to us without making an effort to go to them. We must understand and identify with their needs. That sets us up for a platform to tell others about Jesus. So, missions should be every Christians responsibility.
