The Who of the Message: The Gospel is for Everyone

Scripture: Matthew 2:1

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,

Insights: Have you ever wondered why the magi are in the Christmas story?  I think today’s verse gives us some of the reason for them being in the story.  The significance I believe is found in three little words, “from the east.”  These magi were not Israelites.  They were gentiles who had, by God’s grace, learned about the birth of the Messiah and came to worship Him.  The very fact that they are gentiles speaks volumes to us today in regards to the heart of God.  Last week we saw the angels announced the birth first to shepherds.  The significance being Jesus came to die for the poor and the wealthy.  Today we see gentiles, which mean Jesus came to die for every people group around the world.  Let me run a tangent for a moment.  One of the things a preacher does when asking the Lord if a church he is considering is the right one is to find ministry matches.  In other words, do the passions he has line up with the passions of the church.  Mission involvement is very near and dear to Kristy and me; therefore, when we learned about the Ecuadorian and Argentinian missions in which FBCBG participate, we knew we had a ministry match.  Obviously, there were many other factors to take into consideration, but this one point was very large in giving us confirmation to the will of the Lord.  I mention this to challenge you this coming year.  We have five more trips scheduled to Ecuador.  I would encourage you to seek the Lord as to when you ought to go on this trip.  We as Believers are called to our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria, and to the utter most parts of the world.  This commission is a simultaneous commission.  In other words, you do not what until you have reached all of Jerusalem before you move on to Judea.  You actively reach out to all four locations at the same time.  The way we accomplish this objective is through short term mission trips.  Here is one of those subtle secretes about mission trips: when you go, you come back more evangelistically charged to reach your Jerusalem.  I don’t understand how this works, but it does.  Beloved, let us have the same heart beat the Lord does for the gentiles of this world and actively participate in missions.  May the Lord be brought glory through our obedience.

Questions:

1. Are you missions minded?
2. Is there anything holding you back from engaging the world for Jesus?

Prayer: Father, increase my love for the world.  You created all people and desire a love relationship with each and every one of them.  Help my heart to grow and become more engaged in mission opportunities which lie in front of me.  Amen.