Fervent Prayer: Missions

“Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him- to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”  Romans 16:25-27 

In the modern-day American church “missions” many times is not considered an important part of the ministry of the church. There is usually some form of missions done, however, because it is a “good thing to do,” or “those poor people really need our help” or “Gee, foreign travel is exciting!” Missions is usually relegated to an add-on if there happens to be some leftover time or resources.

At Mercy Hill we often hear that we need to “be the church.” While this phrase, indeed, can entail many different aspects, being the church ultimately boils down to fulfilling the main purpose of the church which is the glorification of our God. The church exists to worship God and bring Him glory. In his book Let the Nations Be Glad, John Piper states, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” And worship cannot exist except through belief in the one, true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul establishes this throughout his message in the book of Romans. In chapter one he states, “Through him and for his names sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith” (v. 5). Then in 15:8-9, “For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy…”

Let us pray with the Psalmist, “Let the peoples praise you , O God, may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy…” (Ps 67:3) and “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples” (Ps 96:3). Let Mercy Hill be part of what God is doing among the nations and bringing forth the message that Jesus “with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them a kingdom of priests to serve our God…” (Rev 5:9). Amen.

Jeff Luecke
Elder of Mercy Hill Church