Christians are ever thankful for the kindness of God.
We thank God for our creation. The creation in all its beauty and wonder gives rise to our praise to God for life and all good things.
We are thankful for the mercy of God. He patiently endured our sinfulness as he waited for the time to send his son into the world. When he sent his son, it was to die for us as the sacrifice for our sins.
We are thankful to God for the message of salvation that somebody somewhere has taught us. We thank God not only for the message but also for the messengers. By their efforts and through the work of the Holy Spirit, we have come to know God as our Father and Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.
Christians can never keep these blessings to themselves. We want to sing of the glory of God in creation and salvation. We want to declare to the world that our Lord reigns. We want others to share in the knowledge and experience of God’s pardon and forgiveness. We want all peoples to know of rebirth.
That is why we are a missionary religion. What we have is not a birthright. It has not come to us because we are Australian. What we have is a spiritual rebirth. It has come to us by the preaching of the gospel. It has nothing to do with our merit or intelligence. It is freely available to all sorts and conditions of people. So we want others to share in the privileges of salvation.
To do this requires more gospel preaching. As more people speak of the Lord and his saving work, so more people come to hear the call to repent. This is not the work of a few but of all those who name the name of Jesus. We all have the opportunities to say a word commending the Lord to others. We all can extend the welcome of the gospel to newcomers in church. We do not all preach from pulpits, but we are all committed to telling the world the message of salvation.
That is why all Christians should be involved in praying and giving to missionary endeavours. Becoming a member of the Church Missionary Society is one easy way to be involved in overseas missionary work. Please keep prayerfully supporting our link Missionaries David and Leonie Painter in the work in Cambodia.
Last Friday Jim and Carole Holbeck left for a month’s healing ministry in the Episcopal Church in Florida. Next month Chris and Judy Moroney and Ken and Naomi Noakes will be spending several weeks training Christians in India. Please commit these short-term ministries to the Lord in prayer.
There are also many gospel endeavours in Australia – not only in the outback but in the city as well. This is the second weekend of the three “Club 5” conferences, where I will be challenging men and women to be considering diverting their careers into full-time ministry of the word of God. Please pray that God would raise up tomorrow’s gospel preachers, through these “Club 5” conferences.
