Skip to main content

Go To ALL

"Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.  And when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted.  And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" - Matthew 28:16-20

These verses are well known to most Christians as The Great Commission.  And we have likely heard many sermons and read numerous lessons on them.  But my reading this morning looked at it in a way that I believe is vital to our country and world today.

Athletes like Jackie Robinson (MLB), Charlie Sifford (PGA), and Althea Gibson (tennis & from South Carolina), opened doors for African Americans to their perspective sports.  I do not believe those doors should have ever been closed in the first place but the fact of history is that unfortunately they were.  We cannot go back and rewrite history, we can only change our attitude in the present to make a better future.

But opening doors is also a major theme at the heart of the gospel.  Jesus commanded us to go to "all nations" (v19).  The word nations come from the Greek word ethnos, from which we get the word ethnic.  So in other words, Jesus said "Go and make disciples of all ethnicities."   There is no differentiation of races in the Bible, we are only one human race (Genesis 1:26-27).  And just as the barrier breaking athletes I mentioned above were able to share their sports with other athletes, now we all have the privilege of sharing the love and compassion of Christ with everyone.

Through the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior we can now share that love to someone who may have never dreamed they would be loved.  We can welcome them into the family of God because Jesus has opened the doors of salvation to all who believe. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2020 is Hindsight...Finally!

Wow, what a year! 2020 could literally be an entire decade, maybe more, of history, change, and lessons rolled up into these twelve months. While many aspects of 2020 were kind of sucky and we would like to forget them, it will certainly be a year to remember. And it will be enlightening when this year is looked back on in 10, 25, or 50 years to be discussed. I wonder if we'll seem like geniuses or idiots? Probably both to some extent! While there is so much that I could consider and analyze about this year, I'll try to break some of it down into four dimensions - Physical, Spiritual, Mental, and Social/Emotional. These are events and happenings from my world and perspective and I'm trying to be open in sharing and would love to hear from others on events you found most transforming. Physical When COVID cause gyms to close, that messed me up. Our town and state were late to be hit with severe cases and therefore later than many across the country to close up shop. I'm n...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Pray - The Object of Our Prayer

In our College & Career Sunday school class this week, we started a series titled, "How to Pray."  I plan to try to and share the lessons each week in case anyone wants to follow along with us here...or you can come join us Sunday mornings at Tabernacle at 10 AM in room 218. Any good speaker, teacher, or presenter knows that the #1 rule of public speaking is to know your audience.  You don't want to prepare a discussion about retirement for preschoolers and a presentation themed with Disney princesses most likely wouldn't spark the interest of a group of businessmen.  In order for someone to prepare a dynamic and engaging presentation, they must know their audience, who they're preparing to talk to. The same is true in our prayer life.  The Point of this week's study is: "A right view of God fuels how we pray."  The conversations we engage in with our friends about are often focused on topics that interest them: their favorite team, favorite ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Waves of Change

I often hear older people talk about the "good old days" or "back in my day" and they wish that things would go back to the way they were back then. That will never happen. And sadly, many of us in the millennial generation may even make the same statements one day, if we haven't already.  A.W. Tozer said this, " Regardless of where you look these days, change is inevitable. Things are not what they once were. I am not one that bemoans the past for the simple reason that the past was not as good as we remember." People, technology, industry, work, laws, morals, relationships, social media, privacy and so many other things will always be changing. If you want to survive the storms of change in your life you must have some constant that holds you on course.  There is only one things that never changes, that has never had to change because He has always been good and perfect - God.  Malachi 3:6 reads, "For I the Lord do not change......
Post a Comment
Read more