Missions Conference

"Some who demonstrate a passion for accurate doctrine, place a question mark over their love for God by evidencing no active love for lost sinners.  This absence of missionary effort is appalling.  Nevertheless, if being moved by compassion for sinners is essential, it is MORE essential to be moved more profoundly still by a love for God." (emphasis mine).
Walter Chantry

God,
We want to be motivated first and foremost by you and a desire to glorify your name.
As we consider this year's mission theme "Proclaiming Jesus - No Boundaries,"
help us to remember
your love, which is evidenced throughout history and seen in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus
and
your power, which cannot be contained by human hands or governments.
We pray that a culture of evangelism would grow in our church
that this would be demonstrated in the way we pray for our missionaries.
that this would be demonstrated in the way we pray for our family and friends.
and may these prayers and realizations of who you are move us to action.
Amen.

Go to our missionary page and click on the different missionaries to see how you can be praying for them.
http://www.emmanuelbaptist.com/missionaries

Proclaiming Jesus - No Boundaries

Pray for the upcoming mission's conference

And consider this section from the Gospel Primer entitled "a Heart for the Lost"

The more I rehearse and exult in gospel truths, the more there develops within me a corresponding burden for non-Christians to enter into such blessings.  This is also what seems to happen to the Apostle Paul while writing the book of Romans
In Romans 5 Paul exults in his righteous standing before God.  In chapter 6 he speaks of the freedom from sin which Christ has accomplished in the lives of believers, a freedom which Paul later confesses had not yet become fully realized in his own daily practice (chapter 7).  Nonetheless, coming into chapter 8, he recounts the fact that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  With increasing flourish, he rehearse numerous gospel themes throughout the length of chapter 8 and he climaxes the chapter with a triumphant exclamation regarding the endless love of God which enables Christians to conquer overwhelmingly in all things.
What effect do such gospel meditations have upon Paul?
What emotions do they in him besides the obvious joy he feels while reciting them?
Paul bares his soul at the very beginning of chapter 9:  "I have great sorrow" he says "and unceasing grief in my heart.  For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ, for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh"
Coming down from the heights of gospel meditation, Paul's heart is devastated by a burden for his fellow Jews to experience the saving power of the gospel.  His burden existed long before he started writing but it is undoubtedly intensified by his rehearsal of gospel truths in Romans 5-8, a rehearsal which inevitably leads his thoughts toward the plight of those outside of Christ.
 Hence, if I wish to have a "Romans 9" kind of burden for non-Christians, I should become practiced at celebrating the gospel as Paul does in Romans 5-8.  Over time, my joy in the gospel will become increasingly tinged with grief, and this grief stained joy will lend a God-inspired passion to my ministry of evangelizing the lost.

My Inheritance in the Saints.

 The gospel is not just a message of reconciliation with God, but it also heralds the reconciliation of all believers to one another in Christ. Through the death of Christ, God has brought peace where there was once hostility, and He has broken down the racial, economic, and social barriers that once divided us outside of Christ. (Ephesians 2; Colossians 3:11; Galatians 3:28: Revelation 5:9)

Also, when God saved us, He made us members of His household (Ephesians 2:19) and He gave us as gifts to one another (Ephesians 1:18).  Each brother and sister is a portion of my gospel inheritance from God, and I am a portion of their inheritance as well. We are significant players in each other's gospel narrative, and it is in relationship with one another that we experience the fullness of God in Christ (Ephesians 3; 2 Timothy 2:22; 1 Peter 4:10; Ephesians 1:22, 23).

Hence, the more I comprehend the full scope of the gospel, the more I value the church for which Christ died (Ephesians 5:26), the more I value the role that I play in the lives of my fellow-Christians, and the more I  appreciate the role that they must be allowed to play in mine.

Culture of Evangelism

Three quotes 

• The most loving thing we can do for others is to help them grow in godliness.
• "The most relevant message we can give the world is repent."  Pastor Duke
• "We have the word of God, the Spirit of God and the community of God.  Together we can develop a culture of caring that far exceeds anything the world has to offer."  Garret Higbee

As we continue through this series "Reconciled," may each of us see that this ministry of reconciliation and culture of genuine care for others is directly related to our goal of developing a culture of evangelism.

Think about what a great witness biblical reconciliation is to a lost, dying, selfish world.

Pray that you could live out the biblical truths from these messages among your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors.   

Prayer focus 1 Peter 3:13-17 read this verse and make it into a prayer.

Grace of God teach me...

"As we practice renouncing sins, sanctifying grace teaches us how to replace the passions of this world with godliness.  As a result,we grow in charitable thoughts, patience with our spouse, self-control instead of angry words, love, joy, peace...a virtually unlimited array of godly motivations and actions that look increasingly like the character of Christ..."
 from When Sinners Say "I Do" (p. 142)

LORD,  help me to grow in charity, patience, self-control, love, joy and peace.
I want to focus on your undeserved grace and not my unmet needs.
Help me to remember the truth of Titus 2:11 and 12.