Last weekend was a special time in the life of Northstar Church. It was a special time because it was designated as Missions Weekend. We welcomed guest speaker Sean Cooper, from The Traveling Team, who was willing to share God’s heart for the nations. On Sunday morning, he walked is through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, in an attempt to show each of us that it’s not about us or our agenda.
It’s about God. It’s about His agenda. It’s about making disciples of all nations and sharing the gospel of grace with all the earth.
Over and over again, throughout scripture, we see that God wants to send His people out. His command to Adam and Eve and, later, to Noah is to fill the earth. But man isn’t interested in God’s agenda. Man selfishly seeks to make a name for himself, rather than making a name for the Creator.
In Genesis 11, we read that the people of earth had one language and made the decision to come together in one place. This flies in the face of God’s command to fill the earth. And so, God confuses the languages of humanity, and they scatter.
But it isn’t long before God begins to work out His plan to bring all these peoples back to Himself. He does it by choosing a man called Abram, promising him, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3).”
He didn’t say that some families would be blessed. As God spoke to Abram, He didn’t just say that your family would be blessed. He said all families would be blessed. God chose Abram, knowing that it would be through his bloodline that God’s Son, Jesus Christ, would eventually be born into this world. And it’s through Jesus, through His sinless life, through his death on the cross, through his resurrection from the grave, that all the families of the earth would be blessed.
Throughout the weekend, Sean spoke about what it means to reach out to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people for Jesus. God’s heart is for the nations, and we’re reminded of this fact over 1,500 times in scripture. God wants to bring people to Him. We see Jesus reaching out, bringing people to Him. It’s God’s desire to have disciples of every nation, tribe, tongue, and people on earth. In Revelation 7:9, we see that this is a desire, a promise, that will be fulfilled.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” –Revelation 7:9-10
It was a special weekend in the life of Northstar Church. But should it be? God’s heart beats for the nations of the earth. Upon hearing so many reminders of this truth, shouldn’t our own hearts beat in the same way, daily? Are we on board with God’s heart for the nations? Are we ready to live out God’s agenda? Are we ready to cast off our own?