"Finish the Mission"

This past weekend I had the privilege of driving 550 miles with my wife Julie and three other members of our church, Rooftop Community Church for the Desiring God National Conference. This year's conference was entitled "Finish the Mission" and we were five of over 3,000 people to attend this year. It was a great and challenging weekend!

What does it mean to "finish the mission"? This is a term used in evangelical circles to describe the objective of the true church of Jesus Christ since he ascended into heaven in Matthew 28. Jesus told his disciples, and subsequently those of us who have chosen to follow Him since then to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature..." Many in the church believe the the return of Jesus Christ is being delayed so that God, through His church, can reach as many people as possible with gospel of Jesus Christ.

According to the statistics presented at the conference, there are over 16,000 different people groups in the world.
These are distinct groups or tribes of people with a distinct language, dialect and culture. There are over 3,000 of these people groups who still do not have one Christian or missionary in their people group with the ability or capacity to share the gospel and reach them for Christ. Additionally, of the almost 7 billion people on the earth, over 2.5 billion of them have not even heard of the name of Jesus Christ. "Finish the Mission" was designed to encourage and challenge the church to continue its focus on reaching these 3,000 people groups with the gospel and also the 2.5 billion as well.

If you have some time, I recommend clicking on this link and listening to what any one of the speakers has to say about our job as the Church as it relates to finishing the mission. At a minimum we can pray and we can resource those who are going to places that have not yet been reached. The apostle Paul said this very thing in his letter to the Romans (15:20) "and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation".

It was amazing to hear how the gospel is advancing around the world and in the darkest and unlikeliest of places. Yet it continues to move and the courageous people of God allow it to move through them. Julie and I were both encouraged and challenged this weekend. We give to missions and serve in our community, but there is something BIG about reaching the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even as we live here in St. Louis, we are not restricted from having an impact in this mission and we can continually ask God to increase our role in the mission. We did that together and are excited to see what He has in store.

Seriously, take an hour and listen to a message from the conference. I pray that you will be encouraged and awakened to a greater role for you in "finishing the mission".