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What is our purpose, our mission, as a Christ-follower?  Renee Sanford and I were discussing this recently and decided that in Christ, we have two purposes:

Our earthly purpose: To make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20)

Our eternal purpose:  To glorify God and worship him forever. The Westminster catechism says, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”

The first is a temporal purpose that will end when we leave this earth or when all people have had the opportunity to know Jesus (whichever comes first) – then the end will come (Matthew 24:14). The second is an eternal purpose. Revelation 7:9 says that in the end times, we will be worshiping with “every nation, tribe, people and language.” What a beautiful picture that brings to mind!

How did God give me a missional heart?  This is my journey…

Before I came to church at Milton SDB, I knew nothing about God’s love for the nations.  In 2012, our Prayer Coordinator, Renee Sanford, started bringing people groups who are unreached with the gospel before our congregation – a different group each month. I remember praying for these groups of people – the nations – in our church service.  This was a new concept for me – that it is our responsibility as a Christ follower to have an active part in these people’s lives who have never heard of Jesus. 

In prayer, we can do this from afar, never having met them.

Then in early 2017, the people group Renee “randomly” asked us to pray for was the Rohingya (Roh).  She then felt led to pray not just one month for the Roh, but again.  Then something incredible happened.  In August of 2017, the Roh left Myanmar in mass numbers to go to Bangladesh due to atrocities committed against them in their home country. 

When we were praying for the Roh in Myanmar, we had no idea that the largest population of the Roh outside their homeland, was in Milwaukee, a little over an hour from us.  As we have developed a relationship with them, they are now our friends and adopted unreached people group. Having a front row seat, this was a powerful testimony to Jesus’s great love for a people who don’t even know He loves them and wants them as part of His family.

In January 2017, I had become Outreach Coordinator of our church.  In the summer of 2017, Melissa Lade, Shanny Snyder and I started a Q Place group for spiritual seekers. I discovered that when you use evangelism skills, then God grows more of that.  In January of 2019 a group of young adults, Renee and myself traveled to Louisville Kentucky for Cross Conference, a missions focused conference for 18 to 25 year olds. 

Taking the Perspective on the World Christian Movement early in 2020 had a powerful effect on my understanding God’s heart. This in-depth study impressed on me God’s overarching mission for all people groups to have the opportunity to know Jesus and our job in sharing this Good News!

So how does God grow our heart for the lost? 

Jesus does this of course! But for me personally, it’s been a progression, a building of layers, a combination of awareness, being immersed in a church culture that impresses this, gospel preaching, praying for the lost, reading God’s word, and education.  It takes intentionality to understand God in a deeper way.  This is the path of how he’s brought me to this point. 

Do you want to develop a greater understanding of God’s love for those who don’t know him?

I do too! Join me for the Sabbath School class – Step In, through Global Frontier Missions.

The Step In Study is de-signed to expose participants to God’s Word, God’s World, and God’s Work, challenging each person to take a leap of faith and “Step In” to God’s heart for all nations. Each section focuses on the heart, the head, and the hands.

We want people’s minds and hearts to be transformed as we look into God’s Word and as we see what He is doing around the world. We also want to be doers of the Word (James 1:22), and not just hearers that are puffed up with new knowledge. Therefore, this study provides a number of practical next steps for people to form the habits of a globally-minded Christian.

Join us on the Clarkston, GA Mission Trip

This Global Missions Journeys trip will be the culmination of our Sabbath School class, February 22-24, 2023, a 3 day trips that are designed to engage believers and churches with God’s heart for every nation to know Him, expose them to new cultures and equip them with the Habits of a Global Christian.

DEADLINE TO SIGN-UP EXTENDED to December 15th!

On a Global Mission Journey you will have the opportunity to:

• Eat at ethnic restaurants, shop at local markets, and visit Mosques or Hindu/Buddhist Temples to learn about other faiths
• Prayer walk in local multi-ethnic communities
• Interact with internationals to build bridges of understanding for future ministry
• Hear about God’s heart for the nations and strategies to reach them
• Explore God’s call to welcome, send, mobilize, pray, and go!

Please contact Linda Lyke for more information.