I will be using my “Thursday Thoughts” space over the next few weeks to consider God’s purpose and plan to expand worship to the uttermost parts of the world. We most often call this ‘missions’ – and it is – but as John Piper writes in “Let the Nations Be Glad”…

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.”

We know God’s goal is worship, Jesus revealed God’s heart on the matter in His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well…

John 4:23
23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

God desires worshipers and He has charged His children, the church, to be engaged in the seeking endeavor so that the world might be found worshiping Him in spirit and truth.

Our Little World
If you grew up in the church, you likely learned this song as a child:

This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine

Hide it under a bushel, no
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine

We would add various verses – – “Shine all over Bowling Green”, “Shine all over America”, “Shine all over the world”, and so on. It was a song with a mission; to teach children that Christians have a responsibility to influence the world with the gospel. And it wasn’t just a cute lyric, it reflected biblical truth…

Matthew 5:14–16
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Before we can light the world – we must be a light. Before we commit to lighting our great big world, we must be sure we are shining bright in our little world. The light of the glory of God in Christ must burn bright in our own hearts, in our homes, in our church. Said another way: if passion for God is weak in us, in our homes, and in our church, then our passion for missions will be weak. The fire for missions burns from the center of our zeal for the glory of God – right here, in our little world.

Burning Brighter
As your pastor, I celebrate the love for God, the Christ-exalting worship, and the passion for His glory that shines here at Grace Community Church! By His grace, the light burns bright in our hearts. At the same time, I realize how quickly we can become complacent. I have seen how easily God’s glory can fade as a Christian, or a Christian church, takes for granted the deep flow of grace that God provides. Paul was aware of that threat it his own life and in the churches…

Paul’s life of ‘pressing on’…

Philippians 3:12–15
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

Paul’s challenge to the church to continue to grow – to ‘burn brighter’…

Ephesians 4:15–16
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

He tells the Thessalonians, you’re doing great, now ‘do this more and more’…
1 Thessalonians 4:9–10
9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another,
10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more…

With Paul’s admonition before us, I say to us: “Praise God for His light burning in our hearts and in our midst – and may we burn ever brighter for Him!”

Next week: The New Normal – How and Where Christianity is Lighting the World