Spending March w/ Jesus 3-9-2009 "Jesus the Missionary"

Jesus the Missionary

Read Matthew 12

Typically when you think of missionary you think of sending someone oversees to do work in an area in the world that is unreached. That mindset neglects to realize that we are missionaries in our current location. It is not a mistake that in 2009 I live in Greensboro NC. Acts 17 tells how Jesus has ordained our time (When we live) and place (Where we live) in order that people may know him.

That is not just true for us, that was also true for Jesus. Jesus came at the perfect time in all of history. It was his time and place and he lived among the earth as missionary to the Jews. You can see in Matthew 12 how Jesus is constantly teaching the religious crowd and the pagans. He is healing the sick, teaching on the Sabbath, teaching on the resurrection, teaching on Satan and demons. Jesus was being a missionary to his culture.

We are called to do the same. It is our responsibility to teach truth about all of these issues as well. It is our responsibility to heal the broken and teach people about the gospel of Christ.

This was in the Burlington, NC paper this morning:

“A wide – ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all”.

“ Northern New England surpassed the Pacific Northwest as the least religious region”.

With Northern New England being the least reached region in America today, I wonder who will God send to join us on the journey of reaching them.