Missioblogging: Night #1
Last night was the kickoff of Valley Bible Church's annual missionary conference. It runs through this coming Sunday, February 27th.
Each year for five days VBC invites a number of the numerous missionaries that it supports to come and speak to the congregation. This takes the form of sermons, reports, as well as displays, slide shows, materials, and a children's program. There's also a chili feed on Friday evening. I'm not sure what the natural or logical connection is between missionary outreach and the stimulated production and emission of greenhouse gases, but it's been a tradition since before my family began worshipping there, and that's been nearly sixteen years.
The proceedings were inaugurated by the Reverend H. Ben Benthien. Ben has pastored churches in the Pacific Northwest since 1983. Prior to that he and his wife Linnea were missionaries for years in the Phillipines. After a hiatus a few years ago Ben resumed his ministry, working with Tacoma Pierce County Chaplaincy. He also serves through Northwest Independent Church Extension as a minister-at-large.
Ben delivered a brief field report with an emphasis on providing witness and loving assistance to people in need in times of crisis and tragedy. In what would surely have caused Christophobes' jaws to drop, Ben also stressed the importance of {GASP!} not judging said people, but rather loving them with God's love. If there was a theme to his comments, it was a fair "borrowing" from Nike's old slogan: Don't offer to help, "just do it."
The main event speaker (delivering the "missionary challenge," which is essentially a sermon brought by a missionary) was Tim Atkins of the aforementioned N.I.C.E. Tim and his wife, Brenda, are planting a church in the South Hill area of Puyallup, WA. Their ministry goals are to (1) establish evangelistic contacts in the Puget Sound area, (2) proclaim the Gospel with the intent of seeing new converts come to Jesus Christ for salvation, (3) train new believers in evangelism and discipleship through weekly Bible studies, (4) build a core group of twelve to fifteen families into an organized church body, and (5) see the establishment of an Independent Bible Church impacting the community and reaching out with the Gospel.
Needless to say, they are a very busy couple. To find out more, be sure to visit their website.
But Tim found the time to bring a very emblematic message from the first chapter of the Gospel of John.
Focusing on v. 35-42:
Again the next day John [the Baptist] was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"
The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him," Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?" He said to them, "Come, and you will see."
So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).
I'll put Mr. Atkins' message in the form of a question: whom do you think was the "star" of this passage?
If you guessed Andrew, go to the head of the class.
Now what was it that Andrew did in this passage? (1) He was led to Christ (by John the Baptist); (2) he followed Christ; (3) he listened to Christ; and (4) he responded by bringing his brother to Christ.
What's the point? That this is what missionaries do. Whether overseas or right here at home, missionaries bring people to Christ by bringing Christ to the people. And all Christians are to be missionaries.
Mr. Atkins brought out that Andrew is among the most obscure of the twelve disciples/apostles. He's only mentioned two other times in John's Gospel, in chapters six and twelve respectively. And what is he recorded as doing in these two instances?
-Bringing the little boy with the five loaves of bread and two fish to Jesus, from which He fed the five thousand (John 6:8-9);
-With Phillip, bringing some Greek worshippers to Jesus (John 12:20-22)
Andrew never addressed three thousand people, as Peter did. It's not recorded that he performed any miracles. He's not once mentioned in the Book of Acts, and he never wrote a single epistle.
But without Andrew, Simon would never have become Peter. And the Church of Jesus Christ would have had no rock.
Missionary work, in short, is, for the most part, unglamorous, sometimes hazardous, and certainly not vastly pecuniary. It's long, difficult "grunt" work. But it's not unrewarding, because any service rendered unto the LORD is worthwhile and can have eternal compensations in the form of a vast harvest of once-lost souls.
I believe it was William Borden, the saintly young missionary who died of disease before he ever got to his mission field, who said, "A man is no fool to give up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
Not for nothing will Jesus greet raptured believers with the embracing words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And every last one will be there because another "found them, and brought them to Jesus."
Each year for five days VBC invites a number of the numerous missionaries that it supports to come and speak to the congregation. This takes the form of sermons, reports, as well as displays, slide shows, materials, and a children's program. There's also a chili feed on Friday evening. I'm not sure what the natural or logical connection is between missionary outreach and the stimulated production and emission of greenhouse gases, but it's been a tradition since before my family began worshipping there, and that's been nearly sixteen years.
The proceedings were inaugurated by the Reverend H. Ben Benthien. Ben has pastored churches in the Pacific Northwest since 1983. Prior to that he and his wife Linnea were missionaries for years in the Phillipines. After a hiatus a few years ago Ben resumed his ministry, working with Tacoma Pierce County Chaplaincy. He also serves through Northwest Independent Church Extension as a minister-at-large.
Ben delivered a brief field report with an emphasis on providing witness and loving assistance to people in need in times of crisis and tragedy. In what would surely have caused Christophobes' jaws to drop, Ben also stressed the importance of {GASP!} not judging said people, but rather loving them with God's love. If there was a theme to his comments, it was a fair "borrowing" from Nike's old slogan: Don't offer to help, "just do it."
The main event speaker (delivering the "missionary challenge," which is essentially a sermon brought by a missionary) was Tim Atkins of the aforementioned N.I.C.E. Tim and his wife, Brenda, are planting a church in the South Hill area of Puyallup, WA. Their ministry goals are to (1) establish evangelistic contacts in the Puget Sound area, (2) proclaim the Gospel with the intent of seeing new converts come to Jesus Christ for salvation, (3) train new believers in evangelism and discipleship through weekly Bible studies, (4) build a core group of twelve to fifteen families into an organized church body, and (5) see the establishment of an Independent Bible Church impacting the community and reaching out with the Gospel.
Needless to say, they are a very busy couple. To find out more, be sure to visit their website.
But Tim found the time to bring a very emblematic message from the first chapter of the Gospel of John.
Focusing on v. 35-42:
Again the next day John [the Baptist] was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"
The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him," Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?" He said to them, "Come, and you will see."
So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).
I'll put Mr. Atkins' message in the form of a question: whom do you think was the "star" of this passage?
If you guessed Andrew, go to the head of the class.
Now what was it that Andrew did in this passage? (1) He was led to Christ (by John the Baptist); (2) he followed Christ; (3) he listened to Christ; and (4) he responded by bringing his brother to Christ.
What's the point? That this is what missionaries do. Whether overseas or right here at home, missionaries bring people to Christ by bringing Christ to the people. And all Christians are to be missionaries.
Mr. Atkins brought out that Andrew is among the most obscure of the twelve disciples/apostles. He's only mentioned two other times in John's Gospel, in chapters six and twelve respectively. And what is he recorded as doing in these two instances?
-Bringing the little boy with the five loaves of bread and two fish to Jesus, from which He fed the five thousand (John 6:8-9);
-With Phillip, bringing some Greek worshippers to Jesus (John 12:20-22)
Andrew never addressed three thousand people, as Peter did. It's not recorded that he performed any miracles. He's not once mentioned in the Book of Acts, and he never wrote a single epistle.
But without Andrew, Simon would never have become Peter. And the Church of Jesus Christ would have had no rock.
Missionary work, in short, is, for the most part, unglamorous, sometimes hazardous, and certainly not vastly pecuniary. It's long, difficult "grunt" work. But it's not unrewarding, because any service rendered unto the LORD is worthwhile and can have eternal compensations in the form of a vast harvest of once-lost souls.
I believe it was William Borden, the saintly young missionary who died of disease before he ever got to his mission field, who said, "A man is no fool to give up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
Not for nothing will Jesus greet raptured believers with the embracing words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And every last one will be there because another "found them, and brought them to Jesus."
posted by JASmius at 8:30 AM
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