Re: Commission

Peter Neilson May 19, 2021 0 9

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Matthew 28: 16-20 (NIVUK)

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’

But we haven’t, have we? In Scotland we seem to have lost the capacity to make new disciples for Christ. Our culture has done a great job of discipling four generations into views of the world that evict God and marginalise Jesus. I search my own heart for when I last led a seeking person to Christ.

Eugene Peterson said: Jesus spent three years with twelve Jews in order to win all Americans! If Scotland is to be discipled in the name of Jesus, we will begin as small as Jesus started. It will mean going deep with the few and trusting God to go wide with the many. Too often we have focused on going wide with the many and trusting God to go deep with the few.

That means reconfiguring our ministries, our priorities and our church patterns to equip the few to go on apostolic journeys with no mandate to return – sent out to establish new pockets of Christian presence and become salt and light in the culture-shaping sectors of our nation.

PRAYER:

In the name of God the Father,

I bless our nation of anxious hearts,

Where old securities have gone

And expected futures have disappeared.

Father, gather to Yourself a fearful generation

Who need the embrace of Your healing grace

And the bracing touch of Your gentle strength.

In the name of Jesus the Son,

I bless our nation of wandering souls,

Where too many choices cloud Your Way,

And stories of fantasy worlds crowd out Your Story.

Lord Jesus, may ears unfamiliar with Your truth

Hear your call with fresh clarity,

And rise up and follow You.

In the name of the Holy Spirit,

I bless our nation of spiritual seekers

Where longings breed unhealthy habits,

And hungers of the soul go hungry still.

Holy Spirit, let light shine on the path of the questioner.

Let the song of heaven stir a new quest for God.

Till “Jesus is Lord” is heard on their lips

And “Abba, Father” is known in their hearts. AMEN