We took our children to my parent’s house in Cavite last Wednesday night to attend a 3-day Great Commission Conference which was held in November 7 to 9 and conducted by our mother church. This is the reason I’m off blogging for three days.
The conference we took part in involved hard-core lectures that one can realize the true meaning of having a Christian life and I admit that I am culpable of not doing what I ought to do. Let me share with you the things I’ve learned from the conference and I want to summarize it in a way that a wife, a mother, a friend, and a woman can relate it in their daily lives. These are the things that have great impact on me as a Christian wife and mother.
But before I begin, allow me to define what the great commission is. If you have read my previous entries about Sunday preachings, you might have a slight hint of what it means. But for the clueless, let me give some clarification on these words. The great commission is commanded by Jesus Christ to all His church (church is not the structure but the people that believes and follows Him) as it is written in the book of Matthew. Please read the verses below:
Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV):
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
However, in attending the 3-day conference, I have learned that the great commission is not just confined in a preaching thing alone. The great commission is describe accurately in the book of Luke which says:
Luke 4:18-19 (KJV):
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
The above verses are what we call the holistic approach in fulfilling the great commission that every Christian must do. Let me enumerate it in a way that we can easily understand the context in the book of Luke.
1. Preach the gospel to the poor (it means to preach the gospel to the people who are hopeless in their lives in this world)
2. Heal the broken-hearted (those are emotionally troubled)
3. Deliverance of the captives (those people that are addicted in the worldly things in this world)
4. Recovering sight to the blind (those that are lost and in need of direction)
5. Set at liberty them that are bruised (people who suffer)
Of course, in order to fulfill all of those commandments, God has given us the following:
1. Faith – so we can do the great commission beyond our ability
2. Holy Spirit – to inspire and empower us (as what was written in the book of Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”)
3. Gifts – these are our capabilities and talents that we can use to accomplish the great commission
I know that it’s hard to do all of those especially in our time today (which is a time of great stress in everything as the crisis is all over the world) but I do hope that you fully grasp the meaning of the great commission and you may act immediately as what I’m struggling to do. To begin with, let me give you the chosen theme for this year’s Great Commission Conference,
Philippians 2:15-16 (KJV):“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
You may ask for the meaning of the above verse in our time today. Again, let me itemize what was written in the book of Philippians for easy understanding:
1. Blameless, harmless and without rebuke
If we would translate those words in our present time, blameless means faultless. Harmless is having no negative side effects and the “without rebuke” means flawless or unblemished. These are the qualities that we should have to show that we really are the sons of God. What I have learned on the conference is that we should prove to the world that we are the sons of God so that we can win people to Him.
2. Showing evidence of being related to God
As a parent, our children can be distinguished as our children if they resemble some of our traits. This is also the same with our God, our father. We, as His children should have the genes and traits of the Father because we all come from Him. The quality of God should be manifested in our lives.
3. Victorious and persevering in the midst of adverse situation
I know most of us tend to give up during the difficult phase in our lives but as a true Christian we should not be because we have the eternal hope in Jesus Christ. Our world today becomes more crooked and perverse and we have to stand out to beat them, we should win the battle against flesh and earthly things. We may have a complicated life here in this world, but be confident that life beyond would be worry-free for us.
4. Shining as lights in the world in all righteous works
We are the lights here as God refer us as “lights”. It’s no wonder why God wants Christians to be the lights. Because when we are one, we put everybody who sees us in amazing hold, wondering in its beauty and its mystery. The longer they see the light in us, they begin to see God. For God is light as what was written in the book of 1 John 1:5, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
Christians are not to shine in a place where lights are abundant. Instead we are to shine in dark places where light is much needed for us to show God’s beauty and power. And we ought to light our world to expose the sins and to drive away the darkness.
5. Raising the banner of God’s Word
We become the banners of God’s word when we project the divine message, thought, truth, will, understanding, etc.
Now let me share with you the part of the preaching that has great impact on me as a Christian wife and mother. Last Saturday, we have an activity which asked for listing down 8 things that we have given importance in our lives and prioritizing them according on how we value them. Below is what truly matters to me:
1. Family
2. Service and love to God
3. Health (of mine and my family)
4. Security
5. Personal development
6. Enjoyment
7. Friends
8. Material things
Afterwards, the facilitator requested to remove three things from the list. Those are the things that we can live without. Of course, the last three in my list was eliminated. Then after doing so, the facilitator asked again to remove two things in our list. Well, crossing out my personal development and my family’s security is quite hard to do but I take them away in my list. And again, we were asked to remove one thing in the list. What do you expect I removed? Without a doubt, I removed health because God can provide it for us. And as you can see the two things that remained in my list are my family and my service and love to God. But have you seen the order of how I value them? Yes, I know that it’s not right but I don’t want to deceive myself. That’s how it is for me. And I prayed for forgiveness and asked that God would correct my heart eventually. I know that I should value God more than my family because that is my purpose in my life – to prioritize and to glorify Him in everything I do. I hope that my heart will be corrected soon.
The values identified in the activity have been related to those mentioned by Apostle Paul in the book of Philippians chapter 1-4, by which it signifies Apostle Paul’s life priorities that gave joy to his life. Those are the following:
1. Prayer
2. Preaching, listening and sharing of the gospel
3. Faith
4. Like-mindedness or church unity – having one mind, forgiveness between brethren, love for the Pastor and the brethren
5. Second coming of Christ
6. Sacrifices and services to the Lord
7. Church family – seeing our brethren joyful and happy
8. Christ Himself and the privilege to have fellowship with Him
As we see in apostle Paul’s life before he got saved, he had many accomplishments: he was a Pharisee, was righteous, had integrity and had the opportunity to gain whatever can be gained in life -- however, he counted all these things as loss, as dung just to have the knowledge of Christ as it was written in the book of Philippians 3:5-8 (KJV), “…for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ”.
Certainly, there are more topics discussed in the conference but these are the part which has a strong effect on me. To end this, I want to give you the thrust of the mission. The aim of mission is to show the excellency of Christ, the power and the purity of the gospel. It is not about us but it is all about Jesus -- His glory and His will. The challenge is to live the Great Commission in our lives. Let us all work and do the Great Commission: get people save, get the saved to be obedient and get the obedient do the will and work of God.
I hope that this writings have enlightened all of us on what really our purpose in life and that is doing the Great Commission.
The conference we took part in involved hard-core lectures that one can realize the true meaning of having a Christian life and I admit that I am culpable of not doing what I ought to do. Let me share with you the things I’ve learned from the conference and I want to summarize it in a way that a wife, a mother, a friend, and a woman can relate it in their daily lives. These are the things that have great impact on me as a Christian wife and mother.
But before I begin, allow me to define what the great commission is. If you have read my previous entries about Sunday preachings, you might have a slight hint of what it means. But for the clueless, let me give some clarification on these words. The great commission is commanded by Jesus Christ to all His church (church is not the structure but the people that believes and follows Him) as it is written in the book of Matthew. Please read the verses below:
Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV):
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
However, in attending the 3-day conference, I have learned that the great commission is not just confined in a preaching thing alone. The great commission is describe accurately in the book of Luke which says:
Luke 4:18-19 (KJV):
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
The above verses are what we call the holistic approach in fulfilling the great commission that every Christian must do. Let me enumerate it in a way that we can easily understand the context in the book of Luke.
1. Preach the gospel to the poor (it means to preach the gospel to the people who are hopeless in their lives in this world)
2. Heal the broken-hearted (those are emotionally troubled)
3. Deliverance of the captives (those people that are addicted in the worldly things in this world)
4. Recovering sight to the blind (those that are lost and in need of direction)
5. Set at liberty them that are bruised (people who suffer)
Of course, in order to fulfill all of those commandments, God has given us the following:
1. Faith – so we can do the great commission beyond our ability
2. Holy Spirit – to inspire and empower us (as what was written in the book of Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”)
3. Gifts – these are our capabilities and talents that we can use to accomplish the great commission
I know that it’s hard to do all of those especially in our time today (which is a time of great stress in everything as the crisis is all over the world) but I do hope that you fully grasp the meaning of the great commission and you may act immediately as what I’m struggling to do. To begin with, let me give you the chosen theme for this year’s Great Commission Conference,
Philippians 2:15-16 (KJV):“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
You may ask for the meaning of the above verse in our time today. Again, let me itemize what was written in the book of Philippians for easy understanding:
1. Blameless, harmless and without rebuke
If we would translate those words in our present time, blameless means faultless. Harmless is having no negative side effects and the “without rebuke” means flawless or unblemished. These are the qualities that we should have to show that we really are the sons of God. What I have learned on the conference is that we should prove to the world that we are the sons of God so that we can win people to Him.
2. Showing evidence of being related to God
As a parent, our children can be distinguished as our children if they resemble some of our traits. This is also the same with our God, our father. We, as His children should have the genes and traits of the Father because we all come from Him. The quality of God should be manifested in our lives.
3. Victorious and persevering in the midst of adverse situation
I know most of us tend to give up during the difficult phase in our lives but as a true Christian we should not be because we have the eternal hope in Jesus Christ. Our world today becomes more crooked and perverse and we have to stand out to beat them, we should win the battle against flesh and earthly things. We may have a complicated life here in this world, but be confident that life beyond would be worry-free for us.
4. Shining as lights in the world in all righteous works
We are the lights here as God refer us as “lights”. It’s no wonder why God wants Christians to be the lights. Because when we are one, we put everybody who sees us in amazing hold, wondering in its beauty and its mystery. The longer they see the light in us, they begin to see God. For God is light as what was written in the book of 1 John 1:5, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
Christians are not to shine in a place where lights are abundant. Instead we are to shine in dark places where light is much needed for us to show God’s beauty and power. And we ought to light our world to expose the sins and to drive away the darkness.
5. Raising the banner of God’s Word
We become the banners of God’s word when we project the divine message, thought, truth, will, understanding, etc.
Now let me share with you the part of the preaching that has great impact on me as a Christian wife and mother. Last Saturday, we have an activity which asked for listing down 8 things that we have given importance in our lives and prioritizing them according on how we value them. Below is what truly matters to me:
1. Family
2. Service and love to God
3. Health (of mine and my family)
4. Security
5. Personal development
6. Enjoyment
7. Friends
8. Material things
Afterwards, the facilitator requested to remove three things from the list. Those are the things that we can live without. Of course, the last three in my list was eliminated. Then after doing so, the facilitator asked again to remove two things in our list. Well, crossing out my personal development and my family’s security is quite hard to do but I take them away in my list. And again, we were asked to remove one thing in the list. What do you expect I removed? Without a doubt, I removed health because God can provide it for us. And as you can see the two things that remained in my list are my family and my service and love to God. But have you seen the order of how I value them? Yes, I know that it’s not right but I don’t want to deceive myself. That’s how it is for me. And I prayed for forgiveness and asked that God would correct my heart eventually. I know that I should value God more than my family because that is my purpose in my life – to prioritize and to glorify Him in everything I do. I hope that my heart will be corrected soon.
The values identified in the activity have been related to those mentioned by Apostle Paul in the book of Philippians chapter 1-4, by which it signifies Apostle Paul’s life priorities that gave joy to his life. Those are the following:
1. Prayer
2. Preaching, listening and sharing of the gospel
3. Faith
4. Like-mindedness or church unity – having one mind, forgiveness between brethren, love for the Pastor and the brethren
5. Second coming of Christ
6. Sacrifices and services to the Lord
7. Church family – seeing our brethren joyful and happy
8. Christ Himself and the privilege to have fellowship with Him
As we see in apostle Paul’s life before he got saved, he had many accomplishments: he was a Pharisee, was righteous, had integrity and had the opportunity to gain whatever can be gained in life -- however, he counted all these things as loss, as dung just to have the knowledge of Christ as it was written in the book of Philippians 3:5-8 (KJV), “…for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ”.
Certainly, there are more topics discussed in the conference but these are the part which has a strong effect on me. To end this, I want to give you the thrust of the mission. The aim of mission is to show the excellency of Christ, the power and the purity of the gospel. It is not about us but it is all about Jesus -- His glory and His will. The challenge is to live the Great Commission in our lives. Let us all work and do the Great Commission: get people save, get the saved to be obedient and get the obedient do the will and work of God.
I hope that this writings have enlightened all of us on what really our purpose in life and that is doing the Great Commission.
2 comments:
I'd love to go to conferences like this, I was once active in youth camps! Oh I miss those days!
Hi Sheng,
This is my first time to attend a conference like this and I really enjoyed the 3-day full of preaching. It made me feel better and renewed.
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