While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. -Acts 13:2-3
The passage above marks the official starting point for Christian missions to the nations (the commission to do so came from the lips of Jesus himself recorded in Matthew 28). The deacon, Philip, had preached the gospel in Samaria to "half-Jews" (Acts 8), the apostle Peter had taken the gospel to the Roman Cornelius and his household (Acts 10), and in Acts 11 some Jews went to Antioch and preached to Hellenists there (Greek speaking Jews who combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Greek culture). However, an official mission movement did not start until the Holy Spirit initiated one at Antioch, setting Barnabas and Saul apart for the work. The church at Antioch, in obedience to the Lord's command, laid hands on them as a way of commissioning them for the Lord's work and sent them off to Cyprus, the homeland of Barnabas. The rest is, as we say, history.
Barnabas and Saul (Paul) met with success during their first missionary journey, taking the gospel from Cyprus to the Roman province of Lycia, through Pisidian Antioch (a different city than the Antioch from which they had departed), to Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, and then back again to Antioch in Syria (I know, it gets confusing), and finally back to Jerusalem to report on their travels and the Lord's work among the Gentiles. They also desired to seek instruction from the elders in Jerusalem on how Gentiles were to be included in the church. All along their journey they met with opposition and persecution, performed signs and wonders, and saw men and women converted from the dark world of paganism to the light of the gospel and hope in Jesus Christ. Christian missions continued unabated from that time forward, sometimes formally, at other times informally, with the message of salvation moving steadily from person to person until it had permeated the whole known world (Col. 1:23).
As we enter into our two-week Missions Emphasis at the end of September, we will focus primarily on these words of Jesus recorded in Matthew's Gospel: "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." Pastor Nate will share with us concerning "saltiness" on September 20th, and I will share with everyone concerning "lightness" on the 27th. We are to flavor our world, friends, with the seasoning of life and hope in Jesus, and to let the light of Christ so permeate our lives that our good works bring glory to God the Father. When our short series concludes on Sunday the 27th, we will take up our Faith Promise to support missions through LifePoint in 2021.
There is so much work that is still to be accomplished in the kingdom of God. I believe that God is asking us, as he asked the church in Antioch, to set apart some for the work to which he has called them. I do not expect to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in the same manner in which the elders in Antioch did during that crucial turning point in the early life of the church, but I do believe that God has a continuing plan for the church to engage in missions so that all the nations might hear that there is hope in Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ alone. Please join with me in being a part of the long and noble history of churches sending missionaries into the world, well provisioned and encouraged by the support of those who have partnered with them for the sake of the Name. It is part of what it means to be salt and light.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym