Hello again from Lesotho! I’ve been enjoying life here in the Malealea valley this month with Africa4Jesus. Since the last blog, our team has continued with our morning home visits in the various villages throughout the valley. I still think its so cool to experience the culture here in such a real way, all while going about in the name of Jesus. We find ourselves in some places I never really imagined finding myself; sitting in the little hut of an elderly catholic woman, telling her about the truths of salvation and her identity in the Lord.. Sharing the entire biblical narrative from creation to Jesus on the cross with a young mother who’s never known such great news.. Meeting fellow believers, encouraging them with scripture and prayer and being encouraged in return. It’s a pretty cool ministry opportunity to say the least! In our afternoons, we’ve been working on mixing and pouring concrete for a sidewalk in front of the A4J preschool. School starts back up tomorrow (Monday) so some of the team has also been helping clean and organize inside the school building.
It’s wild to think that we’ve only got one more full week here in Lesotho. On the morning of the 28th, we’ll be headed to Port Elizabeth, South Africa to meet up with the rest of the squad for a few days of debrief time. At this debrief, we’ll be doing team changes within our squad. It will be a little bit of a bittersweet thing as I’ll miss some people that I’ve grown close with on this first team, but I’ll also get a chance to work with some new friends! With our new teams, we’ll then split our separate ways once again to our 3 different ministry locations in South Africa for our month of February.
This blog looks a bit different than my usual blogs of descriptive overviews on what we’re doing and what I’m learning. Today, I had the opportunity to share the message for the Sunday church service here at Africa4Jesus. I’m usually more of a short and to the point kind of person than a long winded preacher, so I decided to type out the entire message as not to forget any of my points. It ended up working great to read the next line to be spoken to the congregation while the previous line was being translated by my good man Tsepo. So for this blog, I thought I’d just pass the message on to you. (And because I know you’ll want to read it mom) I look forward to our final week of ministry here at A4J. There’s a pretty cool anticipation when we just never know what the Lord has in store for our morning village visits! I hope to wrap up the end of the month with a photo blog to help tell the story of what we’ve been up to this month in some further detail. A picture is worth a thousand words right!?
As always, thanks for the continued prayers and encouragement.
God Bless!
Sunday church service at Africa4Jesus
My friend Tsepo. He has been working with A4J for 2 years now. He translates for our team each day on our village visits and also translates the Sunday messages for us.
Seeking first the kingdom of God through Intimacy, Community, and Mission
So just what exactly is the kingdom of God? If someone were to ask you what the kingdom of God meant, would you be able to give them an answer? It can be kind of a lofty thing to think about and it’s not always something that’s often discussed. For a long time, I imagined the kingdom of God as the place up in heaven where I would one day meet God when I die and my time on this earth comes to an end. I’ve since learned that the kingdom of God refers to something so much more than just a place or a group of people. When we read about the kingdom of God in the bible, it’s talking about God’s kingly rule – his reign, his action, his lordship, his sovereign governance. God’s kingly rule surely governs over us on this earth, which means that His kingdom is not just a place up in heaven, but present over our lives here today. His reign is not only over us but through us as well. We are empowered as God’s people to bring His kingdom to this earth and to those around us. We are called to let God reign in our lives. So today I’d like to talk about seeking first the kingdom of God, or seeking first God’s rule or reign in our lives, through three different ways; Intimacy, Community, and Mission.
- Intimacy with the Lord is where it all begins. It’s hard to let God reign over our lives if we don’t have a personal relationship with Him. We need to have a connection with our Father if we are going to trust His rule over our lives. We need to know Him and have intimacy with Him if we are going to trust Him. Why would we listen to anyone’s rule over our lives if we can’t trust that they’re in control and that their plan for us is good and perfect? It all starts with our personal relationship with God, and we need to make sure that we’re in tune with Him.
- We first need to make sure that our Identity is rooted in Christ. We need to understand that we are His people and that His love for us is unending. If we trust that the mighty God of the bible is the same God that we have faith in today, and if we believe that He is a good and perfect father, then why wouldn’t we trust the control of our lives to Him. We should be joyed that He is in control of our lives! In Galatians 2:20 Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Paul is saying that he doesn’t live his life on his own account, but lives by faith in the Son of God. He knows his identity in the Lord, therefore he trusts in giving the reign of his life over to Jesus. We are valuable children of God, treasured by Him. We should be able to place our trust in a God who cares so much for us!
- We can help to build this kind of trust by grounding our faith in scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The bible is the guide to our lives and the true words of God. It’s necessary for us seek God out by what we read in the bible and we can build our relationship on the words he speaks to us in the bible. How can we build our relationship with God if we never let him speak to us through His word. Without communication, it’s pretty hard to get to know someone, much less build trust in them. If we believe the bible is the true word of God, we should be in the word daily to hear these truths for our lives. God desires to speak to us through His word, we simply need to open up our bible and listen to what He wants to tell us.
- God also desires to hear from us through prayer. What a privilege it is that we have the ability to speak with such a mighty and powerful God through prayer! It’s very important to hear God’s truths and will for our lives in the bible, but communication needs to work both ways for a healthy relationship. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” It’s God’s will for us to speak with him, and another key part to building an intimate relationship with Him. It’s truly a blessing to be able to come before the throne of God and lay our requests, thanks and praises before Him. He hears our prayers and desires communication with His people.
With a personal relationship built between ourselves and God, we will have the faith it takes to let Him reign in our lives and be His kingdom. This intimacy is the foundation we need to build upon and begin to grow His kingdom here on earth.
- We can also seek first the Kingdom of God in the communities of our lives. This church is most certainly a community where we can invite God in to reign over us. Our world race team is another great example of community where it’s necessary for God to be leading us in the things we do each day. I’ve learned a lot about living in community over the last 4 months while doing life with my teammates. In community, we need to humble ourselves and choose humility toward each other. We are all different people in our own ways, but we can choose to unite with each other and let God govern over us. We are all part of the same team.
- John 13:34-35 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” We are to be bound together in love as Gods people. We are all brothers and sisters of the same community. It has been such a cool experience to build relationships with other believers over the last 4 months in 4 different countries. I’ve met people who speak different languages than me and come from very different cultures than I come from, but we’re bound together in the fact that we worship the same God and that we live lives of the same purpose. We are a community of the Lord and we are His kingdom.
- In 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, we hear about different spiritual gifts that God empowers in the people of His kingdom. It reads, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works in all men.” We are all created to be a little bit different from each other in our own ways, but we are called to come together as community in the kingdom of God. We are to build each other up in our fellowship and encourage each other in the Lords leading. We are stronger in unity for God. Each of us using our own strengths to help bring glory to His name.
- Another thing that I’ve learned a lot about over the past 4 months through living in community is giving and receiving healthy feedback. In Hebrews 10:24-25 we read, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as the day is approaching.” In our world race teams, we gather together several times a week to have a meeting time and give both positive and constructive feedback to each other. It’s encouraging to hear from people about the things that they see us doing well, but it’s also good to be called higher through love in matters that we could improve upon to greater the kingdom of God. We are called to spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Sometimes it can be much easier to just focus on ourselves and how we’re doing, but we could be the encouragement that someone needs in their day to keep pressing on for the Lord! We are brothers and sisters in Christ and in a united community we are God’s kingdom.
- The last of the 3 points that I’d like to talk about is seeking first the kingdom of God through mission. This is the obedience to God’s reign in our lives. It means listening to His leading and following through with what He calls us to do. It looks like choosing to be intentional for God and carrying out His will.
- The great commission found at the end of Matthew is Jesus intent for our lives. Matthew 28:18-20 reads, “Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This is quite a calling for us, but God reassures us that if we let Him govern over our lives, he will be always faithful to us and be with us to the very end of the age.
- The gospel of Luke also talks about Gods mission for us. Luke 4:18-20 reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” This mission means loving those around us the way that God loves us; even the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed. It looks like having eyes to see the least, because we are called to love all, and because the kingdom of God is for everyone.
- To live a life of mission on this earth certainly does not mean that we need to pack up and become missionaries elsewhere in the world. I think all of us world racers would agree that it’s proven to be a pretty incredible journey with the Lord, however, we can live lives of mission, and are called to do so, wherever we are in the world.
i. Over the last two weeks, our teams have been making home visits throughout the valley and we’ve been recording survey information to get an understanding of who might need help in the communities here and how we might be able to help them. These surveys will eventually be displayed in the church for you all to see who might be living in your community and might be in need of something.
ii. This is just one opportunity to be Gods kingdom and to be on mission for the Lord. Even if you don’t physically have anything to offer, you still hold the greatest thing that could ever be offered to anyone, God’s love. We met with several elderly people who aren’t able to attend church anymore, and even met with some who don’t know the truths of their identity in God. There are opportunities waiting before us each and every day, we just need to give God our “yes” and continue to bring His kingdom to those around us.
When we give the Lord our “yes”, we can be sure that he will be faithful to go with us and go before us in whatever we do. We serve such a mighty God, and it’s such a blessing to be able to commune with Him in our lives. We can be sure that when we choose to invite Him to rule in our lives, He will be in control with His good and perfect plan. God’s faithfulness to his people is displayed all over throughout the bible, but one of my favorite examples is found in the book of Daniel. Daniel trusted God’s reign over His life with such faithfulness. Even when ordered to pray to king Darius or be thrown into a den of lions, he continued to get down on his knees three times a day and pray to God. Daniel’s trust in God proved God’s faithfulness to His people. God shut the mouths of the lions and proved His faithfulness to His servant Daniel. We too can trust that God’s faithfulness will be with us if we invite Him to be the ruler of our lives. There is no reward in becoming the ruler of our own lives and chasing after the things of the world. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” We are Gods children and we can trust that our good Father knows just what His children need. We can trust in His will for us and faithfulness to us. It’s such a blessing to have the option of inviting the Lord into our lives. Take advantage of that option and seek first His kingdom in your life today. Let’s pray.
Gracious God and heavenly Father, we just thank you for this opportunity to gather together in your name today. Thank you for this church and the congregation here. We thank you for inviting each of us into being a part of your kingdom and we thank you for your faithfulness to us. God, we pray that we might let you reign in our lives in the things we do from day to day. May we be people who bring glory to your name. We thank you for your goodness and unending love for us. We pray that you would keep us and guide each of us in our days ahead. Amen
