Dear Fellow Redeemed at Mount Olive:
Greetings to you in the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus!
Jesus’ parting command to the church was: “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 everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Jesus was very direct and explicit with His mandate. There is no question as to where or with whom we are to share the Gospel. The love that God gives to us is to be shared by us with all people everywhere. He has given us our marching orders, and, in His strength, we can give ourselves fully to His work.
Because God has chosen to use us as His tools to bring salvation to all people, we must use our lives and gifts to spread the Good News. Paul wrote, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us.” (2 Cor. 5:20) One of the tools that God gives us to use in our mission of reaching out to others with the Gospel is our money.
According to an old stewardship phrase, “Stewardship without mission is unnecessary and mission without stewardship is impossible.” Stewardship and mission are inseparable. The funding of the Great Commission needs to come from believers. The money which God entrusts to us has many purposes, and the funding of mission work is of first importance. Through the giving of our money, we show our obedience to Jesus’ command to reach out to all people. Paul wrote that, through our giving, we “test the sincerity of [our] love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.”
(2 Cor. 8:8)
(Newsletter article from Pastor Jon continues in our monthly newsletter)
