Go Ye Into All The World

Today’s Passage – Numbers 30 – 31

(Second Milers also read – Romans 3 – 5; Proverbs 26; Psalms 126 – 130)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Micah 6:8

Scripture Memory for February – Psalm 100

Read “How to Grow the Church by Keeping it Small” by Pastor Chappell

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” – (Mark 16:15)

Yesterday afternoon we kicked off our annual mission’s conference with a banquet followed with a message by Evangelist K. R. Senn. It was a great beginning to this series of meetings, and I am very excited about what God will do to help our church increase its vision and outreach in the area of missions. Each message of the conference will be available for you to listen to through the “Sermon Audio Player” on this page.

Laste night, I began reading “The Autobiography of a Missionary” by Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China. I was amazed at some of the sacrifices that Hudson Taylor made as he prepared to go to the field. He had a singular focus – reaching China with the gospel, and he removed every distraction from his life that kept him from his purpose.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the book:

…It seemed to me highly probable that the work to which I was thus called might cost my life; for China was not then open as it is now. But few missionary societies had at that time workers in China, and but few books on the subject of China missions were accessible to me. I learned, however, that the Congregational minister of my native town possessed a copy of Medhurst’s China, and I called upon him to ask a loan of the book. This he kindly granted, asking me why I wished to read it. I told him that GOD had called me to spend my life in missionary service in that land. “And how do you propose to go there?” he inquired. I answered that I did not at all know; that it seemed to me probable that I should need to do as the Twelve and the Seventy had done in Judæa–go without purse or scrip, relying on Him who had called me to supply all my need. Kindly placing his hand upon my shoulder, the minister replied, “Ah, my boy, as you grow older you will get wiser than that. Such an idea would do very well in the days when CHRIST Himself was on earth, but not now.”

I have grown older since then, but not wiser. I am more than ever convinced that if we were to take the directions of our MASTER and the assurances He gave to His first disciples more fully as our guide, we should find them to be just as suited to our times as to those in which they were originally given. [Taylor, J. Hudson (2009-04-18). The Autobiography of A Missionary (Kindle Locations 151-157). Douglas Editions. Kindle Edition.]

…I began to take more exercise in the open air to strengthen my physique. My feather bed I had taken away, and sought to dispense with as many other home comforts as I could, in order to prepare myself for rougher lines of life. I began also to do what Christian work was in my power, in the way of tract distribution, Sunday-school teaching, and visiting the poor and sick, as opportunity afforded. [Taylor, J. Hudson (2009-04-18). The Autobiography of A Missionary (Kindle Locations 163-166). Douglas Editions. Kindle Edition.]

…After much thought and prayer I was led to leave the comfortable quarters and happy circle in which I was now residing, and to engage a little lodging in the suburbs–a sitting-room and bedroom in one–undertaking to board myself. In this way I was able without difficulty to tithe the whole of my income; and while I felt the change a good deal, it was attended with no small blessing.

More time was given in my solitude to the study of the Word of GOD, to visiting the poor, and to evangelistic work on summer evenings than would otherwise have been the case. Brought into contact in this way with many who were in distress, I soon saw the privilege of still further economising, and found it not difficult to give away much more than the proportion of my income I had at first intended. [Taylor, J. Hudson (2009-04-18). The Autobiography of A Missionary (Kindle Locations 180-187). Douglas Editions. Kindle Edition.]

I read about a third of the way through the book, and am just beginning to learn about Taylor’s actual ministry in China. What a great servant of the Lord! We need to pray that God would raise up some more men and women of the caliber of Hudson Taylor, and we need to pray that God would change our hearts to realize the importance of praying for, and financially supporting the work of missions. There is a big world out there that needs to be reached with the gospel.

I hope to see many of you at the conference.