Ask a pastor what his mission is, and he will probably have a personal mission for his ministry, plus he will probably refer you to the mission of the church in which he is serving. Should this be any different for the normal Christian? Jesus said that His mission was to share God’s message to people wherever He went. I believe that as followers of Jesus Christ, our mission should be similar to His, but let’s allow the Holy Spirit to direct us on this as we study the Word today.

BIBLE REFERENCE: Mark 1:38-39
TRANSLATION: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

BIBLE TEXT: 38 Jesus answered, “We should go to another place. We can go to other towns around here, and I can tell God’s message to those people too. That is why I came.” 39 So Jesus traveled everywhere in Galilee. He spoke in the synagogues, and he forced demons out of people.

OBSERVATION: Ask a pastor what his mission is, and he will probably have a personal mission for his ministry, plus he will probably refer you to the mission of the church in which he is serving. Should this be any different for the normal Christian? Jesus said that His mission was to share God’s message to people wherever He went. I believe that as followers of Jesus Christ, our mission should be similar to His, but let’s allow the Holy Spirit to direct us on this as we study the Word today.

APPLICATION: Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. I know, you saw the word ‘preach’ and immediately transferred that command to the shoulders of your pastor, right? But you don’t travel the world, so surely Jesus wasn’t ordering you to take His message ‘to the world’, right? Isn’t it amazing how easily we could shrug off our responsibility as believers and followers of our Lord Jesus? I was totally drawn to the words of our Lord as I read verse 38 above. Jesus was unhappy just sitting around chatting with His disciples while people very near by were living without the message of the Father. In fact, His very mission was to tell the message of His Father. That’s why He came. It made me stop and ponder what my personal mission might be. Why am I here? I believe we could look at this through the various phases of our lives. For example:
-> As a dad: Why are you there in the home? What’s your mission in sharing Christ with your kids, and in reenergizing your spouse in her walk with the Lord?
-> As a church leader: What’s your mission to be the best leader for God in His church? Hopefully it’s more than just another title, or a position where you might tell the pastor what you think!
-> As an employee: Proving your reason for being on the job will make the difference between your success and failure. Failing to take the name of Jesus with you on the job will present itself as a failure in God’s eyes, as He intended for you to take His message to the world – don’t exclude places like your workplace.
Friends, when we make it our mission to take the name of Jesus with us wherever we find ourselves, we not only obey the commands of God, but our witness to unbelievers in unlikely places will go a long ways towards introducing our Lord to the unsaved. Jesus told His disciples that’s what He came for. What do you suppose you came for? I trust that you will make it your mission to take the name of Jesus with you – everywhere you go!

PRAYER: Gracious Lord, thank You for showing us how evangelism was a high priority to You. The disciples were told that the reason You came was to share the message of the Father. I am convinced that in our effort to be more like You every day and in every way, we too must be ready and willing to share, and extremely concerned that the world would know about our Father. Please Lord, give us the desire to share the joy of the Lord that lives inside of us; the wisdom to know when to share; the knowledge of all that we should share; and the boldness to share our story with the world around us. People still need the Lord. Oh that we might be instrumental in sharing our experience, our intimacy and our love for our Lord. After all, that’s what we’re here for! AMEN