Editorial
God’s love in
planting
Many years ago, my
wife and I started a church in our kitchen, welcoming 10 people to our
services. God blessed our ministry and soon attendance exploded to 30 people,
requiring us to relocate to our basement.
These gatherings
were not rooted in dissent from our church. We had no intention of pulling
people from their churches to fulfill a desire to lead our own congregation. We
simply sought to establish meetings to reach the lost.
That’s the beauty
of planting churches. We can find a need and go there. No special buildings
required, just a burden for lost souls in need of Jesus.
The rapid growth
we experienced in our home was not a result of anything we were doing under our
own power. We were sharing the gospel, lifting up Jesus for the purpose of soul
winning. God, who is ever gracious, gave our group great favor and blessed our
evangelistic outreach beyond our expectations.
The gospel must be
preached, there’s no doubt about it. But preaching the gospel is often seen as
a microcosm of the Church at large. In fact, if we personally do not share the
gospel with those in our lives, what is our purpose as Christians?
Too many of us
live our lives receiving the benefits of the service of others without becoming
servants ourselves. We’re getting a free ride, and our missional perspective is
lost. We have an obligation to reach every community with the gospel. We need
to tell ourselves, “It’s not about what’s in it for me; it’s about what’s in it
for others.”
And what’s in it
for others is a miracle-working demonstration of the love of God for all
humanity. U.S. Missions will do all that is within us by the power of God to
make sure this gospel is spread across this land. Likewise, as the body of
Christ, it is essential we all fervently do our part to reach America with the
gospel.
Zollie L. Smith
Jr.
E-mail your
comments to tpe@ag.org.
