May 21, 2008
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Fulfilling our Mission by Pastor Dongo
About a month ago we had a visiting pastor from Uganda, Pastor Dongo. He spoke a message that accentuates what Pastor Abraham preached.
Pastor Dongo told us that nothing is impossible with God. It can happen. We just go about it and pray and give love and support. Love is the Word in action. We need a sense of commitment and determination, just as Jesus was determined to carry out His Father’s will, no matter the cost.
Jesus was sent by God to do something, and He came to do it. He had a reason for being here, and every step He took was to further this. We, too, need to be committed to do the Word of God, no matter what it takes to do His will. Sometimes it is a sacrifice, but Jesus was determined to do what He was sent to do by the Father.
God created the world, and it was good, wonderful, yet God knew that the world would need a savior, knew it before man was even created. When man was created in God’s image, man was given free will, and man chose to disobey God’s instructions. This brought sin into the wold, and because of that, God knew that something had to be done to redeem mankind. God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit had the plan of redemption in place before the creation of the world.
Jesus, the son of God, was given the work of atonement, to reconcile man to God. Sin created an enmity between God and man. God is holy, and sin and holiness cannot coexist. In the light of the holiness of God, sin is revealed. And sin needs to be judged and punished. Yet God wanted a relationship with man, so there was a problem. Sin cannot be in the righteousness of God. The only way that we could meet and be with a holy God, was if there was a sacrifice to reconcile the relationship. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, the work of atonement that was needed to satisfy the holiness of God.
When Jesus was given this work, he was committed. Sometimes people will accept the responsibility but lose their commitment. They will be faithful, until troubles come or something interferes with their commitment. Then they cease to do what they promised to do. But Jesus was not like that, He was committed to know the Will of His Father.
In John 4, the disciples were sent to the city to get food for Him, while Jesus stayed at the well to meet the woman at the well. When His disciples returned with the food, they were amazed that He was not hungry. He answered them as follows. John 4:30-34 Then they went out of the city and came to Him. In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
Jesus was sent by God. He knew why He was sent, that He had a mission. Are you committed to fulfill your mission from God? Jesus was willing.
There is no way to fulfill the purpose of God without sacrifice. If you are not willing to sacrifice, you will not accomplish God’s will. In the world we are visitors, we are just passing through. We were sent here to do something. God has a plan and a purpose for us. When we stand before the throne of God we will have to give an account of our life. Has the Will of God been fulfilled in our lives? Jesus sacrificed Himself to do God’s will. We too have been sent by God.
Jesus told people that He was sent by the Father, and that He did only what the Father told Him to do. Jesus was faithful to His mission and did all that God told Him.
Paul talks about his mission like a race, that he ran the good race and fought the good fight. Now the crown of victory is waiting for him. Paul knew he was called by God, that God set him apart to preach to the people. This was a challenge to him, and even in the face of numerous persecutions, he did what God called him to do. Paul was willing to sacrifice and fulfil God’s call on his life.
When we stand before God, we will look back on our lives and see if we obeyed God, and will receive crowns to cast at Jesus’ feet for our obedience. There will be rewards for our faithfulness, and those who are not faithful to God will lose their rewards.
Jesus told His disciples that His food was to do the will of God.
Pastor Dongo told us that it was not just to DO but to FINISH that is important. Some people start, but they do not finish. What satisfies us is to do the will of the One who sent us and to FINISH. Let’s use Jesus as our example. Jesus started and FINISHED. While it is important to start, it is more important to finish.Jesus did not stray to the right or to the left, He walked exactly where God wanted Him to walk and finished. He was committed, determined. God is calling us to be determined.
Marriage is a commitment until death. Marriage is challenging, and the couples face different challenges in their marriage. No matter the challenge, they are not to give up, but to stay committed to their covenant relationship.
When you plow a field you have to look forward, not behind you, or else your furrows are not straight. If you lose your focus, you can get hurt in the plowing or go off course. When we work for the Kingdom of God, we have to keep going forward, plowing the fields that He tells us to plow. Jesus kept His hands to the plow, and what He started He finished.
Jesus was chosen to do the work of atonement for our sins, to sacrifice Himself for us. The Father (God) sent Him to do this. He kept walking towards the fulfillment of His mission, even though He knew that it would cost much in sacrifice.
John 5:17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
The Pharisees and the Scribes and the priests were telling Jesus that this was the Sabbath and that he should not be doing work, but He told them that He did what His Father did, and His father worked on the Sabbath. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit worked the week of creation.
When we were created, they knew that we would not obey. A vast gulf opened up because of our sins, and God sent Jesus to restore relationship with Him. Jesus worked a week of redemption. Jesus was telling them that He and God and the Holy Spirit cannot rest until restoration is made. The Sabbath rest was already broken by our sins. The week of redemption that Jesus went through is to bring us rest in God. It is the love of God.
We are to imitate Jesus in everything. To do the works He did, to fulfill the Great Commission from start to finish. In our marriages, our education, or ministry, and our lives, we need to work the works that God gave us and finish our mission.
Pastor Dongo has a ministry of taking in orphans. Right now he works with over 800 children, and asked us to sponsor a child in Uganda- to provide food, education, clothes and all that these children need. Again, this is a ministry our church supports, and if you are interested in researching it you can check out Buyamba – www.ugandabuyamba.com to find out about sponsoring a child.
The needs are so many in this day and age, and I just pray that when a particular need moves your heart that you reach out and respond. I know we can’t do it all, but if each one reached out to fulfill a few of these needs, combined a lot of good can happen.
Praying your day is blessed.
Heather
