I’m fired up about our next message series titled On Mission.
Eight years ago we wrote our first $50 check to missions. We weren’t even a self-supporting church yet, but I felt like God was calling us to begin investing in missions. And I knew he’d honor that because you can’t outgive God. That month we experienced a 600% increase in giving and we haven’t looked back. We’ll give $250,000 to missions this year. I dream of the day we’re investing millions of dollars in missions every year! But it all started with a small step of faith. We gave beyond our ability and when we give beyond our ability it allows God to bless us beyond our ability. II Corinthians 9:8 promises: “God is able to bless you abundantly.”
I honestly believe that God’s hand of favor on NCC boils down to two things: 1) how we give to missions and 2) how we reach out to the poor in DC. As long as we’re doing those two things, I’m confident God will continue to bless us beyond our ability!
Colossians 1:6 says, “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing.”
Here’s a cool thought: the sun never sets on our missionary family! We now support sixty-five missionaries and ministries in Washington, DC and around the world. From an orphanage in Egypt to a seminary in the Ukraine; from medical missionaries in Asia to church planters in India; from a campus ministry in Japan to riverboat pastors in the Philippines; our investment in missions in bearing fruit and growing. And someday we’ll meet people in heaven that we never knew on earth, but our investment in missions changed their eternal trajectory!
Our goal for this series is for every NCCer to go and give. We want everyone to be a shareholder in the Great Commission. We’ve got some amazing missions trips planned for 2006. We’ll go to Ethiopia, the Galapagos Islands and Portugal. But even those who don’t go can give. We’re going to challenge every NCCer to make a faith promise. I’m praying that our heart for missions gets bigger and bigger! And the way to do that is to give more and more!
