Missions Sunday - 2018

Announcements

Welcome to Grace. Grace for Everyone. Community for Everyone. Church for Everyone. We are glad you are here...we have a couple of announcements before we get back to worship.

- Today is Missions Sunday. We have been focusing on Missions for the month of April...with our Bloomers Fundraiser, the used books (you can still pick some up today...they will be gone next week.) and it all culminates with a special service this morning. We will have a short video from our Missionaries in Siberia, Tonia and Alexey in a few minutes...and then we will hear from a friend of mine who is currently in Thailand. Due to the sensitive nature of their work, we will not be recording the message this morning, and ask that you do not post details like names and places on your social media. Feel free to tell your friends...but do it face to face...not on Facebook

- We will also have a sep

- Tomorrow night we begin our Spring Week Of Prayer. Every evening from 7pm-8pm we will gather in the sanctuary and pray. We will have stations setup with things to pray for and ways to pray that will help keep you focused for the first 45 minutes. The last 15 minutes we will gather together and pray as a group. Please join us for one (or all if you like) of these evenings.

- Spa Day - Friday, May 11th. - Thank you for your generosity...money has been coming in to purchase gifts and supplies for the Spa day. The ladies are still in need of volunteers for the evening to help with the spa treatments, nails and shoulder rubs...serving food and connecting with our guests. Sign up in the foyer.

As the ushers come forward, we will receive this morning’s tithes and offerings. We will have a separate, special Missions offering at the end of the service. So if you have come prepared to give to missions, you can hold that until the end of the service. But if you did want to include something for Community Cash…the fund we use to bless those in emergency need in the neighborhood with groceries and stuff…there is an envelope in your Bulletin…this morning all loose cash and change will also go to Community Cash.

Before we pray I also want to let you know that one of our saints…Myrtle Turner passed into the presence of Jesus on Wednesday night. She was 90 years young and we here for worship just two weeks ago. She was part of our family here at Grace for a lot of years and we want to pray for her family this morning. We don’t have many funeral details yet, but it looks like Monday May 14th, here at Grace is a likely option to celebrate Myrtle’s life. Let’s pray.

Offering - (Missions offering at the end of service) Dismiss Kids

Pankov Video during Offering

Close of the service.

Thank you so much Cindie. The whole time that Cindie was sharing I had rolling through my mind.

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This is called the Great Commission.

It is the call of every follower of Jesus.

This Missions Sunday is not just about hearing about what others are doing on the other side of the globe, it is a challenge and reminder that we are partners in this Great Commission.

Think about that word for a second… commission. It is an action word…it is a sending, a pushing out…a declaration of readiness to tackle the challenge.

And I was thinking

But maybe for the next couple of weeks it would be helpful for you to think about it as a Co-Mission. That we are partners in this great commission. Partners with other in the body.

This is the way we view our relationship with the missionaries we support. We aren’t just sending money and prayers…we are partners in this Great Co-Mission. They are an extension of us. We have linked our hearts and our arms with them…and sent them out…but are just as much a part of that co-mission as they are…which is why we need to support with prayer and messages of encouragement and finances.

But this Co-Mission is not just a partnership with each other…It is a partnership with God himself.

Matthew 28:20 NIV

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Surely I am with you always. I wish he would stop calling me Shirley…put your name in there if your name isn’t Shirley.

I am with you always. This Co-Mission is a partnership to accomplish the very purpose of God. It is bringing the kingdom to bear on whatever situation we find ourselves in.

It is a commission…often in our lives though it becomes an omission.

We think that this call is for people like Cindie…the special ones…who are called to car off nations.

This is not the case. The call is for every follower of Jesus. The call is go.

That word actually means…continually going…in your going…as you go…make disciples. Our lives should be marked by making disciples.

Each one of us is called to Go. Go to your neighbors. Go to your family. Go to your school. Go Jets Go…sorry that’s not for a few more hours.

We are all called to go…and our going looks different for each of us…in different stages of life at different ages…be the call is still to Go…and to partner with God and with each other to see the kingdom come.

So before we Go...

Let’s take a moment to pray…and partner with our missionaries.

I’m going to pray and then we are going to take up our special missions offering. This will be going to help fulfill the current commitment we have already made to our global workers this year. We give each month and often things get tight over the summer. We want to ensure that we have more than enough to fulfill those commitments. Our combined Home and Overseas Missions budget for 2018 is $26,320. That’s $10,000 here in Canada and $16,320 Overseas. If we raise that total in the offering today…we can do even more partnering in the future.

Let’s pray and get ready to give.