“And then he told them, “Go into the entire world and preach the Good News to everyone.” (Mark 16:15 NLT)
Jesus is speaking. Are we paying attention? This is a command. It is NOT a suggestion or a choice. It is NOT a command to go to some of the world and preach to all the people there. In the same way it is NOT a command to go to all the world and share the Gospel with some people and not with others. It clearly says Jesus TOLD them, “GO,” “ALL,” “SHARE GOSPEL,” “EVERYONE.”
What part of that is so hard to understand? There should be nothing hard to understand. So, either we do as Jesus says or we do not. We cannot do some of it, or parts of it, nor can we go only to some people. It is all or nothing.
Missionary/Evangelist Jim Sloan preached yesterday at Master’s Hands Deaf Church. He has spent more than 50 years traveling the world sharing Jesus Christ with Deaf. Many times he would go to a place where Deaf had never seen the Gospel shared in their own sign language or they had NO PLACE to worship or learn about the Gospel. Many times there was no one trained in sign language willing to teach things about Jesus. Many times Deaf were just there “doing what everyone else was doing.” They would stand, sit, kneel, raise hands, clap, because they saw people doing it around them. But they still did not know what was going on.
Bro. Jim estimates there are 400 million Deaf in the world. Estimates say 90% either have not been told the Gospel story, or do not understand it when they read it. It’s not because of being limited. NO WAY! Can you imagine a member of your family or your best friend with no one to tell them about Jesus, salvation, or even Grace? God asked the question several times in the Bible, “Who will go for us?” “Who is willing?”
What we fail to see sometimes is that it is not about being ABLE to do something. It is about saying YES and being AVAILABLE. “AVAILABLE” means “open,” “free,” “ready.” Are you AVAILABLE when God says to you, Will you “GO,” “ALL,” “SHARE GOSPEL,” “EVERYONE?”
Do you realize there are places in the United States, even in your own city or state, that has places where Deaf want to go to church but cannot because there is no one to come along side them and reach out to them. I know there are churches all over the place, but who will go to the Deaf?
Our answer should be that of the prophet Isaiah: “Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8 NLT)
Master’s Hands Deaf Church believes this is the call God has given us. We have been asked, “Who will go?” Our answer is, “We will go. Send us.” God answers in the hands of Jesus Christ in Sign Language, “Go into the entire world and preach the Good News to everyone.”
Our Holy Spirit command is to GO. “WE HAVE WORK TO DO!” This is not only for the members and friends of Master’s Hands. This is for each one of us especially now at Christmas.
Share the Savior. Share the Gospel. Share the story. “WE HAVE WORK TO DO!”
Hello Again!!
7 years ago
