9/24/2008
Instructions For Our Lives
Dear Friends,
Recently I watched a documentary that made my heart hunger for revival. It recaptured the passion and fervor of the early Jesus Movement and reminded me of a time when I was immersed in Bible study and watching hundreds of people around me getting saved daily. I am praying and asking God to give us the same fire for Him today, and to prepare us to carry the message of His love around the world.
Jesus left us clear instructions for our lives. The last recorded words He spoke to His disciples on this earth, were, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) and "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15).
I take that quite literally. I believe that our church—and by that I mean all the people who make up Maranatha Chapel, not just the staff—is called to be a witness for the Lord in every continent on the earth.
How do we do it? Jesus promised us the most important resource: the power of the Holy Spirit. We can’t even step out our front doors and expect to be an effective witness, much less go into our neighborhoods, cities and the world, without the Holy Spirit. I am grateful for that, because the pressure is off of me to be a “super” Christian. I just need to obey the Lord, and trust Him to strengthen me for whatever He asks of me.
He also gave us a church body full of people of all sorts of personalities, talents, and levels of spiritual maturity —and He wants to use us all to share His love at home (Jerusalem), in the community (Judea), our nation (Samaria) and throughout the world.
Since 1991 when a team from Maranatha Chapel visited Russia to help plant a church and participate in a Billy Graham crusade, God has taken us all over the world. In Ireland we have consistently built a relationship with believers, and now Calvary Chapel of Dublin, Ireland is a growing, healthy “megachurch”(by Irish standards!).
We’ve established strong ties and close friendships in Israel, particularly in the city of Ariel, with a student exchange program and the Nehemiah Project as well as with Arab Christians in Nazareth.
Through our work with Far Reaching Ministries, we have been able to minister and help strengthen the Church in Uganda, Kenya, and the Sudan in Africa. To help ease the danger for the night commuter children, our congregation raised enough money to build the Maranatha Sanctuary, which now takes care of about 2000 children.
In the Phillipines we are repersented by very committed missionaries who have impacted people from all walks of life, helped a large church grow, and have made connections to the house churches and Three-Self churches of Communist China.
Around the world, through pastor’s conferences, crusades, small meetings, and large events, we have been able to touch Europe, New Zealand, Australia, India, and now we have an opportunity to support a growing ministry in South America. We’ll be taking a “Joshua-Caleb” trip to Bolivia in 2008, to get some of our people involved in a ministry that is reaching thousands of young people in the Latin American culture.
I also believe strongly that missions happen right here at home, and that every outreach we hold, every service, every event that reaches out to the community, is part of our mission work. In fact, every person who walks onto our church grounds, every individual we encounter in our daily lives is part of our mission field. Everyone is someone God loves and wants to reach.
I ask you to pray about your heart for evangelism and for reaching out to the needy, lost, and hurting people of your world, locally or globally. I once dreamt of living on the mission field, but instead God called me to pastor a church, and now I have the opportunity to support numerous mission fields, for which I am grateful. Two books that strongly influenced me as a young Christian were Peace Child by Don Richardson, and Through Gates of Splendor, by Elisabeth Elliot. Both fired up my imagination and heart for missions and reaching the world for Jesus.
If you would like to know more about Maranatha Missions I encourage you to receive regular updates from our missions ministry, so that you can know what is going on locally and around the world. You can do so by clicking here.
Be sure to check the Missions box under Ministry and Outreach. You can also access our Missions website here.
Jesus gave us His plan for our lives—now we just need to use the unique personalities and gifts He has created in each of us—and go do it!
God bless you, wherever you go!
Pastor Ray
Recently I watched a documentary that made my heart hunger for revival. It recaptured the passion and fervor of the early Jesus Movement and reminded me of a time when I was immersed in Bible study and watching hundreds of people around me getting saved daily. I am praying and asking God to give us the same fire for Him today, and to prepare us to carry the message of His love around the world.
Jesus left us clear instructions for our lives. The last recorded words He spoke to His disciples on this earth, were, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) and "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15).
I take that quite literally. I believe that our church—and by that I mean all the people who make up Maranatha Chapel, not just the staff—is called to be a witness for the Lord in every continent on the earth.
How do we do it? Jesus promised us the most important resource: the power of the Holy Spirit. We can’t even step out our front doors and expect to be an effective witness, much less go into our neighborhoods, cities and the world, without the Holy Spirit. I am grateful for that, because the pressure is off of me to be a “super” Christian. I just need to obey the Lord, and trust Him to strengthen me for whatever He asks of me.
He also gave us a church body full of people of all sorts of personalities, talents, and levels of spiritual maturity —and He wants to use us all to share His love at home (Jerusalem), in the community (Judea), our nation (Samaria) and throughout the world.
Since 1991 when a team from Maranatha Chapel visited Russia to help plant a church and participate in a Billy Graham crusade, God has taken us all over the world. In Ireland we have consistently built a relationship with believers, and now Calvary Chapel of Dublin, Ireland is a growing, healthy “megachurch”(by Irish standards!).
We’ve established strong ties and close friendships in Israel, particularly in the city of Ariel, with a student exchange program and the Nehemiah Project as well as with Arab Christians in Nazareth.
Through our work with Far Reaching Ministries, we have been able to minister and help strengthen the Church in Uganda, Kenya, and the Sudan in Africa. To help ease the danger for the night commuter children, our congregation raised enough money to build the Maranatha Sanctuary, which now takes care of about 2000 children.
In the Phillipines we are repersented by very committed missionaries who have impacted people from all walks of life, helped a large church grow, and have made connections to the house churches and Three-Self churches of Communist China.
Around the world, through pastor’s conferences, crusades, small meetings, and large events, we have been able to touch Europe, New Zealand, Australia, India, and now we have an opportunity to support a growing ministry in South America. We’ll be taking a “Joshua-Caleb” trip to Bolivia in 2008, to get some of our people involved in a ministry that is reaching thousands of young people in the Latin American culture.
I also believe strongly that missions happen right here at home, and that every outreach we hold, every service, every event that reaches out to the community, is part of our mission work. In fact, every person who walks onto our church grounds, every individual we encounter in our daily lives is part of our mission field. Everyone is someone God loves and wants to reach.
I ask you to pray about your heart for evangelism and for reaching out to the needy, lost, and hurting people of your world, locally or globally. I once dreamt of living on the mission field, but instead God called me to pastor a church, and now I have the opportunity to support numerous mission fields, for which I am grateful. Two books that strongly influenced me as a young Christian were Peace Child by Don Richardson, and Through Gates of Splendor, by Elisabeth Elliot. Both fired up my imagination and heart for missions and reaching the world for Jesus.
If you would like to know more about Maranatha Missions I encourage you to receive regular updates from our missions ministry, so that you can know what is going on locally and around the world. You can do so by clicking here.
Be sure to check the Missions box under Ministry and Outreach. You can also access our Missions website here.
Jesus gave us His plan for our lives—now we just need to use the unique personalities and gifts He has created in each of us—and go do it!
God bless you, wherever you go!
Pastor Ray