Missions is The Mission of God

1928 may have been the year that Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse or even the year where penicillin, the antibiotic that continues to save lives, was discovered. Yet, for our little red dot at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, it was a place that God led the Assemblies of God (AG) missionaries to. They thought they were on a ship enroute to Hong Kong, but the Holy Spirit had other plans: On April 1, 1928, Rev and Mrs Cecil M Jackson conducted an Easter service on the ship that docked on the shores of Singapore and stayed as the Spirit led them.

Many of our churches have become missions-sending churches all around the world.

Today, 95 years later, the AG movement in Singapore continues to grow from strength to strength. Many of our churches have become missions-sending churches all around the world.

The Great Commission in Matthew 28 reveals to us how missions is truly God’s mission. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given” for the purpose of “go”-ing and “make”-ing disciples of all nations.

“All authority” means the whole resource of heaven and earth has been released for this work.

All Authority
“All authority” means the whole resource of heaven and earth has been released for this work. This means that the whole arsenal of heaven is behind the church as we move forward to do missions. When all of God’s authority has been channeled into this command, nothing can stop the work of God.

Recently, I had the privilege of hearing testimonies of what God is doing inside war-torn Ukraine. Despite the war, many church leaders and believers remained and continued to minister to civilians and soldiers. Since the war began, almost 300,000 people opened their hearts and received salvation.

There is an increasing escalation of wars, natural disasters, famines and diseases. These have been foretold so that the Church will not be caught by surprise but recognize that we have a mission to tell people that Jesus is the answer! Jesus has always been the answer for the world. And He calls us to carry that answer to the ends of the earth.

When God says “go”, it’s about obedience and not an obligation.

Therefore Go
“Go” is not a suggestion. It’s a command; an instruction. Coupled with “all authority” that has been given to the church, God has commanded the church to “go”. When God says “go”, it’s about obedience and not an obligation. It’s about carrying God’s heartbeat for the lost and making it ours.

Going will involve sacrifice. Going will require a sacrifice of time and resources. Beyond the missions trips that many of us embark on with our churches—that is good and we should continue to do so—I believe God is calling business owners to get involved in the mission of God: Missions.

95 years ago, the obedience to “go” by two AG missionaries to pack their bags and get on board the ship led to the birthing of the AG churches in our nation. Imagine what your obedience to “go” can do. Imagine the ripple effect of your willingness to “go” to wherever God has called you to.

This July, I encourage you to participate in the inaugural Missions Congress organized by the Asia Pacific AG Fellowship. Held on July 20 and 21 in Singapore, come for a time of exchange, empowerment, and equipping for missions so that we can go to the nations with greater synergy, strength, and anointing. (To register: https://tinyurl.com/APAGMC2023)

As missions was the mission of God, will you make it your mission as well?

宣教是神的使命

1928年是华特·迪士尼创作米老鼠的那一年，也是 拯救数百万人生命的抗生素盘尼西林被发现的那一年。然而，对于我们这个位于马来半岛尾端的小红点来说，这是神带领神召会宣教士前来的一年。他们以为自己只是乘船途径新加坡前往香港，但圣灵另有计划：1928年4月1日，塞西尔·杰克逊牧师 (Rev Cecil M Jackson) 和师母在停靠在新加坡海岸的船上主持复活节聚会，并在圣灵的带领下留了下来。

95年后，新加坡的神召会运动继续发展壮大，因为我们的许多教会已成为差人到世界各地宣教的教会 。马太福音第28章中的大使命向我们揭示了大使命真正是上帝的使命。“天上地下所有的权柄都赐给我了”，为的是要“去”和使万民“作”门徒。

所有的权柄
“所有的权柄”意味着天地间的一切资源都可用在这项工作上。这意味着，当我们前去宣教，整个天堂的
军火库都是教会的后盾。这个命令的背后是神所有的权柄的释放，因此没有什么能阻挡神的工作。

最近，我有幸听到一些见证，了解到神在饱受战争蹂躏的乌克兰所做的事。尽管发生了战争，许多教会领袖和信徒没有离开，还是继续服事平民和士兵。自战争开始以来，近 30 万人敞开心扉接受了救恩。

战争、自然灾害、饥荒和疾病不断加剧。这些已经被预言，这样教会就不会感到惊讶，而是认识到我们有一个使命去告诉人们耶稣就是答案！耶稣一直是世界的答案。他呼召我们把这个答案带到地极。

所有你们要去
“去”不是一个建议，而是一个命令，一个指示。加上已赋予教会的“所有权柄”，神命令了教会“去”。当神说“去”时，这关乎服从而不是义务。这关乎使神的心跳成为我们的心跳。

“去”意味着牺牲。“去”需要我们牺牲时间和资源。除了我们许多人所参与的教会宣教之行外 (这很好，我们应该继续这样做)，我相信神在呼召生意人参与神的使命— 宣教。

95年前，两位神召会宣教士顺服“去”的命令，收拾行装上了船，我国神召会教会才得以诞生。想象一下你对“去”的服从能成就什么。想象一下你愿意去的涟漪效应。

今年7月，我鼓励你参加由亚太神召会团契主办的首届宣教大会。宣教大会于7月20及21日在新加坡举
行。我鼓励你前来交流、得能力和为宣教装备自己，这样就可以带着更大的协作能力、力量和恩膏“去”
各国。报名网址：https://tinyurl.com/APAGMC2023

宣教是上帝的使命，你愿意把它作为你的使命吗？