Thursday: Reaching Out to the Cities
No one is saying that outreach and ministry are easy. The fact is, they are not. Humans are fallen, corrupt, and not naturally spiritual. As Paul said about himself: “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin” (Rom. 7:14, NKJV).
Image © Jeff Preston from GoodSalt.com
If Paul says that, what about those who don’t know the Lord or who have never had a life-changing experience with Jesus?
And if our natural fallen natures weren’t bad enough, cities have always been known for their notoriously bad influence on people. People face so many temptations that the enemy of souls uses to ensnare them and keep them bonded to sin and the world. Thus, no wonder that outreach to cities especially is not a simple task; it is, though, a task that must be done, and we as a church, to be faithful to our calling, must be doing it.
What do these verses say to us about the importance of outreach in general?
According to the Word, Christ’s death was universal: it encompassed all humanity, from Adam and Eve down and all who follow. This would, of course, include the endless masses living in the great metropolitan centers of the world. They too need to hear the great truths that are so dear and precious to us.
“There is no change in the messages that God has sent in the past. The work in the cities is the essential work for this time. When the cities are worked as God would have them, the result will be the setting in operation of a mighty movement such as we have not yet witnessed.” – Ellen G. White, Medical Ministry, p. 304.
The call to reach the cities is personal. It is a call to a deeper experience with Christ ourselves and a call to earnest intercession as well as comprehensive planning and implementation. It is built completely on the foundation of revival and reformation, for it is going to be accomplished only by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Read Romans 10:14-15. What is being said there that, in principle, applies to all of us who claim to be followers of Christ? How can we all be more active in outreach and ministry, regardless of where we live?
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Just an idea for outreach - nursing mothers with newborns is a big group living in the cities and which is to be worked with. They have time to read, need to communicate and desire to be taught. Think about it in your city. We plan to reach they in our city (Lviv, Ukraine) through some groups and through spreading literature.
If we commit ourselves to outreach we will save our souls in the process since for us to effectively work on behalf of God to draw the world to Him we must abide in Him. By abiding in Him we realize our sense of sinfulness and utter dependence on Him to save our souls. That dependence on God makes it easy for self to die and the character of God to be reflected in us to draw the world.
Bam! I love this post, I fully agree, and this is what the text was telling us.
The call to reach the cities is indeed a personal call. The fact that we are called individually to the ministry implies that we need o make individual decisions when it comes to obeying the word of God; His clear commands. One of those commands being that we need to reach the cities.
As we do this, it must be an inward conviction of the Holy Spirit. We needn't do it because it is simply a command but because we that are already in Christ Jesus have understood the value of souls. What a day it will be when the redeemed of all ages shall gather before the Great White throne. When we shall behold, with great joy, the souls for whom we tirelessly labored when we were still on planet earth.
Amen . It is a joy and a privileged to work for and with God in the salvation of mankind . The gospel commission is a direct command from Jesus that we aught to obey . It is not negotiable . God expects us to do our part wherever we are to touch a life for him. It's only in eternity that we will see the full extent of the fruits of our labor . Only in eternal when someone will say praise God I am saved because you pointed me to Jesus .
Amen. I am blessed by this comment. Though sometimes its hard on the way, but I believe God does it for a reason.
There are so many resources to help us reach other people, one I just was shown lately is a little book by Mark Finley called: Persuasion, how to help people decide for Jesus which is available to download on the Michigan Conference webpage or you can buy it at Amazon going via our link to give us credit.
The text is saying the only way these peple may be saved is by reaching out. We should not be fearful because the holy spirit will do the converting. Many times we get so caught up with winning souls, but that's not our job. We are responsible for bringing the word to people, intercesing for them, and encouraging them. The holy spirit will do the rest! And it only gets sweeter, God will be working on us too, as we are reaching out to others.
Wayback on my university years, i remember those times we are called to serve in city, to a group of streetchildren who are less fortunate, brokenhome victims and under the influence of bad society. Today again and again, we should not be ashamed and be the cause of delay on Christ's Return. We must do our part to shine for HIM.
There is a book entitled "Stay in Your Lane", the book talks about stop trying to be who you are not. We all have innate gifts that we are born with. Then we get Spiritual Gifts when we are baptized. Romans 12: 6-8. 1 Cor.12:1-12. All of these gifts define who we are and who we are not. These gifts also define our personalities. What am I Saying?
When we take a look at the communities and the demographics that make up those communities you may wonder how can I reach them. God in His great wisdom only send people to you that you can use your gifts to tell them about Himself.
These are special times and God needs special people to do His "good works". We are all called to be "watchmen on the wall that cannot keep silent" Isa. 62:6. So therefore there will be no excuse for us not doing "out reach" in every community no matter the demographic.
if we fear God and Glorify Him, we will also understand that His command to us a way of showing how much God loves us
Food for thought. Adult population in the USA,242,470,820. Adult population in the word, 7.4 Billion. Number of languages in complete bibles,531. Portions of the Bible 2883.
What correlation are you making with these demographics?
In my opinion another effective way in reaching people is through our daily lifestyle, our behavior . Remembering that we are the only sermons that some people will read or listen to, it behoves us to be very careful about the influence we transmit, since we say we are Christlike, we are Christians.