This post was authored by Curt Alan, the Summit’s Church Planting Pastor. Curt and his family recently returned stateside after serving on our church planting team in a Muslim context in Southeast Asia.
Well, another “Black Friday” has come and gone.
I have to admit that, this year, the whole kickoff to the Christmas shopping season surprised me more than usual. For the last 3 years, my family and I spent our Christmases in a dark place on the other side of the world – a place historically hostile to the Gospel. In that setting, Christmas wasn’t wrapped in any of the cultural traditions we’ve been numbed by…and it was beautiful.
Stripped of the decorations, the mad crush at the malls, and the obligatory gift giving, we focused on celebrating the only gift that really matters and that is truly priceless – the Gospel.
In Isaiah 55, God provides a guarantee that can’t be matched by any merchant, mall, or vendor:
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
As those that have already received this gift, we have the incredible privilege of joining the mission of God. For some, this may mean bringing the Gospel to the ends of the earth, for others, it may mean bringing the Gospel to our own city…or to the office next door.
100% of the Summit’s Christmas Missions Offering will be used to bring the Gospel to places where it is desperately needed. What criteria are we, as followers of Christ, using to decide who does or doesn’t have the chance to hear about and receive the most extravagant gift ever given? Don’t let our response to “Black Friday” supersede our response to Good Friday.
As you pray through your response to the Christmas Missions Offering, please focus on giving the gift of the Gospel this year.