{"id":196,"date":"2018-12-11T16:10:07","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T21:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/summer-zimmer\/?p=196"},"modified":"2018-12-13T16:26:12","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T21:26:12","slug":"forward-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/summer-zimmer\/2018\/12\/11\/forward-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"Forward Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So in my last post<\/a> I talked about God\u2019s Global Purpose for Israel in the Old Testament.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>This time let\u2019s look at the last instructions Jesus gave His disciples in the New Testament- The Great Commission:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. . .\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As I have had the privilege of meeting with people over the past few months to explain where I\u2019m going and what I\u2019m doing, I often start with the Great Commission and ask, what words stand out to you?<\/span><\/p>\n

I have had just about every word picked out!<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>For me, it\u2019s \u201cmake disciples of all nations.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Now, \u201cgo\u201d is also important in that it is an action- it doesn\u2019t say, stay where you are.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s a movement of some kind- reach out, move forward, put effort into making disciples- of all nations.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>If you can disciple all nations by inviting your neighbor over for dinner- do that.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But what does \u201cnations\u201d mean?<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of thinking of \u201cnations\u201d as countries, a better way of understanding it might be \u201cpeople groups.\u201d Think of those as groups of people who share the same language and culture and don\u2019t have any barriers to communication.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So, in Papua New Guinea, for instance, there are over 800 people groups because there are over 800 languages.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>This video<\/a> might help.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Jesus\u2019s idea was to have disciples made of all people groups, all people groups would need to have someone able and willing to disciple them, right?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What is it then to disciple?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s found later in the verse, \u201cteaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.\u201d So how can all people groups become followers of Christ, living in obedience to everything He commanded?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The Great Commission is not a command only for a few.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus didn\u2019t just pick one of the remaining 11 disciples and tell him to be a missionary.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He told all 11 to \u201cgo and make disciples.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>If only one of those disciples had been willing to go, would you and I know the grace and freedom of Christ?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The reality is none of us wake up one day and move to a foreign country to disciple all nations.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>God moves us in small steps toward His purpose and desire to use us, if we let Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe for you the next step is to:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

* Pray for more laborers (Matthew 9:37-38<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

* Choose a missionary here<\/a> to consistently pray for as they make disciples of all nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

* Join a pit crew<\/a> at WCC (or whatever your church\u2019s form of missionary support is- if you don\u2019t have one, you could start one- email me) to encourage and pray for a missionary in fellowship with others.<\/span><\/p>\n

* Live on a portion of your income so that the rest of it can go to supporting those making disciples of all nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

* Offer skills to help a missionary succeed in making disciples of all nations (Ethnos360 needs pilots, maintenance experts, teachers, accountants, etc. I personally need help learning how to create video).<\/span><\/p>\n

* Take a Perspectives class<\/a> or go to Bible School<\/a> or Interface<\/a> to learn more about what it looks like to make disciples of all nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ask the Lord what His next step is for you in making disciples of all nations, but never say never.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>A year ago, I certainly didn\u2019t know I\u2019d be moving to Papua New Guinea in two months!<\/span><\/p>\n

Trust in the God who created you to know what purpose He created you for and help you take steps toward that purpose.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He probably won\u2019t ask you to make disciples across the planet if you\u2019re not doing it in your town, but know that He wants you to start somewhere with an outward focus that isn\u2019t about you.<\/span><\/p>\n

What’s the end goal?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAnd this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Matthew 24:14<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So in my last post I talked about God\u2019s Global Purpose for Israel in the Old Testament.\u00a0 This time let\u2019s look at the last instructions Jesus gave His disciples in the New Testament- The Great Commission: \u201cTherefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1137,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[118442,386,118296],"tags":[448],"class_list":{"0":"post-196","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-gods-global-purposes","7":"category-sending","8":"category-the-church","9":"tag-ethnos360","10":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/summer-zimmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/summer-zimmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/summer-zimmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/summer-zimmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/summer-zimmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/summer-zimmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/summer-zimmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/summer-zimmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/summer-zimmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}