Intentional Conversations – Christ Prayed That We Would Be Missionaries
Welcome back to another edition of Intentional Conversations.
Right now, we are walking through what the High Priestly Prayer means for you! Jesus Christ prayed specifically for you (and me)! How amazing is that? Last week, we talked about His prayer for us to have our joy fulfilled in Him. This week, we’re going to talk about Christ’s prayer for us to be missionaries.
What does that mean? Why would He pray that for us?
As I talked with Mark about this topic, he overflowed with passion. I begged him to tell the camera (you) what he was sharing with me. I’m so excited that I convinced him.
(If you can’t see the video, then please click here: Intentional Conversations – Christ Prayed that We Would Be Missionaries.)
- What is God is calling you to do?
- Who is God calling you to reach out to?
- What are you counting more important than carrying the Gospel to the ends of the earth? <–Tweet This!
In the video, Mark said:
I really don’t think Christ sanctifies us to lift us up and make us better people, but He sanctifies us to use us to carry out the Gospel and to bring glory to God. <–Tweet This!
I hope you’ll ponder this thought over the next several days as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. I know I was convicted of my lack of care for the Gospel while shooting this video. May we all be spurred on toward eternal perspective this holiday season and into the new year!
Now it’s your turn: Where is your mission field, and what are you doing to share Christ there?
Below are the links to the rest of this series:
Great LeighAnn! I really struggle with talking about my faith – I always know what I want to say, but sometimes have difficulty getting it to come out. 🙂 I find that I do better if I just SHOW people Christ instead of trying to blabber. Then again, some people are really great talkers – like your hubby.
It is very hard to share our faith verbally. For us, we like to invite people into our LIVES! In conversation – that the Lord provides – we talk about God, Jesus, sin, forgiveness, and a lot about grace. Because it’s become a natural flow of conversation for us, it’s easier when we’re with people. But we’re not in your face, talk about God, and make you believe people. 😛 Sooooo….you’re on the right track! It’s much more effective when someone can see Christ lived out in your life before you start blabbering. You’re good at encouraging and pointing people to Christ when you get to know them. I know, I’m a recipient! So use the gifts God has given you lady and don’t feel guilty about it! 🙂 you rock my face off!
Love that your hubby joined in on the conversation! Great insight.
Thanks, Anne! I was so excited that he agreed. 🙂
Wow…so great that Mark joined us! So cute to see you together. And what a great testimony that is for your marriage and where you both are!
He’s pretty darn wonderful, if you ask me and his mom. 🙂
Just found this conversation. It was so great to see you both again! Throughout the conversation I kept thinking about Matthew 5:14-16:
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
I find comfort in the statement that a city on a hill cannot be hidden. If we believe, and we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves, our light will shine wherever it is that we are. Others – maybe not millions, but at least SOME – will see our good works, which will bring glory to God.
@Erika, I too find comfort that it CANNOT be hidden. I think the key is loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. For me, if I’m finding it hard to share the love of Christ with others, then it is pertinent that I look at my heart and evaluate my state of worship. Most the time, it is lacking sorely. So thankful for a God who forgives sinners like me, and gives me another chance to worship Him in Spirit and in truth!
Thanks for the insight, Erika. Super thought-provoking.
I love these conversations! Thank you for doing this! My husband and I run a coffee shop/photo processing/bicycle repair shop and I have my kids with me every day. So having a video is sooooo helpful in my busy mornings when I desperately need to be reminded of God’s grace in my life!
The same thing has been on my heart recently as well. Our home is…a work in progress…I have been hesitant to have people over because it is not finished. Recently, however, God has really impressed on me how sufficient His grace is and how I was really worried about the approval of others and not relying on God to be enough. I have also had a burden to invite people into our home…I have yet to do this (other than our closest friends)…because we have a coffee house that is so great for meetings and gatherings. However, I think that there is something more intimate about inviting someone into your home. My burden lately has been more for the people within our church. My husband and I have both been concerned that Christ’s body in our small community is not functioning like a family. God has been showing me how we can help remedy this problem simply by inviting people into our home. I have also had a burden to share with people the way we eat, as it is so different from the majority of our congregation, and just to show them how it is possible to eat well even in a small town where so little unprocessed foods are available. All of this points toward opening our home finished or not and welcoming our church family and asking them to grow closer together as we grow closer to Christ.
Ahh…I have so many thoughts on this subject! But I don’t want to babble on forever! Anyway, thank you for the reminder. I need to be active in following through with these convictions!
@Dusti, I am so glad that you enjoyed having a video. Doing vlogs are totally new to me, so it’s good to get feedback. 🙂
I think all of our homes are a work in progress. Heck, WE’RE a work in progress! As an introvert, I find it incredibly difficult to invite people into my home, especially when they are new to me people. My husband is a super extrovert, and he is always coming up with new people to invite over. I always get scared and think, “What am I going to say?” or “What if they don’t like my cooking?” or “What if I have to go nurse my baby?” or … the list goes on. You’re not alone, friend, in seeking the approval of others! Bringing people into my little “sanctuary” is hard. 😛
But as God has given me strength time and time again to go outside my comfort zone, and let Him work, my family has been so very, very blessed!
I can relate to your concerns for your church. We are walking through a similar experience. It’s hard to move past the idea that to do life with others and invite them into our lives equals another thing to add to our “to-do list,” when sharing the Gospel and love of Christ is the ultimate trump card to let everything else go!!! I love not having to scrub the toilet because I’m taking a friend a meal! 😛 I think it’s a perspective and a heart orientation that our culture has really … well, messed up…
I also relate to doing things very, very differently from those you do life with. We’re the weirdos. But we seek to build relationships, and pray for God to open doors of opportunity to share with others the need to steward our bodies well, steward our finances well, steward … well, our entire lives well! I have a lot more on this topic coming up in the near future here. I’d love to hear from you more!
Feel free to shoot me an email at intentionalbygrace {at} gmail {dot} com if you would like to chat more! You’re not alone. I’d love to talk more with you!