Mission Conference

Ella has been coming to Big Church with me for almost a year now.  If you sit close to us, it might be hard to tell that she has been doing it for almost a year because she has not yet learned how to sit quietly.   Almost every week Ella has at least one good one-liner that she says loud enough for the people around us to hear.  Last week as one of the other pastors prayed for Murray as he was about to preach, Ella turned to me and said, "but Mommy, I want you to preach."  The people around us definitely got a big kick out of that!

This past weekend was the Cahaba Park's Mission Conference.  I love to attend Mission Conferences because I feel like I get a little glimpse of what God is doing around the world.  I can get so caught up in my everyday life and the petty worries (that often turn into huge worries and should not!) that I tend to forget what is really going on in this world.  We really are in a battle fighting for Our Lord.  These Mission Conferences help remind me of the big picture of how God is at work here in the world.  Every time I attend a Mission Conference I always feel like I should be doing more or like I should go out there with the missionaries on the field (although, I am confident that as of now that is not where the Lord has called us).  Near the beginning of the service Murray asked that all of the missionaries come forward as he called their name.  As Murray began this process, Ella looked at me so excited and said, "Mommy, you are a missionary, you tell people about God."  My first instinct was to tell her to be quiet, but her sweet excitement really stuck with me.  We are all missionaries.  God may not have called us to Africa or Ireland, but God has called us all to be his ambassador where we are.  He has called all believers to spread the message of His love for us, that He loved us so much that He sent His ONLY son to die for my sins so that I could spend eternity in heaven with Him.  Here in the states, overall life is pretty easy and it is pretty easy to be a Christian.  Because of that we tend to forget the urgency of the Gospel.  But, every believer has been called to be a missionary.  We are all on the battle field for Christ!  I definitely need to remind myself this daily and live in light of this.