He Is Risen!

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him, — since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened — so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength. This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And God put all things under Christ's feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things. Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:17-23 NET Bible, emphasis mine)

This is one of my all time favorite passages of scripture. When I think something is impossible, I just go back and read Ephesians 1. It is a grand affirmation of the power of God. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work building His Kingdom around the world.

When I look at the state of the Gospel around the world, it is exciting. Nearly one third of the world has clearly heard the Gospel. Not all of them are truly saved, but the task of making disciples of those people groups has been advanced. Another third of the world is within reach of the Gospel. They still need to hear, but the task of making disciples has made significant progress.

However, roughly one third of the world, around two billion people still have not heard. They have no active Christian witness. They can live their whole lives without hearing the Good News that Christ is risen – He is risen indeed!

What will it take to reach them? It will take a deliberate effort to go to places that are difficult and dangerous. It will take strategic thinking to do more than just what we are currently doing. It will take us being obedient to Jesus' command to make disciples of all people groups.

If you are in the Cedar Rapids area and want to learn more, make plans to be a part of our Great Commission Weekend, April 4-6, at New Covenant Bible Church and find out.

Global Prayer

“It is written, ‘My house will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of robbers!” (Luke 19:46 NET)

Harsh words! When we think of Palm Sunday, we often focus on the people praising Jesus and saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Yet just a short while later we find Jesus angrily driving out the sellers in the Temple. It was not the first time he had seen them there. I suspect there are many other times when it bothered him and when he could have acted. Why now?

The key is in Luke 19:41-42: “Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.’” What catches my attention is the focus of Jesus’ rebuke. His house should have been a house of prayer. It should have been a place where the focus was on God and where an atmosphere of dependency and trust was developed.

I wonder what Jesus would say today. People sometimes use this passage to worry about “selling” things in the church on a Sunday. I think that misses the whole point. The issue is not on what they were doing but on what they were not doing. They should have been in prayer.

At New Covenant, we have been developing a culture of “prayer, care, and share.” My hope is that this has gone beyond just prayer for Cedar Rapids. Roughly one third of the world – two billion people! – have no access to the Gospel. They have no missionary or local church. They may live their whole lives without meeting a single believer. Let me challenge you to consider praying globally as well as locally.

To learn more about global prayer, be sure to be a part of the Great Commission Weekend, April 4-6 at New Covenant.