It’s that time of year again! Summer is over, and it’s back to school! Stores are decked out with back-to-school supplies and the buses are on the road again. You may not be directly impacted by the school year calendar, but nonetheless it still serves as an important marker in the passage of time (and we can’t escape it; like it or not, we all notice the increased traffic and longer commute times). I kind of enjoy the back-to-school season. It means Fall is coming soon, and with it, cooler temperatures. For many people, the start of the school year is also a season of new beginnings. It’s a new semester, a new set of classes, and a chance at a fresh start. Even if the school year calendar is no longer a part of your family’s routine and calendar, you can still make it a time of new beginnings and a fresh start.

And what better time to renew our commitment to being students of the Word of God than the back-to-school season? While the world around us is returning to the classroom, let’s resolve to return to the Scriptures and reaffirm our devotion to God and to his word. As you’ve probably heard me say before, Christianity is about much more than just information, but information is nevertheless crucial to our faith. The Christian faith makes truth claims about historical events and people and most importantly, about the coming of one certain person–Jesus Christ–in the first century AD. And it’s in the pages of the Bible that we read about God’s plan finding its fulfillment in the coming of Jesus the Messiah. So while faith entails more than information, it will starve unless it is fed with the facts and teachings of the Scriptures.

So my encouragement to you this week is simply to always be a student of the Word. Be like the Christians in the ancient city of Berea, who, when they heard the teaching of Paul and Silas, “received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). Read your Bible, take notes in the margin, underline, highlight, listen to it on the way to work, and pray about what you read in its pages. Do whatever it takes to get in frequent contact with the words of God. And when you read a passage that stumps you, call up a friend (unlike in the game show “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?’ you get unlimited opportunities to phone a friend in your walk of faith). Studying the Bible with a study buddy often helps you see things you could have missed on your own and makes your study all the richer. So this back-to-school season, let’s all go “back to school” in the Bible and study God’s words that he has given to us.

I remember a time in my childhood when I was a very bad gift giver. It was my oldest brother’s birthday, and I wanted to be noticed for giving him a gift, but I didn’t have much that I was willing to part with. So I hatched a simple solution. I gave him some little toy or something of mine (I don’t remember exactly what it was) and within a few days, promptly took it back! I wanted to be seen as a giver, but I didn’t want my giving to cost me anything. Perhaps you had a similar experience when you were young. Eventually we grow up, have a little more, and usually find it easier to share our things with others. But we never entirely outgrow the temptation to give that which costs us nothing or next to nothing and still congratulate ourselves for our generosity, like I did when I was a child. 

There was an event in the life of David that reminds us of the importance of resisting the temptation to give God gifts that cost us nothing. In 1 Chronicles 21, David did something that displeased the Lord. Evidently his desire to take a census of the people was somehow a reflection of something in his heart, perhaps a misplaced trust in human strength instead of God’s strength. Consequently, Israel was suffering under a plague because of David’s actions. Burdened with the knowledge that the people were suffering for his own wrongdoing, David begged the Lord to let the punishment rest fully on his own shoulders, and not the peoples’ (1 Chron. 21:17). Then the Lord instructed David to go and offer a sacrifice at the threshing floor that belonged to a man named Ornan. David immediately went there and found Ornan threshing wheat. When David requested to buy the land from Ornan, Ornan offered to give David not only the piece of property, but also all the wood and animals he needed for the sacrifice. David’s response is striking: “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (1 Chron. 21:24). 

David refused to offer a sacrifice to the Lord that cost him nothing. He was fully vested in what he was doing and was more than willing to incur significant expense if that was what it took to make things right. I wonder, how often do I give the Lord that which costs me nothing? Do I ever give to the Lord the way I gave to my older brother so long ago, wanting to be noticed as a giver but not wanting it to cost me anything?  Do I just give enough to convince myself that I’m a giving person, or do I give even when it costs me? May God strengthen us to give ourselves–and all that we have, and all that we are–to him and to his cause.

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since we moved to Kentucky and I began working with the Worthington congregation. The year has flown by. I just wanted to stop and take a moment to thank you all for giving me this opportunity to minister and preach here. Thank you for welcoming us and taking good care of us. Thanks for the way you have been patient with me as I got settled in and got my feet under me in my first full-time ministry. It’s obvious to me that you are personally invested in the church here and that you all don’t expect me to do everything. Everyone pitches in and plays their part. And this is how it should be, because no person can do it all on their own. That’s why God has given us the church, which is made up of many members (1 Cor. 12:12). The church is not made up of “professional” or “expert” Christians and then “regular” Christians; rather, there is a job for everyone to do. And those jobs are not all the same. The members of the body have different functions, but one goal and one purpose.

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; there are varieties of activities, but the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (…) All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (1 Cor. 12:4-7, 11). It’s not that my role is more important than your role or that your role is more important than someone else’s role. Every role and every job is important. God has gifted us each in unique ways. And we are stronger when we each use those gifts to the fullest possible extent. When we each use our God given gifts “for the common good” the result is that we are all strengthened and built up. 

So thank you for what you each do for our church. I know that there is work and planning that goes largely unnoticed, and I’m sure there is more that goes on behind the scenes than even I know about. Whatever your contribution is to the work here at our church, thank you! Whether it’s seen or unseen, thank you. Keep up the good work, and keep on keeping on. Thank you for welcoming me to the work here at Worthington, to work alongside all of you for the good of this church and our area. Working together as a team with one goal and one mission, we will continue to believe God’s promises and trust in his provision and work for his glory.

PepsiCo’s mission is to “create more smiles with every sip and every bite.” Microsoft’s mission is “to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” And McDonald’s mission is “to make delicious feel-good moments easy for everyone.” These are three of the largest and most iconic companies ever. We’ve all consumed Pepsi products, used Microsoft Operating Systems, and eaten at McDonalds. But in the grand scheme of things, the missions of these companies just deal with temporary things: sugary drinks, computer software, and sometimes controversial burgers. The church has a mission too, but it’s on an entirely different level. Unlike those companies that were born from an initial idea and grew and adapted into what they are today, we were given a mission by our Lord–a mission that we are not free to adapt or change. The way we carry out the mission may change, but the mission itself stays the same. 

Simply put, the mission of the church is to make disciples of all nations. Jesus gave this mission to his followers shortly before his ascension in Matthew 28:28-20. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

The mission essentially boils down to making disciples of Jesus and then teaching and equipping those disciples. A disciple is one who follows Jesus, and the process begins when someone shows interest in the gospel. It continues when they put their trust in Jesus, turn from their sins, and are baptized into Christ. But baptism is not the end, it’s just the beginning. After their baptism, disciples must then be taught all the rest of the things that Jesus taught us so that they can continue to grow and mature in their discipleship to Christ. These disciples then go and make more disciples, and the cycle of disciples making disciples who make disciples continues endlessly until Jesus returns.

Where can you go this week, and who can you tell about Jesus? Our Lord’s mandate for us is to go and make disciples and we must be striving to do that, otherwise we are unfaithful to our mission. And remember, we must never say no for someone else. We may think that they will reject the gospel, but we dare not neglect to share the message with them because we think they will reject it. God may surprise us with the way some people respond. It’s not our job to decide if we think they will accept Jesus or not, it is our job to share the message of Jesus with accuracy and clarity to anyone and everyone, trusting the power of the word of God to do the rest.