EXPECT GREAT THINGS ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS

EXPECT GREAT THINGS ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS!

Matt 7:7

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

William Carey (17 August 1761 – 9 June 1834) was an English Baptist missionary and a Reformed Baptist minister, known as the "father of modern missions" and one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society. As a missionary in the Danish colony, Serampore, India, he translated the Bible into Bengali, Sanskrit, and numerous other languages and dialects. (Wikipedia)

The quote: “Expect great things from God, Attempt great things from God” was originally spoken in his sermon to the Baptist Association meeting in Nottingham, England, May 30, 1792, at the Friar Lane Baptist Chapel, Carey used the citation to urge his Baptist colleagues to enter the missionary enterprise. (Source: www.wmcarey.edu)

Missionary enterprise, as the above reference puts it has morphed into something other than was modeled by the Apostle Paul. After praying for direction, Paul would visit a city and find someone who needed the gospel. He kept doing this until a church was formed. He did this in Galatia, Ephesus, and Corinth. The idea was to produce sustainable and self-perpetuating congregations led by disciple pastors.

Nowadays, mission enterprise is what I call “flip flop and selfie” missions. Giddy with the prospect of visiting a foreign culture, a modern “missionary” visits a coffee shop in some strange land and asks if there are any poor people about. He then visits the squalor, hands out sandwiches and snaps pictures on his smart phone. He returns home to tell of his great adventure while the squalor remains as he found it.

Matt 28:19-20

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Dear Lord, give me an even greater heart for sustainable mission work. AMEN