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During the month of March at the BCEC, we’re going to be focusing a little more on global missions and the missionaries that we support here at the BCEC. There’s currently a lot of different issues going on around the world, and let’s be actively praying as well.

We’ve put together a simple resource packs for you to download and look at.

Missions Resource Pack

For the next four weeks, we have different topics for LifeGroups to explore and think about.
Week 1: The Great Commission
Week 2: Christians in China
Week 3: Power of the Gospel
Week 4: Living Faith

To start things off, I wanted to share this quote from William Booth (founder of the Salvation Army):

‘Not called!’ did you say? ‘Not heard the call,’ I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonised heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful
wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey
— and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.

When I first read it, I was shocked and slightly offended. I didn’t like hearing about hell, and God’s judgement. But unless we reconcile the fact that our God will judge the unrighteousness of humanity, we’ll fail to appreciate the saving love and grace of Him. As Tim Keller recently tweeted, “The greatness of Christ’s sacrifice is diminished if you minimise the wrath of God.”

And at that point, instead of offence, I felt convicted. Even in my role as a pastor of a church, does my heart burn with passion for God’s love to be declared to the nations? Am I eager to publish His mercy to the world? Or do I remain caught in my own web of self-service and self-adoration?

I pray that during this month, our hearts learn to hear God’s own heart, and proclaim his words to those around.

Posted in LifeGroups, Missions, Sunday Service.