Rodney Lord: VALLEY HARVEST CHURCH

At Valley Harvest Church global missions is not a fad, event or a project. We believe global missions is the rightful extension of the kingdom of God into all the earth.

The Bible is missions....Adam was given the dominion mandate...Gen 1:28 The first chapter...the first man...was given the first great commission....

from the Patriarchs to the prophets...from peasants to Kings....the journey of the mandate keeps unfolding....

from John the Baptist crying out from the wilderness “Prepare the way of the Lord to...the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus” From the explosion of the early church on the Day of Pentecost to the adventures of the Moravians around the globe...the journey of the mandate was making it's way to you.

How did the gospel reach you? How far back can you connect the dots....how many divine appointments and how many called people had to respond to the call of God to plant a church in your town...to reach your tribe?

So we understand that missions takes the flame of the gospel to the ends of the earth. The heathen...both Jew and gentile become the righteousness of God in Christ...through missions....

Mark 16 “Go into all the world..... the compelling calling to win souls for Christ is clear...

(Mark 16:15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

(Acts 1:8) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Who is the work of missions for? We quickly say...it's for the called. It's for the young. It's for the brave...the adventurer....

Missions is for you.

Where have we gone..what have we done?

In Matthew 28 when Jesus gave the command to go into all the world and preach the gospel, He did so just before his ascension back to the throne in heaven. He then released the power of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and the early church was inaugurated in power to disciple nations and go to the ends of the earth. The Kingdom, the glory, and the power have been advancing globally for 2000 years.

In Psalms 2 : we read these words

"I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.

The Father is telling the Son to ask for the nations as Your inheritance. We see the nations under the covenantal, judicial, and legal rule of King Jesus. (Jim Hodges)

The mandate of global missions has never ceased! Over the past 200 years the church in America has been responding to this compelling command of Jesus and has sent thousands of missionaries to the ends of the earth and has poured millions of dollars into the great commission. With all of our flaws, this is something to be proud of and humbled by.

Great missions movements and organizations were birth to mobilize and send laborers...

As I said in the beginning missions should never be a fad or a project or an event alone. Missions should be in the heart of every believer because it is the heart of the Father and the Son and is the assignment of the Spirit. We are asked to pray that “the Lord of the harvest would send laborers.”

At VHC we have had the honor to be sent ones, send out others, and resource those serving in nations as Kingdom ambassadors. Some that we support are apostolic fathers who have labored faithfully to raise up churches, leaders and spiritual sons. Others teach, train, evangelize and equip. From schools to medical clinics, to inner city evangelism and large leadership conferences...through these God called laborers the Kingdom of God is leavening the earth.

I like what Author/Pastor John Piper says “missions exist because worship doesn't”. He is underscoring that God deserves the glory of being worshiped by every tongue, every tribe and every nation and global missions exists because we have unreached lands and people groups of the earth that have yet to release their full expression of the glory of God.

Missions is the outcome of Love, Passion, obedience, and Joy.....It is simply the journey of the Kings dominion.

Let your heart be ignited with this passion!

Pastor Rodney