Tag! You're It!

Many Christians have little or no idea what they're getting themselves into when they surrender their lives to Christ and commit to follow him. Once an individual says he is no longer going to his life under his own strength, but by Christ's strength alone, things change...or they should.

The same is many times true of the local church. After all, it IS a big mission, isn't it? That is, to fulfill Acts 1:8 by literally reaching the world for Jesus Christ. Before we become too overwhelmed, we must remember that we're told we don't have to go it alone. We have the power and the might of the Holy Spirit as promised in Acts to guide us in all of our ways as new Christians. What's more, Southern Baptists have the support of their denominational partners to help the church reach Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. Support comes in the form of the local association, state convention, North American Mission Board and International Mission Board.

The thing is, many Christians never do truly surrender their lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ, so they just end up going about their business as wimpy, weak vessels that don't make any kind of difference in the world. The same can be said of many churches.

That's just what the evil one would have us do. That way he can go about his business with the least amount of bother. Commit yourself and your church today to go forward today boldly in Jesus' name and to become the "missional" force Christ outlined so beautifully in Acts 1:8!

Tim Yarbrough is a mission strategist and leader of the Church Relations Team at the North American Mission Board. He serves as the national coordinator of the Acts 1:8 Challenge initaitive.