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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
We are reading Acts 13, where we left our missionary friends, Paul and Barnabas in Cyprus.
Now, they sail north from Cyprus, over to the mainland, to Perga, and then they travel up-country and inland to Antioch in Pisidia. The Name of Jesus Christ is about to be preached and proclaimed, where it has never before been preached.
We call Paul and Barnabas 'missionaries'. The word missionary means "sent one" from which we get 'missile'. They are missiles - Christian missiles - missiles sent in the Love of God into the world.
The Word also means - "to send for a purpose" with the implication - "do not come back until the job is done". Report back when the mission is completed.
When we look at the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ, we see how the Father sent Him - born of the Spirit and anointed with the Holy Spirit, and when Jesus had completed what the Father sent Him to do, Jesus was able to say on The Cross - "It is finished - it is completed." I have fulfilled the task - the work - the job - the mission - which I was sent to do."
Jesus Christ had sown the seed for some three years - seeds of mercy and love - seeds of caring and healing, and the training of men - seeds of light and forgiveness - and yet, on the Cross there is more seed to sow.
Jesus is about to die. Jesus is about to shed His Blood to wash us from our sins and save us and clean us. That is the seed He sows on the Cross.
We read in John 12 - "I tell you the truth - unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies - it produces many seeds." Now, that must be at the heart and centre of our mission in today's needy world.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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