1 Samuel 15:18, John 3:16, Psalm 119:105, Matthew 26:19, Proverbs 3:6, Mark 4:3

Mike Davies

On a recent trip to Port Elizabeth I was asked to speak to a meeting of combined churches. I think I surprised many by taking as my text the famous monologue of Capt James T Kirk:

'Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Her five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.'

Many individual churches have great mission, vision, and value statements all providing a snap shot of who they are and what they are about, but what about us as individuals?

I have recently been assessing my life and asking myself the question: 'Where will I be in three or five year's time'? I do believe that you can plan too much but without aims and objectives how will you ever get anywhere? It is good to seek the Lord for some direction.

As I thought about it, I chose the lines from Star Trek. I hadn't heard them for some time but it came to me that I could simply change the statement to:

'Church, the final frontier. This is the journey of God's people. Their mission to explore the world, to share the gospel and see new life in Christ, to boldly go further than the church has ever been before.'

To make it personal you could insert your own name instead of "God's people".

John 3:16 makes it clear that God's love is so great that He sent Jesus to earth on a mission. The mission was completed successfully although the ultimate sacrifice was made and paid. He now wants us to get involved in His kingdom.

The introduction to Star Trek tells us very quickly what the Starship Enterprise is all about but the life and journeys ahead of us are very much open and to some extent unplanned. Often it's just a case of taking one step before knowing what the next step would be.

My faith tells me that the God that I follow and believe in has invited (called us) members of His body to be involved in the affairs of His kingdom and He sends us out. If I assume that I need to get on board with God's adventure, I must ask the Lord to direct me and then do as He tells me.

Psalm 119:105 'Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path'
Matthew 26:19 'So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them'
Proverbs 3:6 'In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths'

This adventure could be on the other side of the world or it could be in my own neighbourhood. The key is listening to the voice of God.

In the mission that God has invited us to be involved in, there will be storms and heartache (Luke 8:22) and there will be times when He tests our commitment and watches to see whether we do what He has told us to do (Mark 6:45).

We need to understand that for each one of us, no matter what our circumstances are, God wants us to be fully involved.

I was in Holland a few weeks ago and one of the speakers started to speak about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and what they had in common. The point he went on to make is that many of us do not get involved as much as we should because we are afraid that we may not be up to the job in hand. What happens if people find out who I really am? Well, God already knows you inside out and has still called you. If God thinks you are good enough knowing who you really are, then take it from me you are! What may seem only a dream to us, God wants to make reality. He already knows what we will achieve on the journey but what we need to do is trust Him and have faith that He knows what He is doing.

My son Joshua is four years old and has been having swimming lessons for a while. The lessons are in a large group and although he loves the water he can only swim with the aid of a floatation device. Last week we decided to book him a private one on one lesson with a swimming instructor. After 20 minutes, the float was taken from him. He was told to kick off the wall and swim. There was some hesitation as he had always had a float to trust until then and now it was him alone. He only had to make a few strokes and he would be with the instructor. For Joshua this was a massive task; he was going into the unknown. He had to put his trust in the instructor. Eventually he did it, only to be told to do it again. Then the distance started to increase.

We know we can trust God (2 Corinthians 3:4); we know He will stop us from drowning but it takes that moment of faith (2 Corinthians 5:7) to launch ourselves into what He has asked us to do.

My suggestion is to seek the Lord (1 Chronicles 16:11) and to come up with a statement which provides you with vision and direction. From time to time go back and talk it through with the Lord. (Proverbs 29:18)

I am hoping that for many of you reading this, you will realise that God is speaking to you today, to trust Him, to step out and embark on the greatest journey of your life - on a mission with Christ!

Let me know how you get on.