"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you."

Jesus' command leaves no doubt whatsoever. The Christian community's business emphatically includes evangelism — "selling the faith," so to speak. From its earliest days, the Christian community never questioned that the Gospel of Jesus was to be shared with the whole world.

Christianity might have remained only one of many Jewish sects in the Mediterranean world were it not for the council of Jerusalem, when a little more than 20 years after Jesus' death, the Holy Spirit revealed that membership in the community of the redeemed was available to everyone. Paul and his apostolic colleagues tramped across the known world of their day in the conviction that the whole world should be given the opportunity to respond to the Good News of Christ.

The Book of Acts tells us that they went through the entire Mediterranean World: to Damascus, to Antioch, to Asia Minor, to Rome, and beyond. They went as far as they could to preach the risen Christ. They went as far as they could to offer themselves as living witnesses to the Gospel Truth that life is worthwhile, that life is purposeful, that God is with us, that even in our darkest hour, God is with us.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is saying to all His followers everywhere and for all-time, "I command you to make disciples of all nations---teaching them all that I have commanded you." And let’s keep in mind that we are not just talking about feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and visiting the sick and the imprisoned--- that's not enough.

These things are all necessary, of course, but to be obedient to the command of Christ, those whom we are serving must be brought into a deep communion with God through Jesus Christ. This is the only way they can discover the true purpose of their lives and their infinite value in God's eyes.

Every Christian is commissioned to a ministry of love and justice and evangelism in the name of Jesus Christ. The Gospel clearly teaches us that the God who loves us so much and has given us so much through Jesus, sends us out to share this Jesus with the world. For us, that means Mira Mesa and its surrounding communities.

Pastor Will