SPEAKING MINISTRY: REHOBOTH INTERNATIONAL CHURCH- JAN 2021
Ten years ago, I met a wonderful brother in the Lord who had come to the United States from Rwanda. My home church at that time took he and his family in, and they established a church for refugees in the Dayton, Ohio area. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to see their church grow into a thriving congregation. Last year, they were able to purchase their own property. A couple of weeks ago, they invited me to come to speak at their two Sunday services. It was my first opportunity to be with them since they had moved into their newly remodeled sanctuary.
My heart was filled with joy for their congregation as I was able to get a tour of the building that the Lord had provided for them. Rehoboth is the name of a well that Isaac named in Genesis 26:22, when he said, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.” It was wonderful to see the fruit of all that the Lord had done. Truly He had made a place for them to grow and thrive.
They had asked me to come and address the topic of missions, as they have a desire to make a greater impact on the community around them as well as around the world. I preached in their English services as well as their service translated into Kinyarwanda. I shared a message on the Lamb’s Reward. In Revelation 5, John was given a beautiful vision of the throne room of God. In God’s hand is a scroll that no one is worthy to open except for Jesus. The reason that Jesus was worthy is revealed in verse 9:
You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation
I used this passage to explain that the main priority of fulfilling the Great Commission is that Jesus will receive the reward of His suffering.
I spoke about the three areas that Jesus mentioned to His disciples in Acts 1:8: “You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” I explained that although this is often taught as a list of priorities (first reach Jerusalem, and then move outward), I believe that all of these are of utmost priority. It requires the whole body of Christ to be able to ensure that there is a witness for Jesus in every place on the earth. And all of us are called to go somewhere to fulfill the Great Commission. And wherever we are not called to go, we are called to send. The harvest of souls that Jesus died for cannot be gathered in without a strategic and intentional plan to reach them.
I believe that God is very concerned about the souls of all people. His eyes are on the harvest of souls that He paid the highest price to redeem from sin. And God is calling all of us in the church to play a part in that harvest. We are all called to go somewhere. Perhaps, that is to stay in our Jerusalem and help send others to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth through our finances and prayers. Maybe He is calling us to leave Jerusalem and dedicate our lives to serving outside of that sphere. We all have a role in going and a role in sending. I believe the Lord is calling His church to have a missional mindset, raising up and sending missionaries to every part of the world to be witnesses for Christ.
I encouraged the church to take some time to evaluate their lives, how they pray, how they spend their time and their resources and ask themselves the question, “Is the Lamb receiving the reward of His suffering from my life?” He deserves to receive the reward for which He was slain.
Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support for Make Way Ministries, as we continue to impact the United States as well as the nations through the calling that God has placed on us. To make a one-time donation, or to become a monthly partner, please visit our donations page.
DUSTIN RENZ is the President of Make Way Ministries, a non-profit organization that exists to see the world changed one Christian at a time. He has a passion to see the Body of Christ find rich intimacy in their relationship with Jesus and step out in faith to share the Gospel with the world around them. He is the author of Pile of Masks: Exposing Christian Hypocrisy and Something Better. He resides in Dayton, Ohio with his wife and three daughters.
