Living Beyond…Ourselves

By Pastor Jeff Petersen, Global Outreach

Henry David Thoreau once said, “Most men live lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them. ”The tragic cause of this reality is that most of us live such small and selfish lives. The “great” aim of our existence is — too often — to merely obtain a state of pleasurable comfort.

What is it that you are living for today? Is your true desire to have a life of ease and comfort, or is there a higher purpose which propels you forward toward a greater aim? In 2 Corinthians 5:15 we read that:

"He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”

God has called us to live beyond ourselves. He has called us to live for Him and His purpose of transforming this lost and broken world by redeeming people from every tribe and tongue. That’s why we need to continually ask God to renew our minds on His truth and to reinvigorate our lives with His passion.

This weekend and next we will seek to realign ourselves to this greater purpose as we take a break from our usual service format to focus on our Global Outreach ministries and specific global opportunities God is giving us to passionately live for that which truly matters.

From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture reveals that God is on a redemptive mission. And He makes it clear that He has called every believer to join Him in this mission. The scope of that mission has never been exclusively local…it has always also been global. And every one of us has the privilege of being a part of reaching lost people not only here in Lincoln, but around the world as either a goer,(one who actually goes into cross-cultural missions), or a sender,(one who helps support and resource others to go).

Our prayer for these weekends is that each ofus would embrace the joy and opportunity of being a sender or a goer. May each of us take a next step on the journey toward living beyond ourselves that we might break out of our small and selfish existence and actually sing the song God has placed in our hearts — today! — as we are used by Him to see lives changed for eternity.

What would it look like for you to Live Beyond?