It is almost time for Missions Conference! And if you were able to participate in our morning worship service this past Sunday, you also had a sneak preview of our Missions Conference theme song, a hymn I was privileged to write called “All Things to All People.” The theme for Missions Conference is “Intentionally Creatively.”

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Pardon the pun, but I tried to be intentionally creative in weaving together that theme with the passage of 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. There, the Apostle Paul wrote: “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.”

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This intentionality of missions might be broken down into three categories: (1) missions to the Jewish people (2) missions to the Gentiles (3) missions to the weak. Interestingly, our church has supported Jewish missions for many years, as well as to Gentiles. And one aspect I wanted to highlight in missions to the “weak” was how our missionaries with ICCD serve to reach the often-marginalized deaf people, who suffer from a physical weakness, but also a spiritual one.

 

Taken together, verse 1 focuses on Jewish missions, verse 2 emphasizes ministry to the spiritually broken Gentiles, and verse 3 highlights how we are to reach the “weak” with the Gospel as well. As the Apostle Paul made himself “servant unto all,” we also are called to serve our God, whether at our home base in the United States or to send others onto the mission field.

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You may notice that there is an absence of first-person, singular pronouns (I, me, my). Rather, this hymn is written with plural pronouns (we, us, our). Why? Because missions is not an individualistic enterprise. It’s the calling of the Church collectively. May the themes of this anthem be what we sing and champion to reach every tribe, tongue, and nation with the Gospel of Christ.

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(Verse 1)

Those under the Mosaic Law 

We must strive to reach them all

Christ is God’s Anointed One

In whom His promises have come

 

(Verse 2)

Those who live apart from God’s Law

They must hear the gospel call

Christ has come to seek and save

The lost and broken, His life He gave

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(Verse 3)

Those who strain from the sin-cursed toll

Deaf and weak, forgotten souls

Christ has suffered in their stead,

O’er sin and death, the King has tread

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(Chorus)

We will serve our God with every heart, with every soul 

’Till every tribe and tongue receive the Gospel of our Lord

We will be all things to all people

for some to be saved

We will send and go, and be intentional

 

A recording for this hymn can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9pvxFwZaaA

 

In Christ,

Pastor John Wiley