Urbana

Got back from the Urbana missions conference (www.urbana.org) in St. Louis earlier this week. It was awesome 5 days of worship with 22,000 other people seeking God and His heart for the world. The highlights of the conference for me were the times of worship, meeting new friends, and catching a picture of the Body of Christ that I had never seen before.

Throughout the week at Urbana, we studied the Book of Ephesians using inductive Bible studies and through the exposition of Ajith Fernando (from Sri Lanka). The diverseness of the Body of Christ impressed me in a new way… how we are so different (in culture, ethnicity, nationality, or gifting) but all called to operate interdependently as one Body where Christ is the head. I had never wrestled with the concept of reciprocasity that Pastor Oscar Muriu (Kenya) spoke of on Thursday night. It humbled me to realize how much I can learn from others who have different backgrounds than me or come from a different flavor of Christianity.

I also feel that God helped me understand and become excited about His church. I saw that the church is the tool he will use to bring peace and reconciliation to our world. In Ephesians 3:10, Paul explains that the church is the vehicle God will use to make Himself known to the world. The church has been given the authority to do this task! In our culture of individualism, it is an eye-opener to see how God wants to work through community, not through my individual efforts alone.

(When we discuss “church” here, let’s be clear that the church is the worldwide Body of Christ…everyone from everywhere who is trusting in Jesus and letting Him control the direction of their lives….it is not defined by any earthly denomination or membership.)

“The Gospel” too, took on deeper meaning for me at this conference. The “Good News” encompasses not only forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God, but is part of a bigger mission… the gospel we preach also includes the fact that Jesus is changing the world through the church…your invitation to accept Christ is also an invitation to join that mission. That connection had never been made in my head or heart before. It certainly may make a more relevant message to someone like your average college student who may be slow to understand his or her own need for God, but quick to understand the vast needs of a suffering world.

What an awesome God we serve, and oh how neat it is to be part of the beautiful global church that God is building to bring glory to Himself!


More of my pics here
Full coverage of the conference on the urbana website here