Send Thou, O Lord, to every place
Swift messengers before Thy face,
The heralds of Thy wondrous grace,
Where Thou, Thyself, wilt come.
———-
Send men whose eyes have seen the King,
Men in whose ears His sweet words ring,
Send such Thy lost ones home to bring:
Send them where Thou wilt come–
———-
To bring good news to souls in sin,
The bruised and broken hearts to win,
In every place to bring them in,
Where Thou, Thyself, wilt come.
———-
Gird each one with the Spirit’s sword,
The sword of Thine own deathless Word,
And make them conquerors, conquering Lord,
Where Thou, Thyself, wilt come.
———-
Raise up, O Lord the Holy Ghost,
From this broad land a mighty host,
Their war cry–We will seek the lost,
Where Thou, O Christ, will come!
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“The past has not exhausted the possibilities nor the demands for doing great things for God. The church that is dependent on its past history for its miracles of power and grace is a fallen church…
The greatest benefactor this age could have is the man who will bring the teachers and the church back to prayer.” (E.M. Bounds, in Power Through Prayer)
The poem written above was composed by a member of the China Inland Mission where Hudson Taylor worked for so many years. I thought it was poignant and appropriate considering what our church is facing in the next six months with relocation and the opportunity to reach out to a new community. There will be many opportunities to spread the Gospel to a new area and make an impact for the glory of God. Red Rocks has been blessed with a deep and rich heritage. But, we must not rest on the laurels of the past. This will not impress people. What will make an impact on their hearts and lives is what we do now. How much we care. How much we show God’s love in tangible ways. We need to be in prayer for the continuing relocation process, the construction and all those involved day-to-day, sale of the football fields, financing for this building and the needed finances to build the school building, and the timing of the move. But more so, we need to be in prayer for the lives of those who need God. We need to be in prayer for our staff. There are many decisions left to be made. Relationships can be put to many tests during a long process like this. So, we need to pray for the marriages, families and other relationships affected by this move. There is so much more work and time required than most people realize, and that can open the door for Satan to tempt and discourage those so heavily involved. Also, we need to pray for our focus to remain on what is most important. The glorification of our God and Savior. If we lose sight of that, we have lost sight of the that which is key in our church’s life as well as our individual walks. So, don’t give up. Don’t stop giving, don’t stop praying and make time to thank those who are shouldering the major portion of this process for all of us. Keep each member of the church and school staff in your prayers, as well as the members of the construction team as we want to see them come to know Christ.
One way you could be a tangible blessing is to take part of a meal to the construction team out at the jobsite. Contact Jason Smoker to find out when they need lunch help. You would not believe how far this goes to open doors for communication and witnessing to these men. They really do appreciate it.
I hope you have a wonderful week as you get back into the routine after Thanksgiving. One other thing I would like to encourage you to do as the Christmas season really cranks up, is make time to give to others. Those who cannot do anything for you, give back to you or even say thank you. It really is more blessed to give than to receive. Look around and ask God to open your eyes to needs around you. It will make this season even more blessed!
Have a great week!
Marissa
