Fear can make you behave but it doesn't produce heartfelt, loving obedience. This elective will explore how God's power and might express his love and bring us to him, instead of frightening us away.
All of us have felt guilty for not sharing our faith. This elective will explore our fears of evangelism, and will give us a way to love others with the freedom and grace that the gospel gives us.
Recently CCEF Executive Director Tim Lane and his wife Barbara traveled to Montreal, Canada, to share CCEF's "How People Change" curriculum with over 500 people at SEMBEQ Seminary in that city. SEMBEQ has formed a partnership with CCEF to assist in their mission of training pastors with a zeal for church planting. The seminary intentionally partners with local churches, and much of the seminarians' training takes place "on the job" in those churches.
Tim & Barbara Lane with Francois Turcotte & Francois Picard of SEMBEQ
During their visit, Tim and Barbara sat down with Francois Turcotte & Francois Picard, two of SEMBEQ's leaders, to discuss their unique vision and mission, as well as how CCEF's teaching ministry has become an indispensible part of the training they offer. This podcast is taken from that conversation.
A mission trip is like life in a rehab center. You take time out from your normal routine, you are more intentional in how you live, and hopefully, you come home changed. At least that is how mission trips have functioned in my own life.
As I wrote last week, I went on a missions trip to Swaziland this summer. Though it’s premature to identify all of the themes that have taken hold in my life during that time, two already stand out. First, I have been reminded that our God is not a tribal or local god. He is, indeed, King of kings and the Creator God, and he has poured out himself by way of the Spirit. The brothers and sisters in Swaziland are, in fact, our brothers and sisters. We share the same cause for joy, hope and love. The evidence was unmistakable: “There is one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph.4:4-6).
The church I attend has partnered with a church in Swaziland - a New Jersey-sized kingdom bounded by South Africa and Mozambique. Last summer my wife Sheri and I both went to Swaziland on a missions trip with thirty other members of the church. This year, given limited funds and limited time for writing, Sheri planned to go and I was going to spend the two weeks working and writing at home. It all seemed very prudent, until our church went through a short series on the book of Acts.
The message to me was clear: move out. The gospel moves outward. The Kingdom of Heaven moves outward. You, Ed Welch, move outward! Not everyone must go to Swaziland after reading Acts, but I was getting tired of the various preachers picking on me by name and telling me that I had to go, or so it seemed.
A mission trip is like life in a rehab center. You take time out from your normal routine, you are more intentional in how you live, and hopefully, you come home changed. At least that is how mission trips have functioned in my own life.