God’s Heart for the Nations
If you were here for one of the worship services this last weekend, then you had the chance to hear from our guest preacher, Tyler Pease, as he shared about God’s heart for the nations. Tyler is the NW Regional Director for an organization called Perspectives. Both Pastor Toby and I had the chance to hear Tyler share a very similar presentation during the IFCA Pastor’s Conference that was hosted at EBC in March, and we each walked away feeling very compelled by what he shared.
I loved his description of how God gives his people a top-line blessing, for the sake of his bottom-line intention of blessing the nations. I also loved how he walked through the scriptures to show how, over and over, God’s heart for the nations is a key, repeated theme in both the Old and New Testaments. I was also compelled to re-orient my thinking regarding the great commission, in that the scope is far greater than sharing Jesus with my neighbors and friends (which I certainly should be doing!), but also seeing God’s larger purpose of discipling the nations.
After hearing Tyler’s presentation in March, I felt sure that this was a message our whole congregation needed to hear. So when we had a preaching opening for the summer, I knew right away that I wanted to ask him to fill the pulpit that weekend, and I was so glad that he was able. But beyond that, I would love to see EBC be able to host the Perspectives course sometime. The Perspectives course is a 15 week course that involves some real commitment (time, money, energy, homework), that seems to me to be incredibly valuable.
In order to host the perspectives course here at EBC, there is a requirement to have the coordinator of the course be someone who has already completed the course. And the good news was that there is an opportunity coming up soon to take the course. So both Matt Arnett and I are going to be taking the course in November, though we will be doing an intensive version where all 15 weeks worth of learning happen in one-week! We are both really excited, as we each see this as an opportunity for personal and ministry development. And then I also have a hope that that sometime in the next year or two, perhaps we will be able to host a Perspectives class here at EBC, where folks from the area, as well as many from EBC, can participate in the course. So don’t be surprised if you hear about opportunities in the future to consider taking this course as a way for God to grow your heart for the nations.
Pastor Ryan Donovan
P.S. If you missed Tyler’s sermon, you can listen to or watch it here.
Categories: Evergreen Connection