Matthew 5:14-16
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
What is an Aurora?
Definition - a natural electrical phenomenon characterized by the appearance of streamers of reddish or greenish light in the sky, usually near the northern or southern magnetic pole.
The sun is made up of constant nuclear explosions where hydrogren molecules are being heated to 14 million degrees which makes helium. The light of these electric explosions travel from the center of the sun outwards and create what we know as sunlight - 92 million miles away! Some of these explosions are so large that the magnetic fields inside of the sun come out with the explosions and create sun spots or solar flares. Those eventually break off and come towards Earth. The earth has it’s own magnetic field that emanates out from the equator and fights back the magnetic storm coming at it. As the magnetic waves collide, it flings them upwards and downwards towards the poles, and the magnetic field at the top and bottom of our planet can’t fight the storm off, and it comes through. That magnetic electricity reacts with our atmosphere, and we get an aurora.
When we take the incredible of God, and we let Him send us into a place where the defenses are down, who we are interacts with the atmosphere of where He sends us. The immense heat and nuclear energy that comes from our every day lives transforms into something truly beautiful that the people don’t even know how to comprehend!
Missions is our Aurora!
In the Bible
Let’s take Philip in the book of Acts as an example:
Acts 6:2-7
2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
So, here we see Philip serving in a practical way in the church in Jerusalem. He is a man “full of the Spirit and wisdom” and because he is serving with these other people, the word of God spread, the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Acts 8:1-3
1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Acts 8:4-8
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
Acts 8:26-40
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”
35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
How do we do that?
1. Actually Go
If you don’t go, there is no chance they’ll see the incredible thing God wants to do through you.
2. Pray Into It
Be expectant for God to move, and ask him to do something truly mesmerizing with you.
3. Ask God to break your heart for a people group
What if your heart was truly broken for a people group? What if you could see an incredible move of God because you love the people enough to go?
