We had the opportunity to hear powerful messages during our US Staff Conference this month. One that stands out was from Heather Holleman, a professor at Penn State, whose husband is a friend. She spoke from their upcoming book called Sent. She said that “the #1 way Jesus describes God in the book of John is ‘the Father who SENT me.'” She then quoted John 20:21 where Jesus said, “as the Father sent me, so I am sending you.”
Just as all people build their motivation and decision making around “core principles,” Prof Holleman taught that God’s “sent ones” have these 3 core principles in common. They believe that:
1. God is ALWAYS at work to draw people to Himself (John 5:17; Ecc 3:11; Luke 19:10). “You are where you are because the Father is always at work.”
2. He uses us to lead people to Jesus (Acts 1:8; 2 Cor 2:14; 5:18-20). God’s power for us is so we will be His witnesses “to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere!”
3. God continually invites us into the work of evangelism (Matt 4:19; 28:18-20)
Prof Holleman went on to say that because of these Core Principals, “any situation I’m in that I don’t want to be in, the Sent Identity says ‘you’re here because someone here doesn’t yet know Jesus.’ My dishwasher breaks? That’s not the real story. There’s probably going to be a repair man who needs to hear about You. Every situation is a supernatural adventure.”
You can click here to read what else she taught (7 ways the Bible teaches us to pray for the lost, 5 great questions to ignite spiritual conversations with non-Christians, etc), but she said the most powerful tool God has given us are our powerful, quick stories of how God has saved, matured, and provided for us (see this podcast and template).
Grant Ministry 