Outreach Stories

When was it that we saw you?

Mission Devotional Day 18

READ: Matthew 25:31-46

There are several things that I find remarkable about this story Jesus tells. In the first place, there is the way that Jesus identifies with the last, the least, and the lost. In the second place, I find it significant that everyone is surprised. Those who didn’t reach out to the poor or are surprised, and those who did reach out are also surprised. Since everyone is surprised, I suppose that were we to place ourselves in the story, we’d likely be surprised, too.

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You shall love the Lord your God

Mission Devotional Day 17

READ: Matthew 22:34-39

The gospel of Matthew is known for its extended teaching passages, and some scholars see five major sections in Matthew that correspond to the Torah, the Five Books of Moses. Certainly, Matthew’s is the most Jewish of the gospels. Matthew records Jesus summarizing his instruction in the Great Commandment, the Great Judgment, and the Great Commission.

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So that they might hurl him off the cliff

Mission Devotional Day 16

READ: Luke 4:16-30

Much of Jesus’ ministry took place in the region of Galilee in northern Israel not far from his boyhood home in Nazareth. Capernaum, which served as a kind of home base for the disciples after Jesus’ public ministry began, was only about 20 miles from Nazareth. Towns dotted the landscape and it is easy to see how word of his extraordinary teaching could quickly spread.

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One does not live by bread alone

Mission Devotional Day 15

READ: Luke 4:1-15

Matthew, Mark, and Luke are often referred to as the synoptic gospels because they offer similar synopses of Jesus’ life and teaching. Probably the basic outline was provided by Mark’s gospel. The three synoptics each record that Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit for a time of testing or tempting by the evil one after he was baptized by John.

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God loved the world so much

Mission Devotional Day 14

READ: John 3:16

God loved the world so much! David Bosch writes, “Mission has its origins in the fatherly heart of God. He is the fountain of sending love. This is the deepest source of mission. It is not possible to penetrate any deeper: there is mission because God loves [people].” Forty-six times in the Gospel of John alone Jesus says that the Father has sent him, often adding that it is for the sake of the salvation of the world.

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The word became flesh

Mission Devotional Day 13

READ: John 1:1-18

Matthew begins his gospel with a genealogy. Mark begins with the ministry of John the Baptist. Luke begins his gospel with a dedication to Theophilus. John begins in eternity – “in the beginning.” His soaring theology is reflected in the traditional symbol for John, the eagle. But it doesn’t take long for John, as the other gospel writers do, to ground his telling of the gospel story in history. He writes in verse 14: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” The Greek text could be translated “tabernacled” or “pitched his tent.” I love how Eugene Petersen renders this text: “And the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”

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What does the Lord require?

Mission Devotional Day 12

READ: Micah 6:8

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” God’s justice is his saving action on behalf of his people. Human justice is the effort that we make in response to God’s goodness as we carry out his will.

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I knew that you were a gracious God

Mission Devotional Day 11

READ: Jonah 1-4

In the brief book of Jonah, we read the story of a reluctant prophet. God appointed Jonah to call the people of Nineveh to repent, but Jonah runs in the other direction. It becomes clear that God loves the Ninevites much more than Jonah does.

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The welfare of the city where I have sent you

Mission Devotional Day 10

READ: Jeremiah 29:7

“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

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By the rivers of Babylon—we sat down and wept

Mission Devotional Day 9

READ: Psalm 137

When the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s army in 586 B.C. and the people were taken as hostages to Babylon, they faced a tremendous crisis of faith. How could God have allowed this to happen to them? Well, they sort of knew what had transpired because the prophets had foretold their coming judgment. But how could they worship God in a strange land? How could they practice their faith without the temple?

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The fast that I choose

Mission Devotional Day 8

READ: Isaiah 58

In this chapter, the prophet Isaiah speaks plainly about the disconnect between the religious actions of the people and their social responsibility. The people question why God has not paid attention to their fasting. Why has God not taken notice? Simply stated, God tells them that it is because they are not seeking him. They are seeking their own interest. As Jesus says of those who parade their piety before others, they have their reward.

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Wounded for our transgressions

Mission Devotional Day 7

READ: Isaiah 53

This portion of the book of the prophet Isaiah functions at different levels of meaning. Some see Israel as the suffering servant. Others identify the servant with the prophet. Nevertheless, it is easy to understand how the early Christians understood this text as pointing ahead to the Messiah, to Jesus. In fact, it is one of the Old Testament texts that the New Testament most often references.

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It is too light a thing

Mission Devotional Day 6

READ: Isaiah 49:6-7

David Bosch, a famous South African mission scholar, points out, “There is, in the Old Testament, no indication of the believers of the old covenant being sent by God to cross geographical, religious, and social frontiers in order to win others to faith in Yahweh.” Yet in Isaiah 42 and 49, we read of Israel’s call to be “a light to the nations.” It is an echo of God’s covenant with Abram in which God said He would bless Abram and that in him all of the peoples of the earth would be blessed.

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Let all the peoples praise you

Mission Devotional Day 5

READ: Psalm 67

Psalm 67 is a beautiful reminder of our dependence upon God and of how God’s faithfulness in our lives can make God’s saving power known to others. You may have noticed that there is not much in the Old Testament that looks like our conception of mission. The word mission comes from the Latin root meaning “to send.” There is not a lot of sending going on.

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Who loves the strangers

Mission Devotional Day 4

READ: Deuteronomy 10:17-22

In this powerful text from Deuteronomy, God asserts that he executes justice for the orphan and widow and loves strangers. It is God “who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear.”

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In you all the peoples will be blessed

DAY 2

READ: Genesis 12:1-3

What an amazing call God sets before Abram! What promises! Abram is to take his family to a place he knows not where – but God will show him the place. Abram and his family will become a great nation, a people who are in a special relationship with God. Yet this blessing is not something that is only for the sake of Abram and his tribe. God makes it clear that in (or through) Abram all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

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I was naked; and I hid myself

DAY 1

READ: Genesis 3:1-10

If you read the morning newspaper or watch the evening news, it becomes quickly apparent that the world is not the way it should be. In Genesis 1-2 we find two different creation stories that assert God’s role as creator, the goodness of creation, and the responsibility of humankind. But something turns. Something falls.

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Join The Outreach Foundation in July as we follow the 31 Day Mission Devotional written by Rob Weingartner. The devotional will be posted daily here on The Outreach Foundation blog and on our social media pages.

You can also click here to download the PDF of the full devotional to have at home.

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