This year at the church we have been moving our Faith Forward by exploring discipleship in the gospel of Matthew. Near the end of the book of Matthew, Jesus calls his disciples to give special consideration for those on the margins of society, what he calls "the least of these". In taking care of orphans, widows, prisoners, and the like, we have the privilege of serving Jesus, himself. This summer at PLCPC, while Pastor Karla is on Sabbatical, we have the unique opportunity to hear from some of our Christian sisters and brothers who are doing this type of frontline discipleship ministry. The speakers range from those doing ministry to the unhoused, to those releasing people in bondage from human trafficking, to those helping refugees on our own border. Hopefully, you will be inspired and encouraged to take your own step in deeper discipleship by hearing their stories. Wherever God calls, might we all have the courage to answer.
Jim Martin serves as IJM’s Vice President of Spiritual Formation. In this role for over a decade, Jim has worked with IJM's global leaders to strengthen IJM’s foundation of Christian spiritual formation. Jim seeks to equip IJM staff worldwide to do the work of justice joyfully and sustainably with ever-deepening dependence on God. Prior to this position, Jim served as IJM’s Vice President of Church Mobilization, where he led a team working to move churches to a deeper level of understanding of God's passion for justice.
This week, Jim reminds us that the church that Jesus came to establish is hard-wired for the life-and-death struggles of this world. It is a church that brings good news to the poor, that proclaims release to the captives, and lets the oppressed go free. It is a church, says Jesus, that the gates of hell will not prevail against. What does it look like for the church to engage today’s life-and-death struggles? What does it look like for us, as followers of Jesus, to be light in the darkness? Weaving the words of scripture together with frontline stories of the work of International Justice Mission, Jim Martin paints a compelling picture of the church’s role to bring the light of rescue and restoration into some of the deepest darkness in our world today.
Passage: Luke 4:18-19 and Matthew 16:18
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