1 Samuel 17 – Romans 15 – Lamentations 2 – Psalm 33
It’s likely that the company you own, or work for, has a mission/vision statement. Good mission statements inspire people. More so, effective mission statements have the power to identify and establish the priorities that yield powerful results. Did you know that Paul had one too? Read it with me. Romans 15:18-21 says,
I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written,
“Those who have never been told of him will see,and those who have never heard will understand.”
Did you hear it? If I were to format it in today’s corporate or church language, it would sound something like this.
To bring all people from Jerusalem to Illyricum to understanding of the Gospel, through preaching, utilizing signs and wonders from the Holy Spirit and by my own example.
Pretty powerful, right? Can you imagine having a statement like that for your own life? What does your mission statement say? More importantly, what do your priorities say that your mission statement is? That is what impresses me the most about Paul. He lived it! The evidence is well documented. In fact, he lived it so well that in 2 Timothy 4, as he nears the end of his life, he says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Mission Accomplished.