Slavic Missionary Service

In the Word of God nothing is clearer than the longsuffering of God which seeks and waits for individuals to repent of their sins before His holiness requires judgment for those sins. He rises to judgment only when iniquity is full. Pray daily that many sinners will find cleansing through the blood of Jesus Christ. Intercede earnestly for unsaved individuals that they will come to God by the “new and living way” (Hebrews 10:20). Pray for the SMS missionaries that they would rise to any occasion to proclaim the Good News “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

God has opened to us another year to live and labor for Him. He has granted us another year to share the good news of salvation. God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). He is building His church and asks each Christian to assist in this awesome endeavor. Let us look at the new things God has given each believer in the past, the new things for the present and the new things He will give in the future.

I. New Things in the Past
God has made the believer a new creation.
“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God has made for the believer a new covenant.
“For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15).

II. New Things in the Present
God has helped the believer to be a new man.
“And put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4:24).

God has given the believer new way of life.
“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

God has given the believer a new commandment.
“A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34).

God has shown the believer a new way to enter His presence.
“Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20).

III. New Things in the Future
When Jesus returns, God will cleanse this world, and make a new heaven and new earth.
“But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

When Jesus returns, God will make all things new.
“And He who sits on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. And He said; Write for these words are faithful and true” (Revelation 21:5).

Praise God for the new things that He reveals to the Christian in His Word. Until Jesus returns, may each believer exalt our Great God for the new things that He has given and express to the world that “it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:12

Pray that the Gospel will reach the millions in the Slavic countries that have not yet heard what Christ has done for them. Many small cities and towns still do not have an official place of worship. Ask God to help the Slavic churches be effective witnesses in their neighborhoods. Pray that souls will continue to be saved, baptized and discipled through the ministries of the church. Pray that the Holy Spirit powerfully and persistently will convict men of sin and lead many to believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.