Many sports champions have emphasized “pressure is a privilege,” underscoring that it’s a privilege to be in a position where others are expecting big things of you in the heat of the moment. As we journey into the New Year amidst growing instability around the world, we consider what a great privilege it is to be people entrusted with the Gospel in difficult times, and what big expectations God puts on those with that privileged Good News. That is the idea behind our 2024 ministry theme…

Pressure Is a Privilege: We Will Rise to Expectations of the Great Commission.

With this theme comes three layers of missional focus:

1. We will RISE to the privilege of Gospel-centered living. We are privileged to possess the Gospel of the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Over 3 billion people in over 7,000 people groups around the world are currently unreached by this treasured Good News. To whom much has been given, much is expected… and required. The Gospel demands of us nothing less than absolute surrender in our daily relationships, our life pursuits, our time investments, our sacrificial “faithing,” and our financial stewardship.

2. We will RISE to the privilege of the Great Commission. We will embrace God’s missional mandate (Matthew 28:19-20) by cultivating discipleship pathways across the streets, across the states, and across the seas. We will not shy away from bold missional enterprise to reach youth for Christ, resource and strengthen communities, and invest in building kingdom leaders who are intentional about developing the next generation of young people.

3. We will RISE to the privilege of a persevering faith in difficult times. As we see the escalation of hostilities in our world, we will let the pressure remind us that “for such a time as this” we have been entrusted to be ambassadors of Good News hope in a bad news world. We are in this moment by divine design. We will not lose hope! We will not lose heart! We will not run from expectations to be light in the darkness, no matter how difficult life gets. We will rise to the expectation of perseverance in faith, knowing that He has promised “I am with you always, to the end of the age,” and we will do all that is sufficiently granted to us by the grace and power of God to instill faith, hope, and courage in others.

A Night of Celebration (Missions Banquet, March 21)

We would love to have you join us for Breakaway’s 2024 missions celebration banquet on March 21. It will be a festive evening of celebrating all that God is doing through this ministry. The evening will feature dinner, community awards, stories of hope, a silent auction, and many highlights of Breakaway’s impact at home and around the world. You can navigate to the RSVP link or email info@breakawayoutreach.com for more details. We cannot emphasize how special it will be to see you in person for this amazing night of fellowship and storytelling.

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There was a group called The Fishermen’s Fellowship. They were surrounded by streams and lakes swarming with hungry fish. They met regularly to discuss the call to fish, the abundance of fish, and the thrill of catching fish. They got all excited about fishing! The only problem was, they really weren’t fishing.

One member suggested that they needed a fishing philosophy, so they carefully defined and redefined fishing, and the purpose of fishing. They developed fishing strategies and tactics.

Then they realized that they had been going at it backwards. They had approached fishing from the point of view of the fisherman, and not from the point of view of the fish. How do fish view the world? How does the fisherman appear to the fish? What do fish eat, and when? These are all good things to know. So they began research studies, and attended conferences on fishing. Some traveled to far away places to study different kinds of fish, with different habits. Some got PhD’s in fishology.

They did assessment surveys to see if future fishermen had the competency to fish. They planted new Fishermen Fellowship communities and continued to launch additional campuses. They had droves of weekly small groups made up of fishermen.
But still no one had yet gone fishing.

So a committee was formed to send out fishermen. As prospective fishing places outnumbered fishermen, the committee needed to determine priorities. A priority list of fishing places was posted on bulletin boards in all of the fellowship halls. But still, no one was fishing. A survey was launched, to find out why. Most did not answer the survey, but from those that did, it was discovered that some felt called to study fish, others to furnish fishing equipment, and several to go around encouraging the fishermen. What with meetings, conferences, and seminars, they just simply didn’t have time to fish.

Now, Jake was a newcomer to the Fishermen’s Fellowship. After one stirring meeting of the Fellowship, he went fishing and caught a large fish. At the next meeting, he told his story, and he was honored for his big catch. He was told that he had a special “gift of fishing.” He was then scheduled to speak at all the Fellowship chapters and tell how he did it.

With all the speaking invitations and his election to the board of directors for the Fishermen’s Fellowship, Jake no longer had time to go fishing. But soon he began to feel restless and empty. He longed to feel the tug on the line once again. So he cut the speaking, he resigned from the board, and he said to a friend, “Let’s go fishing.”
They did, just the two of them, and they caught fish.

The members of the Fishermen’s Fellowship were many, the fish were plentiful, but the fishers were few!

At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus said to two fishermen: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19 NKJV). And then at the end of His earthly life, in Matthew 28, we have what could be described as Jesus’ final will and testament, which is known as the Great Commission. Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18–20).

There are two things from the original language of the Great Commission that we need to remember. First, this was a command. Jesus wasn’t saying, “Hey, if you don’t mind doing me a personal favor, if you get the chance to work it into your busy schedules, please go…” No, Jesus was saying, “You have submitted your life to Me. I am ordering you now to go into all the world.”

Second, these words are given to every follower of Jesus—young and old, men and women, new believers and seasoned believers alike. It is not the Great Suggestion; it is the Great Commission. The commission of the church is not to wait for the world to show up. Rather, the commission of the church is to go to the world. Every follower of Jesus should be engaged in sharing the gospel.

Jesus said that we would be his “witnesses” in a lost world (Acts 1:8). Witnessing for Christ isn’t something that should feel forced, unnatural, or impersonal. It should be as second nature to the Christian as dribbling a basketball was to Michael Jordan. Because witnessing is not just something we do; it is something we are.

Remember that you are a witness as you Abide In Him today!

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