He will Save His People From Their Sins

 

Jesus was born in these barren hills surrounding Bethlehem two thousand years ago. He is still here today, leading and guiding his church.

In his work as Director of Resonate, Zach encounters both the joys and struggles of mission. Recently, he participated in the commissioning of the CRC’s first missionary to a particular Muslim country [name withheld] where Christians are only few percent of the population and the government tightly restricts religious activity. While church planting in North America has slowed because of COVID, many new church plants have been initiated among Hispanic groups throughout the US (view story). One Resonate-supported Hispanic church planter in Ontario has transitioned successfully to a fully on-line ministry. He and his family live-stream worship and bible studies to neighbors down the street and acquaintances across Latin America. Despite all these signs of hope, many of our ministries face intractable challenges. As we enter year-three of the global pandemic, the new Omicron variant has again disrupted plans. Many authoritarian governments are using the pandemic as a pretext to block indigenous and expatriate mission workers from ministry. The situation is not unlike the one in which Jesus was born two thousand years ago. As Israel languished under the rule of Rome, the Jewish people cried out for the long-prophesied coming of the Messiah, the son of David, to liberate them. In the fullness of time, an angel delivered a message to an obscure Jewish couple that the Holy Spirit had entrusted them with a child whom they would name Jesus, because “he will save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). This Messiah is present in our suffering world today. He inhabits the hearts of believers of every race, tribe, language and nation. He will save his people from their sins.