♪A Note of Thanks ♪


“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers; Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed Him.” Matthew 4: 18-20

Our dear missionary friends Sanan (Rogers) and David Brazzeal heeded the call of God. They met while at Samford University. Following college they went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. They have served in Brazil, on an island in the French speaking Caribbean and now after more than ten years in Montreal, Quebec, ministering and reaching others for Christ in an urban setting. Now, they have been asked by the International Mission Board (IMB) to go a Paris, France. If everything goes as scheduled they will be settled in France by the end of the year. They have heeded the call of God and continue to spend time discerning His will. This is a giant step of faith to move from North America to Europe.

Sanan and David are much like those first disciples who heard Jesus’ call along the sea shore where they were working and who got up and followed Him. They didn’t have all of the answers. They followed Jesus not knowing what the future might hold, but knowing that they were held by the love of God when they were in Jesus’ presence.

I wonder if you have considered that God calls all of us to service in Jesus’ name. You see, I believe that God wants each of us to use the gifts we have been given to live lives of hope and possibility. Heeding the call of God doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be called to go to seminary or a foreign land. In fact, that is not the call that God makes to most people. Still, I think God wants to call you to something greater than yourself. Are you listening?

The Bible is full of stories of God calling faithful people to do His work in the world. God called Abram and Sarah to leave their home and travel to a far away country. God called Elijah to go to Zarephath where he encountered a widow and her son, and Elijah cared for them. God called the disciples to follow Jesus, and they changed the world.

Are you listening for the call and claim of God for your life? Like our friends, discerning that call may take months of prayer, study, self-examination and listening. It is a worthy journey. It is worthy of your best efforts. I invite you to begin today. God has something to say to you. Are you listening?

Holy One, You are always more ready to speak than I am to hear. Open my mind and heart through the power of Your Holy Spirit that I might hear you call and with courage respond, “Hear I am, send me.” In His Holy Name. Amen.

With a grateful heart for serving alongside you,

I am….
Your friend,

Mark David Jackson