Byron Pitts

Mandate

Re:Verse passage – Romans 9:30-33 (day three)

The Mandate: An authoritative commission—traced from the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12) through the Great Commission—directing every believer and the global church to be a vehicle of blessing to unreached peoples. (From Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, next class this Spring 2027)

Romans 9:30–33 frames this mandate around faith: the Gentiles received righteousness by faith, while Israel stumbled by pursuing righteousness through works. This contrast shows that participation in God’s mission rests not on heritage or achievement, but on faith in Christ, the cornerstone.

God’s mission has never changed. Often referred to as Missio Dei, it remains constant throughout history: proclaiming the gospel, making disciples, and redeeming humanity. From our limited place in the timeline, we may think mistakes were made, but God knew everything before time began. He always intended to save the world through His Messiah and establish His kingdom, though not in the way Israel’s leaders expected. God first chose Israel as His own possession; now, the rest of us are also chosen in Christ. Israel’s stumbling and downfall were prophesied and formed part of God’s plan. As a result, the rest of the world is invited to become part of God’s family through faith alone, by grace alone, and in Christ’s righteousness alone.

Jesus came to His own, and His own did not receive Him (John 1:11). In John 1:14, scholars note that Jesus became flesh and “tabernacled” among us. He is the new temple—not built by human hands, but made of living stones and founded on Christ, the Rock. Something greater than the temple in Jerusalem is here. Before Christ, people could enter the Most Holy Place only through an intermediary, and even then only once a year. To worship the God of all creation, the nations had to travel to Jerusalem. After Christ, however, the presence of the Most Holy One dwells within those who profess faith in Jesus and are born again. The nations no longer have to come to Jerusalem; instead, God’s people carry His Spirit wherever they go. His mission crosses borders and multiplies through His people. We are little tabernacles carrying God’s glory everywhere. Do you see what the Chief Cornerstone has built? It is a beautiful church that even the gates of hell cannot prevail against. Go into all the world and make disciples. That is what the church was built to do.

Bags Fly Free

Re:Verse passage – Luke 6:12–16; 8:1; 9:1–6; 10:1–17 (day four)

“Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.”

– Luke 10:3-4

Do we think we are smarter than Jesus? We act like it when it comes to planning mission work. The Master says, “take no bag” and yet we try to figure out how to crate and ship the entire house from Texas to Timbuktu. Even on short-term mission trips we spend a lot of money for extra bags and pay overweight fees. Jesus has wisdom that we do not often practice here in the West. What He is saying is that “God will supply all your needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19). Jesus is also saying that if you Go; if you obey His command to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), even to the ones that are wolves (Luke 10:3) and will devour you, then you will be forced to depend upon God’s providence through the hospitality of strangers. No hotel booked. No baggage fees. You don’t even know where or how you will eat. This is what is expected of you. Look back at the words of Christ just before our ReVerse: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). Let’s take a mission trip exactly like Jesus directs us to – what do you say – who’s with me?!

The success of a mission is not measured by how much money we spend or by how many resources we have. We are not able to plan every detail and cannot know every circumstance. What Jesus expects of you and me is to first, Go, simply because He commands it. Next, He expects us to be bold and trust in His protection as the Good Shepherd. I don’t mean that no harm will come to you. Often sheep are attacked before being rescued from the mouths of wolves. Jesus also expects us to trust Him and not be concerned about how the mission will happen without a wallet, bag, or extra clothes. He gives the location, the task, and the instructions. We need to follow those like a good soldier. Lastly, He does not want us distracted from the mission. This happens when we do not stay focused and start to see other priorities as more important. If God’s mission takes a back seat to your life or mine, then we are “greeting people along the way” and have forgotten that the goal was to preach the Gospel and heal the sick in the next town. Where have you been sidetracked in life and how can you refocus on the mission of reaching the lost for Jesus?

Authorized

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 28:16-20 (day five)

The interesting thing about God’s sovereignty is that we often attribute His work to happenstance, when all along He planned things to unfold that way. When I was evangelizing alongside Mike Gahan years ago, we called coincidences “God-cidences” and said that God was simply choosing to stay anonymous. I would add that He only stays anonymous if we fail to speak up and give Him glory.

I think God waits for us to acknowledge Him in situations we assume were under our control or merely happened by “chance.” Even the “God-cidence” of being asked to write this blog post this week, and how the leadership “chose” this curriculum, is not without God’s hand upon it. Especially after “I chose” this past Sunday to be Missions Sunday! Do you see?

Can you trust God’s sovereignty and see Him at work everywhere and all the time? Or do you still claim authority and control over your day-to-day life?

Jesus the Messiah has ALL AUTHORITY in heaven and on earth (Matt 28:18). You do not. You can pretend to be the king of your universe and make decisions, but God directs your steps. You can sin, disobey His commands, and refuse to bow the knee to His rule and reign, but He is still King. There is no one who can challenge His authority, and there is no other name under heaven by which mankind must be saved (Acts 4:12).

“The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in His hands” (Jn. 3:35). “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9–11).

Missionary work is about going in this Christ-given authority to make disciples of people and cultures that deny the authority of King Jesus. We begin by proclaiming the truth of who He is and their need to surrender to Him. This is why we are called ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20). People must be reconciled to God and made into new creations who are spiritually able to bow the knee in worship to the King as adopted sons and daughters. Eventually everyone will be forced to. A missionary seeks to make worshippers of God’s enemies and see them born again before the Judgment. There’s an urgency to the mission of God.

How do you live your life? How do you make your decisions? I say “your,” but I hope you realize that your life is not your own. “You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies” (1 Cor. 6:19–20). Go through the Great Commission and ask yourself: “Would I say Yes to all that Jesus commanded?”

Live this new life God has given you on your knees before Him. Obey the command to go and make disciples. Do not make excuses. Delayed obedience is still disobedience. God wants your whole heart. In fact, He demands it.

HE IS KING.

Will you live like it?

Thunder

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 93:1-5 (day four)

When I read verse 4, “Mightier than the thunder of the great waters…” (NIV), my mind immediately goes to John 12. Jesus says, beginning in verse 27:

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

This Psalm feels like the Father speaking to the Son for everyone’s benefit. Yahweh effortlessly glorifies Himself through the mighty sea and the awesome weather around us. All creation sounds out praise. Even when those made in His image choose to glorify themselves, He is no less praised or glorified, because He needs nothing. He is completely self-sufficient and independent. “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” What a mighty God we serve!

After the Father’s voice thundered from heaven, Jesus said:

“This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:30–32).

This is how the Father is glorified. Jesus came to glorify the Father. The Holy Spirit glorifies the Son by revealing and reminding us of what Jesus wants us to know (John 16:14). And we glorify the Father by bearing much fruit, showing ourselves to be Jesus’ disciples (John 15:8).

Let’s join with all creation in bringing Him glory!

Exalt

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 46:1-11 (day four)

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (NIV)

I am delighted to write about this Psalm! Psalm 46:10 is often reduced to the phrase, “Be still, and know that I am God,” as if it were merely a call to peace and quiet. But the rest of the verse reveals God’s greater purpose: His name will be exalted among the nations and throughout all the earth. To exalt God among the nations is to know Him and make Him known.

Do we truly know the Lord? Have we sat at His feet, learned His ways, and seen His unchanging character in a fallen world? To “know” God is not merely intellectual—it is to encounter a holy God. Scripture reminds us that holiness matters. God told Moses, “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground” (Exodus 3). Likewise, Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me!” when he stood before the Lord’s holiness (Isaiah 6:5).

We often approach God too casually, forgetting that we stand before the Creator of all things. We are called to “be still” because we are humbled before His majesty, aware of our sinfulness and His glory.

To exalt God among the nations, we must first surrender to Him ourselves. We cannot fulfill the Great Commission or faithfully witness to the world if we neglect repentance, holiness, and worship. God is worthy of praise in all the earth. Will you bow before Him, fight sin, pursue holiness, and make His name known among the nations?

Walk

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 119:1–16 (day seven)

Verse 1 & 3: Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! …who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!

Enoch and Noah walked with God and also Abraham was commanded to walk in God’s ways. We as believers can choose to walk in darkness or walk in the light (see 1 Jn 1:5–7): 5 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Our “Christian walk” as it is called, has everything to do with a right-standing before a Holy God. Do you know anyone who walked with God so closely that “he was no more, for the Lord took Him” like it was with Enoch? It seems that we in these modern times are hardly walking. Rather, I think we are stumbling or crawling. The grace of God must be carrying us and we have not yet learned to walk with God at all! I often read about saints of old and missionaries that gave their lives and I want to emulate their faithfulness and devotion. It is easy to become discouraged instead of encouraged when we compare ourselves with the heroes of the faith. We misunderstand the finished work that Christ has accomplished and mistakenly believe that we still need to contribute something.

Earlier in my life, I became familiar with an author, Watchman Nee, who in one of his books entitled: “Sit, Walk, Stand”, examines the book of Ephesians and instructs the believer in the proper order of spiritual things. There is a comparison with natural things and he makes the logical connection that, one cannot walk before he first sits and learns how. In the Christian life we must learn to walk in God’s ways. To do that we must be made to sit at the feet of the Master. The book of Ephesians mentions “walking” 8 times. The verses in the beginning of the book instruct us that we are made to first “sit with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6).” Here is a quote from the second chapter of his book,

“We have sought to make it clear that Christian experience does not begin with walking, but with sitting. Every time we reverse the divine order, the result is disaster. The Lord Jesus has done everything for us, and our need now is to rest confidently in Him. He is seated on the throne, so we are carried through in His strength. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that all true spiritual experience begins from rest.
But it does not end there. Though the Christian life begins with sitting, sitting is always followed by walking. When once we have been well and truly seated and have found our strength in sitting down, then we do in fact begin to walk. Sitting describes our position with Christ in the heavenlies. Walking is the practical outworking of that heavenly position here on earth.”

“Christ-in-us” is the message of the New Testament, but especially Ephesians and Colossians. Our relationship with the Lord is based on a New Covenant which isn’t based upon our ability to obey the Law. Thank you Jesus we can be made righteous, faithful, and blameless based upon the covenant-keeping Savior who finished the work of atonement on the cross and now sits at the right hand of the Most High “reminding” His Father of how He has perfectly “walked on our behalf.” Jesus walked blamelessly and now we who have trusted in Him can also be blameless before a Holy God. We have done no wrong in God’s eyes because Jesus Christ lives in us. Jesus perfectly obeyed the Law of the Lord and so have all those In-Christ who are children born of His Spirit.

Keep walking in His ways.

Byron Pitts, Minister of Missions and Evangelism

P.S. – if anyone wants to go witnessing downtown after church. Meet me in the Great Hall at 12:35.

Living for “Well Done”

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 25:14–30 (day five)

“Well done, good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:23)

Those are the words every believer longs to hear from Jesus.

In the Gospel of Matthew 24–25, Jesus teaches about His return. Instead of giving dates, He gives parables. The message is clear: live ready. Live faithful.

In the Parable of the Talents, the master entrusts his servants with resources and then departs. When he returns, he looks for faithfulness. The issue isn’t how much they were given—it’s what they did with it.

This parable isn’t ultimately about productivity. It’s about love. The faithful servants trusted and loved their master. The unfaithful servant withdrew in fear and did nothing.

We don’t serve out of guilt. Guilt is not the voice of the Spirit. We serve out of joy. Jesus invites us into His work—sowing, reaping, praying for laborers—because “the harvest is plentiful” (Matthew 9:37–38).

And we don’t do this alone. The Kingdom is a community project. We labor side by side, strengthening one another as we finish the mission God has entrusted to us.

Jesus has gone away.

He will return.

May we be found faithful.

Get To Work

Re:Verse passage – 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, Romans 12:4-8 (day four)

“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them…” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭6‬a NKJV‬‬

What are the spiritual gifts that God has entrusted for you to use in the Kingdom, and how are you using them?

If you don’t know the answer to this question, please, I beg you, come see me, call me, don’t let another day go by until you know your gifts and how God wants you to use them! This is what leaders in the church are supposed to do. We are supposed to help you discern where you “fit” into the Body of Christ. Everyone has a job to do in the “diversity of activities” (1 Cor. 12:6) and you can’t say you are not needed or that you aren’t able. We all have “the same God who works all-in-all.”

I like the way the NLT phrases this part:

“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.” ‭‭1 Cor.‬ ‭12‬:‭4‬-‭6‬ NLT‬‬

God does the work of preparing, equipping, and providing you with the grace needed for His Purposes.

Don’t forget: the Church’s entire reason for existence is to proclaim the Glory of God by reaching a lost world for Christ. Jesus’ post-resurrection teaching (Luke 24:44–49) shows that three events “must” happen according to Scripture:

The Messiah would suffer
He would rise from the dead
Repentance and forgiveness would be proclaimed to all nations

The first two are often emphasized in churches; the third—mission—is frequently treated as optional. Yet Jesus presents mission as essential and unfinished.

If you are wondering what service you can offer a big church like FBCSA, then look no further. Look at how the Missions department needs your gifts, experience, and wisdom for serving behind-the-scenes.

There are a Total of 50 Positions:

Positions Needed on Each Team
• Domestic Missions: 4 of 6 still needed
• International Missions: 4 of 6 still needed
• Communications: 6 of 7 still needed
• Mobilization: 7 of 8 still needed
• Prayer: 4 of 9 still needed
• Special Projects: 2 of 3 still needed
• Training & Development: 9 of 10 still needed

Let’s get to work!

Understanding God’s Will

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 5:15–17 (day five)

This is a good passage to help us examine our understanding of God and the motivation of our heart. If we believe God has a different “will” for each of us, then we endlessly seek after a mysterious plan that we often are unsure of. We must discern WHO Yahweh is. His Sovereign Will is evident in His CHARACTER and His MISSION.

The Most High God is a MISSIONARY God. God is a Holy, Just, and Omnipotent God. We would do well to study the characteristics of our Creator. From Scripture we learn that everything He does is to accomplish the following:

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us— so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.”
Psalms 67:1-4

God’s Mission is to:

Make His ways (and Name) known on earth
His salvation among all nations (peoples)
Have all the peoples praise Him

This is phrased a different way in the first chapter of Malachi:

“‘My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,’” says the Lord Almighty.”
Malachi 1:11

Yahweh’s will is that His Name would be great among the peoples of the world and they would bring Him the offerings He deserves.

This is how we live and walk wisely. We understand that ALL of us who call upon the name of Jesus are a part of God’s Mission. This means you should use your resources to seek first God’s Kingdom and His Righteousness. We are unwise when we think our money, time, and resources are personal for our own personal kingdoms. If we are not investing in the work of reaching a world who has never heard of God’s salvation through Jesus, then we are not making the most of every opportunity. The days are short and evil. Jesus is coming again soon. Will you be about the Father’s business or will you be found unfaithful to His Mission?

Glorified

Re:Verse passage – Romans 8:28-30 (day four)

I’ve been studying 2 Corinthians chapters 3 & 4 today and now I’m connecting it to Romans 8:30, “and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified”, and I’m reminded of our glorious purpose. We have this wonderful ministry of displaying the glory of Christ to the world.

There’s an amazing transformation in our Christian journey where “we behold the glory of God with unveiled face” and we are increasingly glorified and changed into the image of Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18). During this process, the Imago Dei inside us becomes completely clear and visible for all to see. The passage in 2 Cor. chapter 4 calls it, “the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (v4)” which is shining into our hearts and gives us “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (v6).”

We are meant to reflect the glory of Christ Jesus. If we aren’t doing that, then we must repent and rely upon the Father God’s providence and control, be still and know He is God, listen for His voice, pray for Him to confirm our calling and election, return to the cross to be assured of Jesus’ blood for justification, and He will complete the work of glorification in our lives. Keep shining church! Remember your purpose!

Happy Independence Day!