A spirit of worship, power, and missions seems to have characterized the celtic Christian era. This same spirit was also the driving force behind the student volunteer movement of the late 1800's. One of the influential leaders of this movment was A.T. Pierson, an American Presbyterian pastor who served in various urban churches in the U.S. and elsewhere, perhaps most famously in London as Spurgeon’s successor at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. As one of the leading voices behind this missions movement, Pierson believed that the great commission could be accomplished in his generation. That is, he believed the world could be reached in 20 years—dependent upon one factor—POWER!
Pierson wrote,“To do this work in 20 years, we must get more Gospel, more vitality…The church has money, brains, organizations, rivers of prayer and oceans of sermons, but she lacks in POWER.”
He also wrote: “If missions languish, it is because the whole life of godliness is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is not obeyed until the will is lost by self-surrender in the will of God. Living, praying, giving and going will always be found together.”
As we read Scripture, we find that real missions follows real worship. Let me put it this way, if what we are doing in our private and corporate worship is really seeking a rekindling of our passion for the glory of God then what we should expect is power for missions. Being with God is both dangerous and exciting!
