In the Great Commission, Jesus told His followers to be His witnesses, beginning in Jerusalem. 

Wherever we are, we have a “Jerusalem,” a home base that is also a mission field.  Our Jerusalem is the surrounding community where we live, work, shop, play, and go to school.  It is the first place we go when we step out the door of our church.  Some churches have a sign at their exit that says, “You are now entering your mission field.”

Our Jerusalem includes the people we drive by on our way to and from worship.  It includes the people who live next door to us, the ones who go to school with us, the ones who work beside us.

Our Jerusalem is our closest mission field and the easiest to reach.  We are already here.

But our Jerusalem requires as much intentionality as any of the other mission fields.  We must recognize our Jerusalem as a mission field, we must recognize ourselves as missionaries assigned to it, and we must take action to be missionaries in the mission field of our own Jerusalem.

Acts 3:1-8 tells the story of Peter and John doing mission work in their own Jerusalem. They were on their way to a worship service in the temple courts when they passed by someone who needed a witness from them.

The man was right there at the door of the temple.  They stopped where the man was begging for alms, asking for money in order to survive another day.  They listened to his cries for help.

Peter told the man to look at them.  The crippled beggar was not in the habit of looking at the faces of those who passed by.  He didn’t want to see their scornful or pitiful expressions.  He just held out his cup and hoped for some help.  But Peter and John told him to look at them, so he did.  He gave them his attention, thinking that these two men were about to give him some money.

Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold, but what I do have I’m going to give you.”  Then he told the man to get up and walk, healing him in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Peter and John, on their way to church, saw a man in need.  They didn’t have what he asked for, but they gave the man what they had. 

Once helped up to his feet, the man realized his feet and ankles were strong and he started putting them to good use–not only walking, but jumping and praising God.  And he went with Peter and John into the temple courts where the rest of the church was waiting, and together they all praised God–Peter, John, the church, and the man who had been healed.

That’s what ought to happen when we reach out and minister to someone in our community.  We ought to bring them to church with us so everybody can see what God has done, and so the person who was helped can join us in praising God.  They need to know that they should be thanking God–not us–for what has happened in their lives.  And then God will get the glory for all the ministry we do in our Jerusalem.