Missions: a Life of Service
By Dr. Jeff Marx – Head of School
Missions: a Life of Service
March 6, 2024
Inspiring our students (and our entire community) to live a life of service has been on my mind and in my prayers on the eve of our first full GO Week at Hill Country Christian School.
During GO Week (March 16-23), our middle and high school students will serve others from many different walks of life. Sherri and I will travel with many of our students to the Dominican Republic, while others go to Florida and South Texas to serve and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Most of our 8th graders will travel to Washington, D.C., while many others remain here to serve in the Austin area.
As I pray and prepare, both corporately and personally for this trip, I am reminded of the Great Commission, in which Jesus uses His final words on earth to command His followers to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:18-20).
With even greater clarity, I recall Luke’s words in Acts 1:8 as a descriptive equivalent of the Great Commission, “But, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the world” (The Holy Bible, new international version, 1984).
I envision Acts 1:8 as a target with concentric rings, telling us how Christianity will spread: first in Jerusalem; then to Judea, which at the time of Christ was the region around Jerusalem; and then to Samaria, the region adjacent to Judea; then to the ends of the world.
Applying this passage to believers in Austin, Texas, in 2024, one might say, “You will be my witnesses in the Austin area, in all of Texas, in other states, and to the ends of the world.”
Think of reaching people in Austin as a target’s bullseye. The first concentric circle around the bullseye corresponds to reaching the entire state of Texas. The second concentric circle on our target represents reaching people in states outside of Texas, and the outer circle represents all people outside the United States.
I’m excited that HillCo students will hit every part of this Acts 1:8 target during GO Week! We’ll serve in Austin, South Texas, Florida, Washington, D.C., and the Dominican Republic. It will be edifying to see the GO Week program bloom as the manifestation of our missional imperative to “inspire service.”
Please pray for us (faculty, staff, students, and parents) as we prepare to go on this mission. Pray that the Lord would draw us all nearer (Psalm 145:18) and that others might find Him through our obedient service.
In Christ,
Dr. Jeff Marx, Head of School