Blessed Friday. It may feel like the year started just yesterday…but it’s already January 31st. Or maybe it feels like day 62 of December, and you’re still recovering from all the end-of-year events. Today, we want to encourage you to know that you have many, many good things to look forward to because you serve a good, good God. And there’s work—good work—for you to start doing today, right where you are.

In today’s edition:

• How seeking a quiet life fits with disciple-making

• The staggering number of Christians in China

• How Secret Church started…and where it’s going next

🧺 Aspire to live quietly

We’re all feeling it—the general sense of weariness. Of being constantly tired. Given how there’s a constant new thing happening all around us, I’m reminded of the beauty of 1 Thessalonians 4:11:

“Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you.”

There’s nothing wrong—and a lot that’s right—with wanting to wake up in the morning with no stress. We just want food on our tables, healthy children, and for things to be okay. Paul makes it clear—a quiet life is a glorious aspiration.

Quiet days are good, and we should all aspire for days of tranquility. And it’s not just selfishness, but rather, “that [we] may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one” (1 Thessalonians 4:12). A quiet life can and should be a testimony of a holy life before a holy God.

So, how does that fit with the Great Commission? A quiet life doesn’t really sound like making disciples of all nations, does it? Well, it’s right there in 1 Thessalonians 4:11. We just need to read carefully. Not only must we aspire to live quietly…we also need to work with our hands, as instructed. 

A quiet life is not an idle life. It’s not a barn full of crops but a field filled with joyful laborers. Knowing God has purpose in the work of our hands fills our hearts with gladness and our days with pleasure. Our souls find rest in knowing that we’re participants in God's greatest plan, the redemption of the universe, and the reconciliation of mankind. So we don’t need to relax, we need God’s peace. We don’t need to be idle; we need to be filled with God’s Spirit. 

As we pay attention to what we’ve been instructed, we’ll be energized to join in his works in the redemption of mankind. He will put food on the table and guard our children’s bodies as we follow his footsteps. And we’ll feel his peace, even if he has us move halfway around the world.

—Jairo Namnún

🇨🇳 Growth in the midst of persecution

While many of us celebrated the New Year weeks ago, this Wednesday, January 29th was the Chinese New Year. 

As we look past the celebrations, parades, and lanterns that filled the streets, we are reminded of the realities of Christianity in China. 

Around 75 years ago, the Chinese Communist Party rose to power, and soon after, removed all foreign missionaries from its domain, placing restrictions on religious life. The government has kicked out missionaries, arrested believers, and limited access to the Bible. Many Chinese Christians worship in underground churches—also known as house churches.

How to Pray: Despite religious persecution, we can praise God for growth—there are an estimated 100 million Christians in China. Yet there are still so many who have never heard the gospel. We can pray for believers to be equipped, for gospel conversation opportunities, and for more to know and accept the gospel as truth. We can praise God for the house churches that have been established, and pray for the safety of believers as they meet together to worship God.

📖 Why Matthew?

It’s pretty humbling for me to realize that we’re getting ready right now for Secret Church 25. 

When we were planning Secret Church 1 in 2006, we had no idea if anyone would even show up. But we knew we wanted to gather whoever would come for an intensive night in God’s Word and in prayer for the persecuted church around the world. About 1000 people showed up, and most stayed until the end, well after midnight! 

We knew we wanted to do it again and, well, it’s 2025, and Lord willing, tens of thousands of people will gather from places around the world for another Secret Church.

One of the first questions we asked for this 25th Secret Church is, “What do we study?” For many years, we did studies of particular topics or doctrines, and part of me loved how these studies took us all over God’s Word. But over the last couple of years, I’ve gotten pretty hooked on the beauty of simply walking through Bible books in one night. Two years ago was Jonah, then last year was Ruth.

As I prayed about what Bible book might be most fitting for this 25th Secret Church, one quickly rose to the top: The Gospel of Matthew. What better way to spend a night than to literally walk with Jesus from his birth to his death to his resurrection to his commission for you and me to go and make disciples of all the nations!

This, after all, is the heart of Secret Church. But more importantly, it’s the heart of the Christian life. You and I are made to find life in walking with Jesus and making him known in the world. I can’t wait to explore the glory of Jesus on display in this first book in the New Testament.

• To see him introduced as the center of all history and the Savior of all people.

• To meditate on his words in places like the Sermon on the Mount and then marvel at his works as he heals the sick, calms storms, delivers from demons, and raises people from the dead.

• To hear him say to all of us in a weary world, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.”

• To watch him walking on water and inviting his disciples (like you and me!) to join him in doing what is impossible without him.

• To ponder in a new, fresh way the wonder of his death on the cross…and what it would have been like to see him alive three days later.

• To consider how his final words in this book form the basis for what you and I wake up every morning to live for in this world.

I’m getting excited just writing all of this! I’ll stop at this point and simply say that I am praying for all who are a part of this year’s Secret Church. I pray that we will be awed by the portrait of Jesus that Matthew paints under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and that after hours of studying God’s Word and praying for the spread of the gospel around the world, we will be ready with disciples from 2000 years ago to go down a mountain and make Jesus known in our neighborhoods and in all nations.

—David Platt

🇮🇩 How a Protestant megachurch ended up in a majority-Muslim nation 

Indonesia may have one of the largest Muslim populations in the world, but it also has the second-largest number of self-identified Christians in Southeast Asia.

The Details: Just ten minutes away from one of the largest mosques on the planet, a massive church building declares “Soli Deo Gloria” from its rooftop. Literally. The famous Messiah Cathedral in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta displays the Five Solas of the Reformation on each side of the huge structure—in the heart of a country that’s more than 80 percent Muslim.

The Takeaways: While Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim nation, it’s also a religiously diverse country (it was once a Hindu kingdom), and Indonesians in every religious group need to hear the gospel. That’s especially true since nominalism is often high, even among those who identify as Christians.

Pray for gospel workers in Indonesia seeking to bring the good news to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, animists, mystics—and many self-identified Christians who have never heard the gospel at all.

Next steps: Keep your eyes peeled. We’ll talk more about this country soon. 

📍 Attention Worthy

• Secure your spot for Secret Church 25 this April 11th. Get the best available rates through February 25. Invite your friends and family to join (take advantage of bulk discounts for groups!)

• If you consider yourself timid when it comes to sharing the gospel, Mack Stiles has 7 suggestions to help you grow in personal evangelism.

• Depression can be debilitating, even for Christians, making us feel as if we cannot bear to face the future. Ed Welch reminds us to rely on God’s daily provision of grace, which he has given us in Christ. A devotional for depression.

THIS WEEK’S COLLABORATORS:

Jamie Dean, Selah Lipsey, Steven Morales, Jairo Namnún, David Platt, Camille Suazo

MAKE YOUR LIFE COUNT!