Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Missions

Go and God

Intro:
Question: Of all those who enter the mission field for the first time, what percentage of them do you think will not return after their first term?  -over 40%

Question: What do you think are some of the reasons these first termers never return to the mission field?

1. Inability to maintain a satisfactory devotional life.
2. Unwillingness to submit to the discipline or direction of senior missionaries.
3. Friction between husband and wife to the extent that the effectiveness of the ministry is impaired.
4. Inability to adj to new  setting or to cut homeland ties.
5. Carelessness in the preparation of financial responsib.
6. Single missionaries active sex life
7. Married missionaries getting romantically involved  with other workers of natives when the wife and family is still stateside.
8. Inadequate education/academic training.
9. The sending churches lack of preparation of the first term missionary.
10. The sending churches inability to show the 1st termer a clearly defined philosophy of ministry concerning God and missions.

Exp:  It is the last of these reasons that I want to address this morning. Developing a clearly defined philosophy of God and Missions. In order to do this it is first necessary to define the term, Missions.

   'When Believers see the world with the eyes of God and love the world with the heart of God, they will be moved to declare His glory through the cross cultural communication of the Christian faith to all the nations.'

Trans: With this definition in mind, there are three major truths which form a philosophy of ministry for missions.
The first truth is:

I. God is a missionary God.
    A. Old Testament Example
        1. Creation: God is the personal creator of all  things and all people.  (Gen. 1 & 2)
        2. The Fall: Since the fall of man, God has been working to restore mankind to a right relationship with Himself. (Gen. 3:9)
        3. Abraham: God begins His missionary mandate by claiming for Himself a people, and begins with one man.
             (Gen.12:1-3)
        4. The Prophets: Missionaries, proclaiming  God's call for Israel to return to Him and be His witness to the world.
            (Hab. 2:14;  Isa. 11:9; Isa. 52:10)
        5. The Psalms: God's name is to be declared in all the  earth. To all His creation.  (Ps. 96:3;Ps. 33:8; Ps. 67:1-2)
        6. Individual Missionaries:
           Elisha: ministered to the Shunamite woman (2Kg. 4:8ff) Naaman the Syrian (2 Kg.5)
           Joseph: ministered to the people of Egypt (Gen. 50:20)
           Daniel: ministered to 4 pagan kings  (Daniel)
           Jonah: ministered to Ninevah  (Jonah)

    B. New Testament Example
        1. The Gospels: Jesus came for all people groups
            The Roman Centurion (Lk. 7:1-10)
            The Samaritan Woman (Jn. 4)
            The Canaanite Woman (Mt. 15:21-28)
            The Gadarene Woman (Mt. 8:28-34)
            The Great Commission is recorded in one way or another in all 4 Gospels. (Mt. 28:19; Mk. 16:15; Lk. 24:47;
                                                                                                                              Jn. 20:21)
        2. Acts: Holy Spirit brings power to go out into all the world to preach Christ. (Acts 1:8; Acts 10:35)
        3. Epistles: These were written to young Believers in missions planted churches, often written  by the missionaries
            themselves.

APP: From the flow of both the Old and New Testaments we see God's heart for missions. And you see it's in the very being and character of God that the deepest foundation of a missionary vision is set. You can not think properly of God and not think of missions.

Trans: God did not keep His missionary zeal to Himself. In fact, from the time He chose Abram to be the father of many people, God has revealed His missionary plan and its not complicated. It only has two parts.

II. God has a missionary plan.
    A. God's plan involves blessing His people
        -Gen. 12:2a  'And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your  name great;'
        -God intends to bless the people He has called to Himself. He blessed Abraham and since we are heirs of Abraham
         through Christ, we too are blessed by God.

    B. God's plan involves His people being a blessing to the world.
        -Gen. 12:2b-3: 'And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will
          curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'
       -As Believers in the One True God our lives will touch  those around us with the blessings of God... if we actively pursue
         it.

APP:  Often we look at the 'top line' promise of God's blessing and never look beyond that. We want God's blessing and it's right to want that. But you see we have a responsibility with that 'top line' promise, it is found in the 'bottom line' command. We are blessed to be, or in order that we might be a blessing to the world. Blessing, like spiritual gifts, are given by God to be used for the benefit of others.

 It has been my personal experience that churches who have missions as a primary aspect of who they are known great blessing by God...especially in the area of finances. God keeps giving to those who keep sharing with others. The church that makes God's business their business will soon discover that God is in their midst to make their concerns His concerns.

 But it is also true that many desperately seek and almost demand the promise of God's blessing while at the same time avoid and deny the reality of the command associated with it. We want blessing w/o sacrifice. We want blessing w/o obedience, we want blessing w/o responsibility.

 God has a two fold plan for world missions. He swore an oath on Himself (Gen. 22:16-18) that He would bless His people so that they would be a blessing to the world.

 Are we using the blessings God has given us to further His Gospel? Are we being faithful to His command to be a blessing to the world?

 Corporately, I believe we are doing pretty well in missions. Our Missions Committee is comprised by servants of God who deeply desire to use their missionary zeal to encourage the rest of us to support missions by whatever means we may have. And the fact that missions is over 10% of our total budget shows that we desire to give back to God at least a tithe of the financial blessing He has given to us. And I believe God will continue to bless us for our faithfulness.

 Individually, however, I think there is room for improvement. We are good at missions giving...but poor at missions going. Especially when it comes to going to the Annual Missions Conference. Attendance has been poor and I have been embarrassed for the missionaries who have come to minister to us and for the missions committee who spend hours upon hours planning the event.

 This is the one opportunity a year to focus on and develop spiritual eyes and ears to see what God is doing in the world around us by seeing and hearing the people who are there going with God...in our place. So let me strongly encourage you to attend the Missions Conference this weekend. It is a step toward developing a heart like God's...I think He would like that.

Trans: God is a missionary God and He has a missionary plan...and His plan involves Missionary people.

III. God has a missionary people.
    1 Peter 2:9-10 'But you are a chosen race, a  royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.'

     -We were chosen by God to be priests to the nations. To proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us. To be a blessing to the world around us.

   Acts 1:8 'but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.'

    -Jesus is telling us that He will use us to be His witnesses to all the world of the glory of God. And that the power to be His witnesses comes from His indwelling Holy Spirit in your life, who is the greatest blessing God could ever give to His people.

Matthew 28:19  'Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in  the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,'

    -The command is to make disciples of all nations and is closely related to the bottom line command in Gen. 12 to be a blessing to all nations.

    -Having a heart for missions is not something tacked on to a Believer's life  which he or she may take or leave as they choose. And it is never to be the ministry of just a few in the church who serve on the missions committee.

    -This charge identifies that you were called, believer, for a purpose, a mission if you will. Together with Christ, the Believer accomplishes the divine two fold purpose of God; to be blessed and to be a blessing to the world.

Conclusion

We must not worry that becoming a missions minded church will alienate some in our fellowship with a different agenda.

We need to be actively concerned for the missionaries  we support.

We need to guide the church, through any and all forums, to understanding the Biblical mandate and priority of missions.

We need to lead the church into a proper commitment to the financial support of  missions.

We need to play a key role in educating and motivating the congregation about  missions.

We need to encourage and challenge individual in the church who may be called upon by God to serve on the mission field.

We must be a church who faithfully prepares those it sends out on the mission field.

We must be a church who regularly and specifically prays for it's missionaries , for the missions fields of the world and for
    God's calling on individuals to serve on the mission field.

We must be a church who regularly and sacrificially supports the mission field with it's financial resources.

We must be a church who is willing to learn about the Biblical mandate and priority of missions by attending missions
     educational opportunities. Such as our Annual Missions Conference this Weekend.

We must be a church who is willing to stretch to experience first hand a short term missions experience.

We must be a church who offers hospitality to missionaries on furlough.

         It would seem that since God is a missions active God, His people should be missions active people. If God's heart is to reach the world with the Good News of His Son, Jesus Christ and since He has chosen to use us to accomplish His plan, we must be obedient and follow His command to be His witnesses.

         As Pastor and part of your leadership team, I look forward to developing both the eyes and heart of God to see the need and express the passion of God to you, the missionaries we support and to the world of unbelievers God is waiting to harvest into His kingdom.

         It is my prayer that you too will join me and Go with God in missions.