Missions
Content
David Swanson September 27, 2011 Acts Unit 2 Issue 2
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Missions: Of the Church by the Church for the Gospel
Missions is a term that is commonly used in Christian circles, from missionaries to mission trips and even mission agencies or boards. Let’s look at what missions is, what missions is not, and why the local church should play the leading role in the missionary enterprise. What is missions? The term mission is defined as a specific task assigned for a group to complete. We then as a people on a mission must determine what this specific task we have been assigned is. We receive our task in Matthew 28 where Christ commands His disciples to, “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Making Disciples first requires the proclamation of the Gospel, the Apostles “never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” Because of this missions cannot be completed without the proclamation of the Gospel. So we as Christians are given the assignment to go and make disciples, by proclaiming the Gospel, but does it end there? We are given the account of the establishment of the church and the carrying out of the Great Commission by the Apostles in the book of Acts. We see in the book of Acts, the Apostles making disciples and gathering those disciples into local bodies, where they “were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but the shared everything they had.” (Acts 4:32) Later in Acts we see the Apostle Paul the “expert builder” develop a method to his making of disciples, by establishing churches, appointing elders, and strengthening them. Consequently, we as Christians are given an assignment, making disciples, and a method, planting churches. So, missions is the making of disciples through Gospel proclamation and Church Planting. Now that we have seen what missions is, let us look at what missions is not. Missions is not just going and meeting peoples physical needs, building a building or providing clothes or clean water. These tasks are very important however, but as we will see later should be accomplished through the local church not just a humanitarian group. Missions is not only a foreign assignment, we as a local church are to be on mission everyday of our lives, not only when we are on a “missions trip” or “in church.” So often missions has been professionalized that in order to be a “missionary” one must hold a college degree. So missions is not only foreign, nor is it a humanitarian endeavor. Finally, we see that the local church must play the leading role in the missionary enterprise. The local church is the catalyst through which the great commission is to be carried out. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 3:10-11 that, “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We are given the model in the book of Acts for the local church and missions, in the book of Acts where we see churches planted and then these churches multiply themselves through
being on mission. Whether that mission is sending teams to a unreached people group or being on mission in their city. So the Great Commission was carried out in the book of Acts through the multiplication of local churches. Therefore the model we are to carry out missions through and to build Christ’s church is through the multiplication of local bodies. In conclusion, missions is the making of disciples through Gospel Proclamation and Church Planting, and the local church must play the leading role in sending mission teams and being on mission everyday.
!
Missions: Of the Church by the Church for the Gospel
Missions is a term that is commonly used in Christian circles, from missionaries to mission trips and even mission agencies or boards. Let’s look at what missions is, what missions is not, and why the local church should play the leading role in the missionary enterprise. What is missions? The term mission is defined as a specific task assigned for a group to complete. We then as a people on a mission must determine what this specific task we have been assigned is. We receive our task in Matthew 28 where Christ commands His disciples to, “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Making Disciples first requires the proclamation of the Gospel, the Apostles “never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” Because of this missions cannot be completed without the proclamation of the Gospel. So we as Christians are given the assignment to go and make disciples, by proclaiming the Gospel, but does it end there? We are given the account of the establishment of the church and the carrying out of the Great Commission by the Apostles in the book of Acts. We see in the book of Acts, the Apostles making disciples and gathering those disciples into local bodies, where they “were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but the shared everything they had.” (Acts 4:32) Later in Acts we see the Apostle Paul the “expert builder” develop a method to his making of disciples, by establishing churches, appointing elders, and strengthening them. Consequently, we as Christians are given an assignment, making disciples, and a method, planting churches. So, missions is the making of disciples through Gospel proclamation and Church Planting. Now that we have seen what missions is, let us look at what missions is not. Missions is not just going and meeting peoples physical needs, building a building or providing clothes or clean water. These tasks are very important however, but as we will see later should be accomplished through the local church not just a humanitarian group. Missions is not only a foreign assignment, we as a local church are to be on mission everyday of our lives, not only when we are on a “missions trip” or “in church.” So often missions has been professionalized that in order to be a “missionary” one must hold a college degree. So missions is not only foreign, nor is it a humanitarian endeavor. Finally, we see that the local church must play the leading role in the missionary enterprise. The local church is the catalyst through which the great commission is to be carried out. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 3:10-11 that, “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We are given the model in the book of Acts for the local church and missions, in the book of Acts where we see churches planted and then these churches multiply themselves through
being on mission. Whether that mission is sending teams to a unreached people group or being on mission in their city. So the Great Commission was carried out in the book of Acts through the multiplication of local churches. Therefore the model we are to carry out missions through and to build Christ’s church is through the multiplication of local bodies. In conclusion, missions is the making of disciples through Gospel Proclamation and Church Planting, and the local church must play the leading role in sending mission teams and being on mission everyday.
