Mission-oriented church
Sermon by Ps. Bhanu
The preacher quickly took us through her previous sermon on moving forward in unity which is the New Life Fellowship vision for the church this year. The following are the highlights of that sermon:
- In Joshua 1:1-5, the Lord told Joshua to take the mantle and run the race and also encouraged Joshua with His promises.
- God promised Joshua that no one will be able to stand against him, and God would be with him and never abandon him. God also instructed Joshua to mediate on His law day and night and not to deviate from it.
- God chose Joshua and Caleb; they were different as they had a vision to see that just as God had worked in the past, He would in the present too and take care of Israel; the two moved forward in unity and faith.
- In John 17:20-23, Jesus prayed for unity and oneness of the church. Our unity must be visible to the world. Psalm 133:1 tells us how pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.
- 150,000 people die each day in the world. Have we told them about Jesus? What is our response?
The preacher then said that we as a church can apply these learnings as we too have a been chosen for a mission just like Joshua and Caleb. She quoted David Livingstone, “God had an only Son and He made Him a missionary”. This and other facts in the Bible reveal that missions are at the very heart of God; missions flow from God’s character. God wants the whole world to know Him. He is a loving God (1 John 4:8, John 3:16). He loves every tribe, tongue, and people. His heart beats in the church which is the hope of the world; through us (church) His salvation reaches lost people. We know God’s heart has always been for all people: His covenant with Abraham was to bless all nations through him. Even during His dealing with the Pharaoh in Egypt, God intended to display His glory to all nations.
This loving God, who could have used angels or told His story through the heavens displaying a message worldwide, chose to reach the world through us. He trusted us to share gospel/be missionaries. We don’t need to be experts or trained in a college to participate in missions. Per Matthew 28:19-20, the command to share the gospel is for all who follow Jesus. He has assured that He will be with us. It’s His work; we just have to go in faith. God’s power flowing through us will change the world. As stated in 2 Corinthians 6:2, the time to go out on missions is now. The mission to spread the gospel starts at home with immediate family, then moves out to extended family, closest friends, coworkers/neighbours, state, nation, and finally the world.
Enemies of missions:
- Busyness: We give the excuse of busyness. This is the most obvious and immediate threat. The hectic pace of life makes us physically and spiritually sick. Crazy schedules indicate that the spiritual sickness has already set in. We need the word of God to set us free. It is a sin: Kill it or it will kill you.
- Apathy: We make no time to interact or engage with people who don’t know Christ. We have no non-Christian friends, and barely any ties. Lost people are a low priority.
- Fear: We fear about what people will think of us if we share the gospel. We’re paralysed by the thought of being hated and disliked.
- Lack of compassion: We have long forgotten what it was to live without hope, and being lost and apart from Christ. We don’t consider the eternal punishment the people who don’t follow Christ will face (2 Thessalonians 1:9) and don’t care much. We rarely cry out to God for the salvation of our lost neighbours.
The preacher said the best remedy for a sick church is to put it on a missionary diet. We did that for a month and we need people who will stand by leaders like the people who supported Moses when he couldn’t keep his arms raised for long. Each of us has a role to play in the church family.
How to overcome the challenges to mission-oriented mindset:
- Pray for the lost: Let’s come together to pray as a church. We must pray for the lost, in addition to other needs. Are we gathering regularly? The Acts 4:23-31 church prayed for boldness to speak. If the early church needed to do that, how much more do we need the same prayer.
- Recall the gospel together: If Timothy, a faithful servant, needed to be reminded of the gospel (2 Timothy 2:8-13), how much more do we! We need to re-preach the gospel to ourselves to equip us to speak it to others.
Conclusion
Our purpose is to join missions. If we just live and die, we are like all others humans. We don’t have to be theologians; we share the truth about God and it will set the people free. The Holy Spirit works in their hearts.
Missions are a measure of our spiritual maturity and we are ambassadors for Christ to represent to others our real home in heaven. Let us surrender our time, talent, and treasure to Him today so that He can use us for His kingdom’s sake.
God’s ultimate plan is revealed in Revelation 7:9: One day we’ll stand before God, praising His name with all the nations. What a privilege it will be to know that each of us played a small role in hearing His name exalted in new languages, and by various tribes and peoples.
The harvest is plentiful but labourers are few. Are we available to be used by God as a trophy or as a tool? Can we say: “Lord, here i am”? We don’t have to be special but have to be available.