20240414 Our Philosophy of Missions

Introduction

This is a topical message on Christian missions. My goal is that we would be confident about what the Bible teaches about Christian missions and excited that we have a role to play in God's mission, as a church and individuals.

Biblical Context for Christian Missions

The following three texts help to put Christian missions in their Biblical Context. These are Genesis 1, Isaiah 66, and Matthew 28. Genesis 1 reveals God’s will for the world. Isaiah 66 shows where all of history is going. Matthew 28 teaches us how to live in between.

Genesis 1 reveals God's plan for the earth. God made man in his image and he commands them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and have dominion.” This is my paraphrase, “As my image-bearers, you are my physical representation on earth. Rule as I rule. As you multiply, fill, and rule the earth, you extend my rule, you increase my worship, and you fill the earth with my glory.” Genesis 1 reveals God’s will.

Isaiah 66:22-23 reveals where history is going. We read, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, … 23  … from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD.” Genesis 1 and Isaiah 66 reveal God's plan for an earth full of humans who worship him.

Today, the church is between the original command and its fulfillment. Humanity has multiplied and filled the earth. However, the world is marked by sin. Humanity’s dominion does not reflect God’s truth, justice, goodness, mercy, and love. Jesus commissions the church to fulfill the command of Genesis 1. In Matthew 28:19-20 he says, “Make Disciples of all nations.” This is the Christian version of Genesis 1:28. Be fruitful and multiply by making disciples to fill the world with God-worshippers!

Definition of Christian Missions

That was the context for Christian missions this is a definition. Christian missions seek the numerical growth of God's global church. Missions is obeying God in proclaiming the gospel to see Him grow his church. This is how people become Christians. Sin is humanity’s big problem. Our sins make us liable to judgment. The Christian good news is that God has made a way for sinners in Christ to experience the forgiveness of sins and so be saved from God’s coming judgment. The storyline of the Bible and specific texts teach us that God wants more people to experience salvation from his judgment against sin. Christian missions spread the good news of Jesus that more would believe, turn from sin, and enjoy eternal life. The goal of Christian Missions is to see the numerical growth of God's global church.

Outline

With the context and a definition of Christian missions, we look at how as a church and individuals we can be involved in missions. First, we will study Missions with Ac 2:41-47 and Ac 14:21-23. Second, we will look at the role of mercy ministries. Third, we will end with lots of applications and ways to get involved.

First, we will study Acts 2:41-47, 14:21-23 to understand Biblical Missions.

Acts 2:41-47

With Acts 2:41-47, our first text we see that counterintuitively, to reach the world, we need to focus inwardly.

Acts 2:47 concludes this summary of simple church activities with "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” My thesis is that if we practice the activities of Acts 2:41-46, we become a missions organization. We can trust that God in his timing will grow his church.

These are the simple practices of Acts 2:41-46. The first element is baptism. Acts 2:41 reads, “Those who received his word were baptized …”.  The second element is devotion to the apostles' teaching in Ac 2:42. The third element is "devotion to the fellowship" in Ac 2:42. Acts 2:44-45, describes the love and sacrificial care that Christians had for one another. They were selling belongings and meeting the needs of those in the church community. Their devotion to the fellowship also works itself out through hospitality. Acts 2:46 reads "And day by day, breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.” The fourth element is "the breaking of the bread.” This is a specific phrase that refers to the Lord’s Supper. The fifth element is prayer (Ac 2:42). A sixth element is awe and praise. In the text, it is more of a result of seeing God work in the community.

From a missions perspective, Acts 2:41-47 teaches that The Lord saves people through the simple ministries of a local church. The church was devoted to God and one another. Then, according to Acts 2:47, the church found favor with outsiders, and the Lord added to their number. This is not a magical formula but a general principle for Christian missions. The church grows through simple ministries.

These ministries are simple but not easy. They are simple because they do not require fancy equipment, human ingenuity, or lots of money. Everyone can do it. Simple does not mean easy. It is hard because we need to devote our whole lives to missions. It is hard to devote ourselves to Scripture in a world of entertainment and demanding schedules. Developing intimate friendships where we know each other has become counter-cultural. Knowing someone enough to know and meet their needs takes work. Going from house to house for meals demands time, energy, and humility. The Western Church needs to relearn to slow down, put our phones away, and enjoy being the church. When the church is devoted to God’s Word, prayer, the sacraments, and to one another, the Lord adds to the church.

Application

Acts 2:41-47 is a template for church and Christian missions. Luke includes summaries of church life in Acts. They are part of his strategy to teach the church how to operate. If a church practices Acts 2:41-47, it is a missions organization or an evangelistic society!

Acts 2:41-47 is the text behind the ministries at Hope. I will examine our worship services and our community groups. I could also talk about the youth group, women's ministry, pub theology, and hosting, but I will focus on Sunday worship and community groups.

First, our worship services are mission-minded and evangelistic. We try for our worship services to be gospel-shaped, gospel-focused, and gospel-saturated. The announcement of the gospel, Glorifies God, edifies the saints, and it is God’s power of salvation for those who do not believe. We try to be devoted to God, his word, the sacraments, and prayer.

Our community groups are also Christian missions. We hope they will be environments in which we will feel free to invite unbelievers. The goal is that they would witness the power of the gospel in a transformed community. This happens when we eat together, care for each other, pray, and study the Bible together, and grow in Christ together. This is how as a church we focus inwardly to reach the world. We are devoted to God and one another.

Acts 14:21-23

Now, with Acts 14:21-23, we see the outward focus of missions. Acts 14:21-23 summarize Paul’s first missionary journey. We read, “21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, …. 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” This text summarizes missions as: making converts, strengthening them, and appointing elders which could be another way of saying, planting churches.

Implications

Acts 2:41-47 focuses inwardly on church health for church growth. In Acts 14:21-23, Paul is starting new Acts 2:41-47 communities around the world. We could summarize missions as worldwide healthy church development. We want to see health in our church and support the health of other churches. We want to see new healthy churches starting and want to support churches that are hurting. This can include supporting persecuted churches or those hit by natural disasters, famine, or war. In Acts 11, the church in Jerusalem hears of a young church in Antioch. To strengthen it they send Barnabas. By the end of Acts 11, it is the church in Antioch that is supporting the church in Jerusalem because of a famine.

The goal of missions is to see the numerical growth of God's global church. It happens when the church is devoted to God and one another through simple ministries, and when churches want to see more healthy churches around them.

Secondly, I want to address mercy ministries? (Matt 5:16, Luke 10:9)

I want to address mercy ministries because so far this vision of Christians missions has been very narrow. I assume most assume that Missions also includes doing a lot more church healthy church development. Let’s talk about mercy ministries.

Mercy ministries focus on meeting physical needs. In his ministry, Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, and fed the 5000. As we follow Jesus, Christians want to love those around them. God is love so Christians must love.

When it comes to church mercy ministries, there can be two extremes. Some churches focus so much on feeding the hungry and helping the poor, that they neglect spiritual needs. Other churches focus on saving souls without much consideration for human suffering. [iv] Our choice is never truth or love. They must always come together.

We read in Matt 5:16, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” In Luke 10:9, Jesus says, “Heal the sick … and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” Matt 5:16 and Luke 10:9 show that good works give credibility to the announcement of the gospel.

In his ministry, Jesus announced the reign of God. He proved it by showing God's reign. He cast out demons. He healed the sick. He calmed the storm. He announced the forgiveness of sins. He rose from the dead. These works demonstrate God's reign. Jesus was reversing the consequences of sin and showing the world to come.

When we see a gap between the world today and the world as it will be in the New Heavens and New Earth, we have an opportunity. When can work to fill a need to prove the Kingdom of God has come near. When we feed the hungry, we announce there will be no hunger in the New Heavens and New Earth. When the church helps the sick, it announces that the Kingdom is near. There will be no more sickness in the New Heavens and New Earth. Every church is different. No church can do everything. Mercy ministries can fit in Christian missions. Our church can choose a need in our part of Brussels. We can announce by word and confirm by deed, that the Kingdom of God has come near. The goal is that more people would come to know Christ and be involved in an Acts 2:41-47 church community.

Third wrapping this up: Illustraion, Examples, the Reason for Missions.

Illustration

This is an illustration from a little church in the US. This church started in 2016. They were a small group who wanted to reach their community with the good news of Jesus. They also had their eyes on the nations. Instead of planning a missions trip, they asked a more established church if they could join theirs to East Timor. On their trip, they met a young man named Julio who aspired to pastoral ministry, though he had little opportunity for training. This small church plant decided they would sponsor Julio to get theological training.

Fast forward to May 2023, Julio completed his training for pastoral ministry. He is now a pastor in East Timor, and working with a team to translate the Bible in Makasae, one of many tribal languages in East Timor without a Bible. Titus is now the first completed biblical book in Makasae. This was the story of how a little church in South Louisiana supported missions to an island in Southeast Asia. I share this story to illustrate that there is no single path to missions, but little steps can turn into something big.

Missions and us

From the first page of the Bible to the last, God shows that he longs for humanity to worship him all over the world. In a world of sin, the only way we can worship is by God’s grace who saves sinners through faith in Christ.

Jesus did something amazing. The second person of the Trinity became a human being. He was rejected, betrayed, beaten, tried, spat on, humiliated, and crucified. He took the sins of the world. He died for sin, and he rose from the dead to show that he had paid the wage of sin in full.

All who believe this message have eternal life. This is a life marked by the fruit of the Spirit in devotion to God and people. God's love changes us and we long to live for him. Our desire is to see the worship of God multiply and fill the earth, through healthy local church development. As a church, there are many small and big ways we can be involved in Christian missions.

Start Simple

These are simple ways as individual. Participate in an Acts 2:41-47 church. The church that follows this model is a missions organization and an evangelistic society. Become a member, make Sunday worship a priority, be involved in a community group which is a great context for Christian living, care, and growth. Practice hospitality. Parents, include your children. Help them understand why you value church membership. Lastly give financially to your local church. If you are a member of church that has a budget, you vote on how money is spent. That is Acts 2:41-47.

Dream Big

We start simple and we can dream big. For this next part, all Christians can serve, pray, and give as they please and support the causes they want. I'm going to focus on how the church can apply Acts 14:21-23. We can support the development of healthy churches outside ourselves. We would love to start a mission committee. Under the oversight of the elders, this committee made up of church members will help the church with our missions strategy. This strategy could include financial giving, prayer, correspondence, and even going to serve. This committee would be responsible to keep the church posted on our partnerships.

Here are some ideas for how our church can be involved.

Our denomination, the International Presbyterian Church currently has lots of like-minded church plants in Europe. We could choose one to support financially, pray for, correspond, and visit.

We could decide to focus on things in Brussels. There is a Bible Institute in Brussels, we could investigate if it has any needs. There is a French speaking worship ministry that writes good biblical songs for the Church. They may have needs. There are ministries that serve students in universities. There are ministries in the city that feed the hungry. We could volunteer our time to declare the nearness of God’s kingdom.

We can also think more globally and support organizations that participate indirectly in church planting. These are institutions that train pastors, organizations that produce discipleship material or translate the Bible in new languages. Other ministries focus particularly on supporting persecuted Christians.

We are a small church with a small budget. And, we do want to be devoted to missions. Please talk to Daniel or me if you have any interest in being on this committee.

Our Motivation

I want to end with 1 Pet 1:8-9 Though you have not seen Jesus, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

When we talk about missions we are talking about the propagation of this joy that is inexpressible. Christians share the gospel that more would know this joy. The gospel is the greatest gift we can ever offer anyone. This love is what Christian missions is all about.