Gtcotr/ws092513
When
you were born again, you were considered by God and all of creation as a babe
in Christ. Little if anything was required of you. Much like a newborn, life
was all about you. Although babies are not necessarily considered selfish, they
are nonetheless dependent and cannot provide for themselves but must be cared
for continually.
It
is God’s design that babies grow through stages of development into mature
adults. Given time and education each person is designed to take on the greater
responsibilities maturity demands. The individual who is able but who simply
refuses to grow up, take responsibility, and begin caring for others is a misfit
in life. Such are those born again believers who continually cry and whine and
complain feeling that life is all about them and their needs. We must encourage
and even demand growth and the acceptance of personal responsibilities from
ourselves and from the others we influence with the Gospel.
We
must grow up in Christ and take responsibility for this kingdom of life.
When
we hear the word “missions” most of us traditionally think about going to some
foreign country and working with the native population to help them with some
need. “Missions” however is much broader than this. Missions includes any
effort we make to fulfill the purpose of the Church. This brings up another
question: “What is the purpose of the Church?”
The
purpose of the Church is to accomplish the plan of God. God’s plan is our mission. The mission of the Church is to:
·
Reach
·
Teach
·
Keep People
…
Basically to care about and care for individuals and families while they dwell
on earth in preparation for heaven and eternity.
The
Church in each generation has been solely responsible to accomplish this
mission not only to the unreached in faraway lands but also to those who are
sitting right next door. For this reason many Churches like ours define their
mission efforts as either:
·
Local Missions
·
Home Missions
·
Foreign Missions
Jesus
put it this way: “…You shall be witnesses unto Me in
Jerusalem, throughout all Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”
(Acts 1:8)
We
are responsible to care about and do our best to care for everyone in our
generation in ever increasing concentric circles from our home to the last home
on planet earth. This is the mission of
the Church in each generation until the end of this age. This brings us to our
Key Scriptures for Block 12.
Key Scriptures:
Matthew 28
18
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 "Go therefore and
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20
"teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
We
have long believed God has a plan. Suffice it to say this Great Commission contains the only “Marching Orders”
God has given the Church. The disciples of that day received these orders as an
assignment. Their duty was no different than the responsibility which is laid
upon every disciple in each generation since. Their mission was to reach, teach, and keep their generation with the love of God and for the cause of Christ … so
is ours!
The
Old Testament covers a period of about 4000 years, give or take a few. It is a
picture of God working in generation after generation to ultimately bring
Messiah to a lost and dying world. The New Testament however covers only a
period of about 40 years, from about AD27 or thereabouts when Jesus called His
first disciple to about AD67 at which time the Apostles Peter and Paul were
already off the scene and the New Testament was for the most part completed.
The
New Testament gives the testimonial account of what 1 home group did in only 40
years. Those 12 boys, minus Judas Iscariot and plus Paul the Apostle, carried
the Gospel of Jesus and planted Churches in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
Philippi, Ephesus, Smyrna, Thyatira, Laodicea, Corinth, Colosse, the regions of
Galatia, Athens, Thessalonica, Pergamos and Rome just to name a few. These 12
boys took their assignment seriously and in only 40 years they took the Gospel
of Jesus Christ to their whole known world and not one of them even owned a
bicycle.
The
Great Commission became their mission and their purpose was to accomplish the
plan of God. They felt personally responsible to do God’s will. They were what
we call “Missions-Minded” Believers working in a
“Missions-Minded” Church … is there any other kind?
One
of the greatest challenges faced by the Church in every generation is to stay
on point. The devil would love to distract us, detour us, derail us and thereby
render us ineffective. The devil cares less for who is running the governments
of this world and their plans than he does about who is running the Churches
and their plans. The Church must stay on point, committed to its mission.
The
Church, not the governments of this world, is the hope God has of accomplishing
His plan. The work of the Church cannot be accomplished, however, unless
individual Born Again Believers take a personal interest in and shoulder a
personal responsibility for the mission of the Church.
Communities
and Countries which were reached with the Gospel of Christ by the first
generation Church 2000 years ago must be re-reached, taught, and cared for in
every generation since. You see, sinners are born every day and before we can
ever reach that proverbial last house in the world for Christ we must also
reach every other house in the world in each generation. This is why it is so
necessary to not just evangelize countries and communities but rather insure
that we are raising up Church families everywhere we go … even within our own
neighboring communities.
The
population of the world is increasing each year and along with each increase
our responsibility to establish more Churches grows as well. The world's oldest
surviving ancient census, the Han Dynasty, counted its people to determine
revenues and military strength in each region. This census taken in AD2 confirmed 57,671,400 people living in China. Even in the first century, China
accounted for a huge portion of the world's overall population which at that
time is estimated to be about 200,000,000.
In
the first century Rome and Alexandria boasted a population of near 1 million
each and we estimate Jerusalem to have about 25,000 permanent residents, not
counting the extra 100,000 attending the yearly feasts on occasion. In essence,
by the standards of the growing world population today, there simply weren’t as
many people to reach, teach, and keep in the first century … but the mission of
the Church was the same.
It
was not until the 1800’s that the world population finally reached 1 billion
people. In 1960 the number had grown to 3 billion and by late 2011 that number
had more than doubled to reach 7 billion. Within one
generation, my generation, the mission of the Church has increased by more than
250 percent. Chances are we will see our responsibilities triple before
we pass the baton and yet many people wonder why we are so driven to plant
local Churches and do world missions. God is simply trying to keep up and you
are His vehicle of choice.
Important Points
1.
The mission of the Church never changes.
2.
As the world grows, so do our responsibilities.
3.
God is counting on us to stay on point and accomplish His plan.
4.
What is God’s plan for the Church?
a.
Reach the Lost
b.
Teach the Saints
c.
Care for the Church in the Earth
